SUSTAINABLE ISSUE 06/19
B U S I N E S S
M A G A Z I N E
UNIVERSITY OF
OXFORD LIBERTY LATIN
AMERICA FLOW ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES
UNITED STATES
TENNIS ASSOCIATION
CASTOLIN EUTECTIC ALSO FEATURED THIS ISSUE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO • PLUS MUCH MORE
S U S TA I N I N G T O M O R R O W. T O D AY
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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B U S I N E S S
M A G A Z I N E
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE United Kingdom • T: +44 (0) 1603 299 124 Email: info@sustainablebusinessmagazine.net www.sustainablebusinessmagazine.net
Editor:
George Newell
Assistant Editor:
Daniel Baksi
Profile Writers:
Elizabeth Cope Isobel Moss Alex Caesari Charlie Plumb
Sustainable Business Magazine is committed to promoting sustainable printing. This magazine is printed on Forest Stewardship Council certified material and manufactured using environmentally sustainable procedures. All lithographic printer inks used are vegetable-based.
Welcome to the latest edition of Sustainable Business Magazine. On 13th November, the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference (COP26), held in Glasgow, Scotland, came to a close after two weeks of debate on how to meet the challenges of the climate crisis. Though imperfect, the new Glasgow Climate Pact includes several significant commitments to combat climate change, including the first inclusion of reduced coal use in a United Nations climate accord. Among the 197 signatories to the pact, 140 countries committed to reduce their carbon emissions to net zero, and more than 100 countries pledged to work towards reversing deforestation by 2030. In addition, a fund of $1.7 billion has been dedicated to the protection of indigenous peoples, those most likely to be affected by climate change in the near-term. For our newest edition, we spoke to a range of organizations who are already pursuing aims which tie in to the goals set out in the Glasgow Climate Pact. At Oxford University, we spoke to Harriet Waters, Head of Environmental Sustainability, continuing our partnership with the Alliance for Sustainability Leadership in Education (EAUC), about Oxford’s goal to reach net zero emissions by 2035. Across the pond, Marc Couture, Director of Sustainability and Energy Management at the University of Toronto, told us about U of T’s sustainability principles and their own emissions reductions goals. We also spoke to the United States Tennis Association (USTA), where Lauren Tracy, Director of Strategic Initiatives, told us about offsetting carbon and the meaning of good corporate citizenship. Casting our net wider, we’re pleased to bring you a Q&A with Liberty Latin America (LLA), the parent company of Flow and Cable and Wireless. Kerry Scott and John Winter discuss the launch of LLA’s inaugural annual report, ESG, and the company’s approach to equality, diversity, and inclusion. We also spoke to Caribbean companies, including Domus Windows & Doors Ltd. and Everson R. Elcock & Co Ltd. (ERECO), about reducing carbon emissions and resource consumption in the region.
Will Vincent Evie Roebuck Projects Manager:
Helen Stoneley
Sales Director:
Jake Curtis
Sales Executive:
Shaun Peacock
CONTENTS 04
Interview - Flow St. Vincent & The Grenadines
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Interview - University of Oxford
16
Interview - University of Toronto
20 Interview - United States Tennis Association 24
Interview - Phillips General Contracting Ltd.
28
Interview - Castolin Eutectic
32
Interview - Everson Elcock
36
Interview - Whan Tong
40
Q&A - Liberty Latin America
42
Advert Index 08
SUSTAINABLE ISSUE 08.21 06/19
Here at Sustainable Business Magazine, we pride ourselves on highlighting businesses around the world who are championing sustainability and innovation. The companies and institutions featured in this edition are putting in motion the goals set out at COP26, leading the way to a greener future.
B U S I N E S S
M A G A Z I N E
UNIVERSITY OF
OXFORD LIBERTY LATIN
AMERICA FLOW ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES
UNITED STATES
TENNIS ASSOCIATION
CASTOLIN EUTECTIC ALSO FEATURED THIS ISSUE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO • PLUS MUCH MORE
We hope you find this issue interesting and inspiring. The Sustainable Business Magazine Team S U S TA I N I N G T O M O R R O W. T O D AY
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FRONT COVER UNITED STATES TENNIS ASSOCIATION
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INTERVIEW: FLOW SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
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CLOSING DIGITAL DIVIDES Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Wayne Hull, Country Manager at FLOW Saint Vincent, about technological upgrades, the challenge of coronavirus, and maintaining connectivity in the face of disaster. By Evie Roebuck FLOW, formerly Cable & Wireless (C&W) Communications, has been the primary provider of telecommunications to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for over one hundred years. FLOW delivers a range of communications services, from internet to fixed line to cable TV and mobile LTE, and is the first organization to offer this type of all-in-one service in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. “We have a rich history here,” explains Wayne Hull, Country Manager for FLOW Saint Vincent. “We’re very close to the community due to a number of initiatives over the years and what we continue to do for the country. Now we’re moving to upgrade our services in Saint Vincent and Grenadines every day.” SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: FLOW SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
“OUR MINIMUM SPEEDS WENT FROM JUST UNDER 5MB/S DOWNLOAD TO OVER 50MB/S MINIMUM, WHICH IS 10 TIMES THE SPEED FOR THE COUNTRY,”
RECENT UPGRADES Before FLOW made upgrades to the region’s internet infrastructure, the technology used was based on microwave technology from the 1980s. “It does not have the same capacity to meet the current needs of users here, especially compared to the high-speed connectivity that you get in any city, across the world,” says Mr. Hull. “It would have impacted the ability to develop e-commerce, even affecting how many people were able to get internet into their homes. In that era, we had maxed out on the capacity, and we had to stop selling the service, so it didn’t deteriorate for everyone. Now, the upgrades have closed that digital divide in the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for homes that were not connected to the internet previously.” An example is the complete removal of broadband delivery on legacy copper networks, transferring to FLOW’s Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC) services. “Our minimum speeds went from just under 5MB/s download to 6 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
over 50MB/s minimum, which is 10 times the speed for the country,” states Mr. Hull. “That’s now the predominant service used in the country to deliver internet services.” DECADE-LONG PROBLEM Moreover, FLOW carried out a major upgrade to the network in the small islands that make up the Grenadines, retiring their legacy microwave system in favor of new services with subsea fiber connection. “What that allowed us to do was upgrade customers in that region from an average speed of just 2MB/s download, to speeds at a minimum of 50MB/s, as is available on the mainland,” explains Mr. Hull. “This allowed more homes to be connected to the internet and meant we were able to upgrade our cable TV services in those islands and, in some parts of the region, to restart and rebuild our network. That was a decade long problem in the Grenadines. We were able to upgrade our own network there to bring those customers, and that part of the
country, into the first world and, especially now, where things like remote walk-ins are critical in these pandemic times, it came in as a significant milestone.” “It has always been a vision for us to have that cable in place,” says Mr. Hull. “But we had to do it in partnership with the government and other operators to make it feasible because of the geographic size of the islands. The project to fix it took just over two years.” The hospitality and tourism industries in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have benefited from FLOW’s developments. “Guest experiences at the various hotels, villas, and private islands have been enhanced with improvements to our tourism products, ensuring that our visitors can now access home if they need to and work remotely on those islands as seamlessly as possible,” says Mr. Hull.
network remained active during the entire volcanic eruption,” says Mr. Hull. “So our citizens were able to maintain connectivity throughout the event. As well as this, we have been cooperating in social activities by partnering with charitable foundations to deliver much-needed water.” Overall FLOW contributed close to 500,000 EC dollars’ worth of relief ventures. “Because of the eruption, and due to our water being provided by surface water, our entire water supply was disrupted for a month,” says Mr. Hull. “So, we worked with our staff, neighbouring islands, and colleagues to deliver water to communities in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. We provided other relief supplies to our nation-
al emergency organization here, things like beds and pots for people who were at the various shelters.” THE ALL CLEAR La Soufrière’s eruption caused the country to be categorised into zones, from the most dangerous red zone to the safe green zone. “Within the red zone, which is closest to La Soufrière, our network was disrupted by the heavy ash cover,” explains Mr. Hull. “We have about 20,000 households living in that red zone, so their lives were disrupted, and they were evacuated out of that zone into the green and amber zones of the country. Our fixed line and mobile networks were disrupted in the red zones due to the damage
MAINTAINING CONNECTIVITY Saint Vincent’s volcano, La Soufrière, had been in a state of effusive eruption since December 27th 2020, erupting explosively on April 9th 2021, resulting in many residential evacuations. “In terms of FLOW, 90% of our SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: FLOW SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
to our mobile equipment and infrastructure, or damage to fiber connecting those communities. It took heavy manpower and speed to rebuild and restore our mobile sites, as well as our fixed fiber and HFC networks in those communities.” The volcano continued to erupt from April 9th to April 22nd. “The volcano is still being monitored closely,” says Mr. Hull. “We are now on a full all-clear. The level has been downgraded to safe. People who were previously evacuated were given the all-clear around the middle of August and they have all been repatriated back to their homes. There is quite a bit of development work and repairs of bridges and roads to be done, and in some communities the water supply is not fully back yet. However, our services are live again to all households in the red zone.”
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ONGOING CHALLENGE As with the rest of the world, FLOW and Saint Vincent are coping with COVID-19. “Unfortunately, our COVID numbers are rising again,” says Mr. Hull. “In the space of two weeks, we moved from under 50 cases to just over 157 active cases, with an average of about 20 or so per day. It’s not as dire as other neighbouring islands, but it’s trending in the wrong direction. Unfortunately, our vaccination levels are quite low – we’re presently at about 12% of the population fully vaccinated – so that is a bit of a challenge for us.” “At FLOW, we are helping to promote vaccination,” says Mr. Hull. “We are supporting the Ministry of Health with their communications, sending out SMS messages and supporting their immediate campaigns and so on. We’re also doing that internally
for staff, including launching an initiative to do some user sessions with independent doctors to come and speak to the staff in small groups. On top of that we’re going to offer a few incentives for our internal staff to get vaccinated. So, we are doing our part, both internally and for the wider community, working with the health authorities to get the vaccination rate to go in a better direction.” THE FUTURE OF FLOW FLOW’s goal now is to increase their connection with the community in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to grow their brand. “We want to ensure that people are connected when they need to be, and that we deliver on our commitments,” says Mr. Hull. “We are moving to offering the best speeds in the market, retiring legacy networks, connecting entire households, and upgrading households to faster connectivity, from their internet to entertainment services to mobility. Our future is hinged on offering a full suite of services to the household so that they’re connected everywhere and, more importantly, to continue to grow our penetration into the community and close those digital divides that still exist.” c
“WE ARE SUPPORTING THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH WITH THEIR COMMUNICATIONS, SENDING OUT SMS MESSAGES AND SUPPORTING THEIR IMMEDIATE CAMPAIGNS AND SO ON.
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INTERVIEW: UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
NEWS WAYS OF WORKING Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Harriet Waters, Head of Environmental Sustainability at the University of Oxford, about net zero 2035, increasing biodiversity, and the future of sustainability after COVID-19.
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IMAGE CREDIT - MIHNEA DUMITRASCU RADCLIFFE CAMERA SURROUNDED BY STARS
By Beth Cope
The University of Oxford is one of the oldest universities in the world, with evidence of education taking place in the city since 1098. The University developed its first environmental policy 20 years ago and created the role of Head of Environmental Sustainability in 2009. From there, the university adopted a carbon management policy, setting aside £14 million to spend on carbon reduction projects and adopting its first carbon targets in 2011.
NET ZERO 2035 “When I first came into the post in 2013, I was given the challenge of expanding the team and accelerating the rate at which we’re lowering our carbon emissions”, says Harriet Waters, Head of Environmental Sustainability at The University of Oxford. “Using the work that we’ve already done, we can work out what we can actually achieve in the future and what savings would it allow. We’ve modelled how we might reduce carbon across the university estates with various projects. These include improving the fabric of our buildings, deep retrofits of our older buildings, a move to different fuels, increasing the use of renewables, as well as reducing our plug load by buying more efficient equipment”. Based on these projections, Oxford University Council recently approved a new Environmental Sustainability Strategy with dual targets of net zero carbon and biodiversity net gain by 2035. “We’ve taken all of our data from previous projects and used it to model forward,” says Ms. Waters. “We’re confident that we will be able to achieve net zero carbon by 2035. As it’s net zero carbon, we’ll be offsetting at some point. In our proposal, we suggested we start offsetting in 2030, after focusing our efforts on reducing our emissions. There’s a great deal of SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
discussion as to whether or not we should be investing in carbon capture and storage or using biological offsets.” INCREASING BIODIVERSITY Like carbon reductions, enhancing biodiversity falls into different areas of complexity. “Due to our planning conditions, it’s a common legal requirement to achieve biodiversity net gain on development projects,” says Ms. Waters. “However, we’re also committing to achieve a positive impact on biodiversity through our supply chain. This will require a real focus on our supply chain to understand our impacts on biodiversity internationally, and there is no doubt that it will require some offsetting in due time. There is much less data available on biodiversity impacts of goods and services, but it’s something that we hope to share with the rest of the world so that we can help other organisations make as bold a commitment. It’s simply not good enough to just focus on carbon.” The University of Oxford has an ongoing campaign called True Planet, which focuses on championing research, innovation, and engagement in environmental sustainability research. “It brings together all of the different strands of environmental research that’s going on across the university,” says Ms. Waters. “There is a lot of cutting edge research work happening across the University. True Planet aims to make this valuable knowledge accessible to colleagues, policymakers, and the wider public.” 14 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
COVID AND INNOVATION Since the COVID-19 pandemic led to an explosion in home-working, the Environmental Sustainability team has been tracking the environmental impact on the university’s day-to-day operations. “We’ve made some observations since the first lockdown,” explains Ms. Waters. “We took an intensive look at some of our data. We’ve seen that the university has decreased its paper use by more than 90%, for example. We’ve also reduced our carbon emissions from flights, and minimized commuting which resulted in air quality improving vastly within Oxford during lockdown.” The university has developed a framework for professional service staff to work both in-person and remotely, called
“WE’RE CONFIDENT THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE NET ZERO CARBON BY 2035. AS IT’S NET ZERO CARBON, WE’LL BE OFFSETTING AT SOME POINT.”
New Ways of Working. “It’s a long-term, consultative project that enables the whole university community to discuss how they would like to work in the future, whether that is from the office, home, or a hybrid,” says Ms. Waters. “Within all the discussions for this project, we are highlighting the opportunities for sustainability improvements in these new ways of working.” One possible future for the university involves far less commuting. “This will have an impact on emissions in general but also the air quality within Oxford in particular,” explains Ms. Waters. “We also want to keep up the habit of working digitally and minimizing our paper consumption, making sure that when people are back in the office, they review their sustainability impacts.
Times of change are a good opportunity to adopt more sustainable practices. The pandemic is something you’d never wish for, but we’ve learned that this is evidence that people can work from home, and that maybe we don’t need to travel as much as we were, we don’t need to use as much paper, and there are benefits from the changes
we’ve made. Rather than snapping back to the way life was prior to the pandemic, we should be learning from that. Within our new sustainability strategy, we’ve got a section called ‘Learnings from the Pandemic’ which enables the study of these changes and adoption of better practices for the future.” c
IMAGE CREDIT - ADAM BOWS
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INTERVIEW: UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
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CLIMATEPOSITIVE CAMPUSES
Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Marc Couture, Director of Sustainability and Energy Management at the University of Toronto about sustainability principles, reducing carbon emissions, and empowering individuals to be sustainability leaders. By Isobel Moss The University of Toronto (U of T) was founded in 1827 and consists of three campuses: the main St. George campus in downtown Toronto, the Mississauga campus to the west, and the Scarborough campus to the east. The campuses consist of approximately 266 buildings and span 1.8 million square meters, with approximately 900 programs of study and a term-time population of over 100,000 people. Today, U of T is a figurehead in innovative research, the number one-ranked university in Canada, and the 18th globally. SUSTAINABLE PILLARS U of T approaches its carbon and energy framework with four key principles. “Firstly, we have a conservation first principle, where the university is looking to conserve and reduce,” says Marc Couture, Director of Sustainability and Energy Management at U of T. “The second principle is to balance carbon with cost. The university’s jurisdictions have many different rates, tariffs, and different fuel and energy options. The third principle is to reach beyond our own assets that are not under our direct control. For example, our district energy system on our St. George campus delivers energy to buildings and assets that U of T does not directly manage. These are either third party clients or affiliates of U of T. The fourth key principle is fostering innovative solutions such as community-engaged learning, following the Campus as a Living Lab model, and incorporating demonstrable technology. This really helps to support core academic and research missions.”
THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO RECENTLY ANNOUNCED PLANS TO MAKE ITS ST. GEORGE CAMPUS CLIMATE POSITIVE BY 2050, MEANING IT WILL CURB MORE EMISSIONS THAN IT EMITS. THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH TRANSFORMATION OF ENERGY AND UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE, ADOPTION OF CUTTING-EDGE BUILDING DESIGN AND RETROFITS, EXPANSION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION, AND OTHER MEASURES. (PHOTO BY THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO)
CARBON AND ENERGY MASTER PLAN With their master plan at the St. George campus, U of T is aiming to create a climate positive campus by 2050. “Our revised target is to go beyond carbon neuSUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO “MARC COUTURE STANDS NEAR SOLAR PANELS ON THE ROOF OF U OF T’S EXAM CENTRE. THE UNIVERSITY IS IMPLEMENTING MORE RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION AS A PART OF ITS NEW MASTER PLAN, INCLUDING MORE PHOTOVOLTAICS. (PHOTO BY JACKLYN ATLAS)
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trality to essentially reduce more emissions than we emit to actually have a positive impact,” explains Mr. Couture. “The university has three categories within the carbon and energy master plan and the first category is to manage growth. The campus is roughly 1.4 million square meters currently but is forecasted to nearly double by 2050. We are trying to mitigate the impacts of growth by optimizing space utilization, making sure we’re using the existing space efficiently before we create new space. U of T wants the cleanest and most efficient energy and distribution systems available for all new construction.” The second category is infrastructure renewal. To reach its targets, U of T plans to upgrade existing building infrastructure. “That is going to represent just over half of our total managed assets and campus,” says Mr. Couture. “Currently the average age of our buildings exceeds 80 years – by North American standards that’s an old building. One of U of T’s big challenges is to renew responsibly and to leverage those opportunities to reduce our carbon footprint. A deep energy retrofit program has been implemented, which is focused on existing aged 18 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
buildings to dramatically reduce the energy use intensity by over 40%. A few techniques that are going to be used are active heat recovery, steam to hot water conversions, and electrification of heating systems.” U of T is also implementing more renewable energy generation as a part of the new master plan. “This will include looking to double, or more, photovoltaics - solar and solar thermal energy on campus, as well as ground source heat through geoexchange systems,” says Mr. Couture. “The third category is to build resilient systems. We want to take more of a holistic and systems approach for the renewal, and to make sure that we produce, distribute, and consume in a more resilient manner.” DEEP ENERGY There are already several geoexchange systems either completed or in the process of being installed on campus. “Currently, U of T is developing roughly 1,400 tons of ground source heat,” says Mr. Couture. For example, 374 holes have been drilled in the historic King’s College circle. Overall at U of T, with the projects that are underway or completed, there will be over
3,000 tons of ground source heat available through geoexchange. This will make us Canada’s largest operator of urban geoexchange systems. Another project almost complete is the residences in the Huron Sussex neighborhood, which will be one of the lowest-carbon residences on the St. George campus. The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) intensity is a very low six kilograms of CO2 emissions per square meter per year. This is one of the first buildings to be implemented using our new performance standards, with excellent results.” Most recently, U of T is developing Project 50, a new project intended to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions at the St. George campus by 50%. “This project is meant to accelerate change towards our 2050 targets,” says Mr. Couture. “The university is going to look at doing six deep energy retrofits on existing buildings. We’re looking into a partial electrification of our central heating plant and incorporating some energy storage around our district network. Technologies such as electrical battery storage, we’re also going to be looking at ice storage, and possibly some thermal heat storage, to create a more resilient, low carbon, district network.
THE LANDMARK PROJECT IS U OF T’S BOLDEST OPEN-SPACE PROJECT IN THE PAST 100 YEARS. IT WILL FEATURE CANADA’S LARGEST URBAN GEOEXCHANGE IN THE CENTRE OF OUR DOWNTOWN CAMPUS, WHICH WILL GENERATE MUCH-NEEDED RENEWABLE ENERGY, REDUCE CARS ON CAMPUS, AND TRANSFORM CENTRAL LOCATIONS INTO GREEN COMMUNITY SPACES WITH GARDENS, WALKWAYS, GATHERING AREAS, AND MORE. (PHOTO BY MATTHEW VOLPE)”
“OUR REVISED TARGET IS TO GO BEYOND CARBON NEUTRALITY TO ESSENTIALLY REDUCE MORE EMISSIONS THAN WE EMIT AND TO ACTUALLY HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT”
U of T is aiming for this to reduce our emissions by a minimum of 45,000 metric tons by the end of 2025.” WORKING TOGETHER U of T fosters local and global partnerships that aim to grow from each other’s success. “In terms of partnerships, U of T wants to play a leadership role both locally and globally,” says Mr. Couture. “U of T is involved in a number of different coalitions, namely the U7+ Alliance and the University Climate Change Coalition (UC3), as well as local organizations, which allow us to share best practices and discuss initiatives with our peers. These forums allow us to discuss initiatives, best practices, the scope of projects we are working on, and to share findings and
results. It’s really important to share all the wins and challenges. That way, everyone in these different groups can learn from each other’s missteps, as well as our successes. It is important to build on each other’s successes, rather than to repeat failures. One of the ways the university collaborates is through meetings and workshops, but also in the development of different tools, techniques and frameworks to help accelerate decarbonization. For example, U of T co-developed, with the U7+ Alliance and the University of Edinburgh, a greenhouse gas reduction and energy efficiency framework.” “It is our role to empower change at multiple different levels,” says Mr. Couture. “We have a new series of five programs for action called the Sustainable Change Pro-
grams: Sustainable Labs, Sustainable Offices, Sustainable Events, Sustainable Courses, and Sustainable Residences. These programs are focused towards educating and empowering students, staff and faculty across our campus to be the change agents who will drive behavioral changes in these five categories. They are given the resources and a checklist of initiatives that they can implement. Once these changes have been implemented and encouraged, a certification is awarded from bronze to platinum, based on accumulated points. We are hoping to empower each of our 100,000 plus community members at U of T to take a look at their behaviors and to provide them with the guidance and the expertise to modify their behaviors and collectively help us achieve our targets.” c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: UNITED STATES TENNIS ASSOCIATION (USTA)
GREEN TENNIS 20 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Lauren Tracy, Director of Strategic Initiatives at the United States Tennis Association (USTA) about how to offset the carbon emissions of international events, innovative builds, and being a good corporate citizen. By Daniel Baksi The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the United States’ national governing body for tennis. At the core of the not-for-profit organization, founded in 1881, is the mission to promote and develop the growth of the sport. 100% of USTA’s profits are reinvested in tennis development at the grassroots and professional level. Today, the USTA has approximately 700,000 members, and is involved in the United States Olympic and Paralympics Committee, as well as running the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT Since 2008 the USTA has adopted a number of strategies to monitor the environmental impact of its crown jewel event, the US Open Tennis Championships. “At the end of 2007, the USTA started to measure and track the impact of our waste and energy use during the US Open”, says Lauren Tracy, Director of Strategic Initiatives from USTA. “We look at the US Open as a whole and find areas to incorporate and apply our sustainability strategy. The three-week tournament is one of the largest annually attended sporting events in the world, so we feel we have a responsibility to do what we can to lessen the impact on the environment.” “Our strategy for the program has been to implement small pilot programs around certain initiatives. As the tournament is only three-weeks long, this has been the best approach as it provides us with the opportunity to launch an idea on a small, more controlled scale which provides us with the ability to either correct it during the tournament or asses after the tournament concludes so that SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: UNITED STATES TENNIS ASSOCIATION (USTA)
we can make those improvements for the tournament the following year,” explains Ms. Tracy. “For example, several years ago we launched a pilot program in our food village to collect compostable fan waste and serviceware. Leading up to the start of the US Open, we worked with the concessionaire to source all different kinds of compostable serviceware as a part of this program. However, after the event started, we walked around the food village area and realized that we had forgotten about the coffee stirrers and the milk containers. We were too far into the event to be able to make a change at that point but it gave us an opportunity to do better the next year. Sometimes it doesn’t always go as planned.” INNOVATIVE BUILDS Today, environmental sustainability is deeply embedded in the USTA’s business. “Up to 97% of the waste generated at the US Open is diverted from landfill,” says Ms. Tracy. “There are three structures on site where the US Open is held that are LEED certified. The first building on the site to be updated was the VIP building where people pick up their credentials. Next, the Grandstand Stadium became one of the first open air tennis stadiums in the world to be LEED certified. Then there’s the Louis Armstrong Stadium on site, which is LEED Silver certified and opened in 2018. In 2017, USTA opened the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. It is a 64-acre facility with 100 tennis courts and half the staff works there in the LEED-certified office building.” 22 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
OFF-SETTING CARBON Beginning in 2012, the USTA began evaluating data related to player and employee travel to attend and work the event and saw this as an opportunity to reduce the carbon that was being generated as a result of the event. “Players are traveling from all over the world to compete at the US Open,” says Ms. Tracy. “We calculate the carbon footprint of these players by tracking the miles that it would take to fly to and from the United States and their home countries. In addition, there are over 1000 people who work at the US Open, many of which are driving to the site every day for three weeks. We calculate their travel as well so that it can be offset. In 2019, we expanded this program to include fan travel for finals weekend.” To offset the carbon emissions of international events, USTA has invested in a global project. “We have invested in cookstove projects, which is in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” says Ms. Tracy. “This year, cookstoves in Darfur, Sudan are being replaced since the original cooking method is done indoors over an open fire. This is incredibly ineffi-
“THE THREE-WEEK TOURNAMENT IS ONE OF THE LARGEST ANNUALLY ATTENDED SPORTING EVENTS IN THE WORLD, SO WE FEEL WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO DO WHAT WE CAN TO LESSEN THE IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT.”
cient, needing a large amount of firewood, and the particles that are emitted are harmful to those cooking, which is traditionally women. A lot of them will die from respiratory disease simply by cooking for their families. Efficient cooking is a much better way of offsetting carbon and fewer trees are being cut down. It is the association’s goal to communicate this in a cohesive way to ensure a
general fan can understand the impact that efficient cookstoves have in Africa, and what that does for our world as a whole.” OTHER INITIATIVES “USTA has made it a goal to use the platform of the US Open to be a good corporate citizen,” says Ms. Tracy. “We are doing something new this year through a
company called One Tree Planted. They plant trees throughout the United States, as well as outside of the country to support reforestation. This year we are planting a tree for every player competing at the US Open, while also asking fans to contribute in the name of their favorite player. This project is aimed to increase reforestation after the California wildfires.” c
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: PHILLIPS GENERAL CONTRACTING LIMITED (PGCL)
A FAMILY BUSINESS LIKE NONE OTHER By Isobel Moss Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Junior Phillips, Co-Founder of Phillips General Contracting Limited (PGCL), about ongoing projects, protecting the environment and the future of their training program.
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Phillips General Contracting Limited (PGCL) is a broad-based family business, set up to cover a comprehensive range of services. Founded in 1987 by Junior Phillips, Heather Phillips, Betty Phillips, and Rhonda Superville, PGCL won its first job in May 1988 with Amoco Maintenance Department, under a contract to perform repairs and services to instruments on Teak Echo Water Flood Offshore Facility. From that first project, a sequence of successful contract bids saw the PGCL continue its upwards momentum, expanding its employee base from within the local community of Mayaro Guayaguayare.
was pushed back due to the Covid-19 pandemic, continuing until early January 2021. The pandemic did give us the opportunity to provide alternative services including leak testing and hydrostatic testing to BP’s picking department. Through that work, we contributed to the upkeep of key pipelines, and testing the integrity of the receiver chamber.”
“Electrical and instrumentation has been our core business over the past 34 years,” says Mr. Phillips. “Nevertheless, we’ve also diversified into hydrostatic testing, leak testing, and nitrogen purging, among others. We’ve recently started to do some civil and mechanical works outside of the energy sector, providing services to the Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA).”
DECADES OF EXPERTISE In 2019, PGCL was awarded a contract by Massey Wood to execute work on the BP terminal facility. “Our role was to execute electrical and instrumentation services on the crude oil tank,” explains Junior Phillips, Co-Founder of Phillips General Contracting Limited (PGCL). “That initial work SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: PHILLIPS GENERAL CONTRACTING LIMITED (PGCL)
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UNDER HIGH PRESSURE Leak testing is an essential element of PGCL’s work. “In particular, our leak testing is an essential service, not only for the efficiency of the plant itself, but in terms of minimizing the environmental impact of our clients,” says Mr. Phillips. “When we carry out break containment repairs, we’re working on broken pipes or vessels. Reinstalling the system in a ready state to re-introduce oil or gas into the system requires us to test the integrity of the bolting of the flanges and the valve areas, which we do using water or nitrogen gas. We follow a similar process for our hydrostatic testing, assessing the integrity of the piping, flanges, walls, and the thickness of the pipes.” The sustainable impact of such tests cannot be understated. “If these we don’t carry out these works, the impact on the environment would be profoundly negative,” says Mr. Phillips. “Across all our projects we’re dealing with high pressures. Introducing hydrocarbon into these high-pressure environments could easily cause an explosion if there are any unidentified leaks, which would in turn spill out into the environment. 26 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
“WE WANTED TO PROVIDE TRAINING DIRECTLY TO OUR STAFF, BRING THEM UP TO SPEED, AND HAVE THEM CERTIFIED.”
If that occurs on the platform, it will pollute the oceans. On the terminal, it will spill into the rivers and streams.” IN-HOUSE ASSESSMENT Crucial to PGCL’s success is its in-house training program, which has helped the company to equip its employees with first-rate qualifications in electrical and instrumentation. “At PGCL, we base our entire service provision on quality,” says Mr. Phillips. “We carried out an analysis of our staff in 2010, which revealed that many employees didn’t really have the required qualifications to thrive in the electrical and instrumentation field. In our community on the Trinidad’s south-east, most people don’t have the opportunity to attend either university or an equivalent training institution. To gain access to that luxury, you would need to travel roughly 52 miles. Out of this, PGCL began contemplating the establishment of our own training center right
in the heart of the community. We wanted to provide training directly to our staff, bring them up to speed, and have them certified.” Since the launch of its program, PGCL have sought to partner across the industry to build out its training capacity. “We’ve touched base with a company called the TLA Consultancy,” says Mr. Phillips “Together in 2011, we began building a curriculum across all areas of electrical instrumentation, hydrostatic testing and retesting, with a distinct set of tasks for each category of worker across the organization. We used a local external verifier to assess our employees based on their practical knowledge, and at the end of the assessment the individual is given a certificate, provided through a Canadian company, World ICU. During that assessment, and because the program is computerized, we’re able to identify gaps in the employees’ knowledge. Using a specially designed training matrix, we can identify whether it’s
best to refer the individuals to an external organization for specific training, or whether we can meet their needs in-house. It’s been a success, with around 30 of our employees completing the program to-date.” PGCL intends to continue expanding its training efforts. “The vision is to partner across the oil and gas sector to provide training not only for our staff, but for people throughout our local community,” says Mr. Phillips. “In particular, we’re keen to focus on practical experience. Even when new employees arrive at PGCL having been to university, they have plenty of theoretical skill but lack hands-on skill. We also carry out a lot of calibrations for equipment that measures gas and oil in a pipeline, so we’re looking to have a laboratory up and running, to be accredited by the Bureau of Standards. Otherwise, we hope to continue building on our competency assurance system, introducing that to all our contracting partners.” c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: CASTOLIN EUTECTIC
“WE ENCOURAGE INNOVATION WITHIN OUR COMPANY, AND WE MAKE SURE THAT SUSTAINABILITY IS ABOUT TRUST AND ACTING ETHICALLY.” Tabish Wani, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer (COO)
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MADETOLAST Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Tabish Wani, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Castolin Eutectic, about improving the lifespan of industrial equipment, reducing carbon emissions, and educational programs available for employees and partners. By Izzy Moss Founded in Switzerland in 1906, Castolin Eutectic is a materials technology company, specializing in welding, brazing, and coating technologies which reduce wear to industrial equipment, lengthening the lifetime of components. The company has over 1.540 employees across 10 manufacturing locations,
COATINGS FOR AEROSPACE IN OUR ADVANCED NEWCASTLE WORKSHOP
31 market centers, and 20 service centers, providing maintenance and repair services for customers in oil & gas industry, mining, pulp & paper, chemicals, glass, cement, steel, and power generation sector. “Before the world started talking about sustainability and green conservation, Castolin Eutectic was already doing it. We encourage environmentally-friendly innovation within our company, and we make sure that sustainability is about trust and acting ethically,” explains Tabish Wani, Managing Director and COO of Castolin Eutectic. “We work a lot with waste and recycling factories, supporting them in optimizing asset efficiency for their shredders, crushers, grapples or screws. On top of that, we do sustainable refurbishment jobs in the automotive sector, cement and steel.” SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: CASTOLIN EUTECTIC
RECYCLING SHREDDER IN NEED OF WEAR PROTECTION
BRAZING FLUXES EXEMPT OF CMR CHEMICALS
SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR BRITISH AEROSPACE INDUSTRY One of Castolin Eutectic’s businesses in the U.K., called Monitor Coatings, specializes in aerospace industry repairs. “The blade propellers are made from very expensive materials,” explains Mr. Wani. “These blades would have to be changed every few flights or rotations. Had it not been for our technologies, these turbines would be thrown away and replaced with new parts. Castolin Eutectic takes these worn-out parts from jet engines and surface-coats them, making them as good as new and lasting much longer.” Landing gear is protected in a similar way against wear. “We enhance surface resistance, resulting in component longer lifespan, while simultaneously reducing cost and hassle for the customers. In the cement industry we restore the equipment that mixes raw, corrosive materials to make cement with very specific hardened steel, which prolongs the assets’ service life 3 to 5 times.”
RESTORATION OF VERTICAL ROLLER MILL IN CEMENT INDUSTRY
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CENTURY OF PROGRESS “The purpose of the company 100 years back was already about sustainability, and in sync with today’s mission: helping our customers to refurbish and reuse their industrial components,” says Mr. Wani. “Everything we launch on the market aims more and more towards sustainability, whether it be welding, brazing, surface protection powders, equipment, hardened CastoDur Diamond Plates (CDP®),
REPAIRS FOR WASTE & RECYCLING INDUSTRY
or the general maintenance and repair services we supply. Our sense of commitment to the environment and operators’ safety has changed, therefore our formulations and ingredients have evolved. We replace labor-intensive and environmentally unfriendly materials with smart formulations that we get to the market. The new brazing fluxes introduced are free of any carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic (CMR) substances, and the new welding wires are free of chrome and nickel. We share the ingredients that we use with our customers, making them available on our data sheets and website. We are very transparent in that way.” FOOTPRINT REDUCTIONS In recent years, Castolin Eutectic have implemented several actions plans to reduce their environmental footprint. “Regarding the supply chain, we are now forming one global company with common resources, reducing our carbon footprint by limiting the number of transport kilometers travelled by 40% to 50%,” says Mr. Wani. “Regarding our operations, we have started monitoring our energy consumption, and reducing our dependence on conventional energy sources, while leaning more towards renewable energy as part of our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) program.” The company is also currently reviewing its packaging. If in previous years Castolin Eutectic resorted frequently to plastic, now it is strategically moving into more pa-
per-based packaging. Recently top management has signed up for the UN Global Compact, a global movement of sustainable companies and stakeholders that do business responsibly. “We have shown our commitment for the reuse and recycling process in the industrial sector for more than 100 years. Sustainability has been our vision and will stay at our core,” adds Mr. Wani. FUTUREGAZINGS Castolin Eutectic also has programs in place that educate suppliers on various aspects of sustainability. “We have a code of conduct which specifies our company values, our aspirations in sustainability, and what we expect from our employees and partners in terms of contribution,” explains Mr. Wani. “We have a separate environmental policy in place which homes in on CO2 emissions, offering very specific targets in terms of oil, gas, fuel, electricity, and freshwater consumption, while minimizing hazardous waste production.”
WELDING WIRE FREE OF CHROME AND NICKEL
The company has also launched internal training programs to further raise employee engagement in the sustainability action plan, providing them with the tools and processes to contribute positively to the sustainability efforts. A big proportion of the company’s employees are technical sales consultants for key industries, connecting with customers on-site to expand their knowledge. Top management is reflecting on reward schemes to acknowledge employee progress on sustainability matters. “We can expect new, innovative R&D products and solutions in the future from Castolin Eutectic, which is one of our core strategies,” says Mr. Wani. “We are looking at formulations of the next level of materials, including the electrification of the automotive industry, since we are running out of conventional materials. We want to explore more modern product compositions that are sustainable and eco-friendly, but also very impactful for our customers in terms of performance and cost. These are the aspirations of our company.” c
SCREW REFURBISHMENT WITH CDP WEARPLATES
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: EVERSON R. ELCOCK & CO LTD (ERECO)
ELECTRICITY EXPERTS By Beth Cope Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Antonio Elcock, Managing Director at Everson R. Elcock & Co Ltd. (ERECO) about providing the infrastructure for solar power systems, the benefits of a long-standing workforce, and the outlook for renewables in Barbados. 32 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Everson R. Elcock & Co Ltd. (ERECO) is a Barbados-based electricals retailer, tools and equipment renter, and real estate and property management company. Founded by Everson R. Elcock, the father of current-Managing Director Antonio Elcock, in 1960, ERECO started out with only two employees installing mostly
television antennas when the technology first came to the island. In 1971, Elcock landed a contract for a major conglomerate for their flagship store, which allowed the small company to start undertaking more commercial and residential work and grow with Barbados after independence. “Truthfully, during that period his competition would have been the white contractors in his area, him being almost the only black contractor,” explains Antonio Elcock, Managing Director at ERECO. “He was able to rub shoulders and made a name for himself based on the quality of work and service which he provided.” Today, ERECO has a long track record of providing electrical contracting and design services to some of Barbados’s most significant development projects, including Hilton Barbados and the airport. Despite major contractions in the Caribbean over the last decade, ERECO has been able to expand throughout the region to Guyana, St. Vincent, and Montserrat. ERECO continues to carry Everson Elcock’s name, with the founder still serving an active role as Chairman at 84 years old.
PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS ERECO is in contact with distributors of electrical lighting and supplies which are then sold to electricians and installers. “Renewable energy (RE) solutions would really be everything leading up to the inverter and before the inverter,” explains Mr. Elcock. “So that would be the conversion from the Direct Current (DC) to the Electronically Commutated (EC) Motor. So we’re on the Alternating Current (AC) side of the application of the RE systems for photovoltaic (PV). We don’t have any wind power on the island at present, but the equipment on the AC side is the same for both. We provide AC equipment to major suppliers of PV equipment on-island, and external agencies. We don’t get into the community side, which are the panels and inverters. That technology is changing so rapidly. Today you buy a 330-watt panel and tomorrow 440-watt panels are available. You find that for the quantities you have to purchase, you’re left with large amounts of stock. Unless you’re consuming a fair bit yourself, you can end up sitting in a warehouse full of material.” ERECO researched international applications of energy technology, to prepare for providing renewable energy solutions. “We went to the UK to look at generating plants that are successful, how they’re manufactured and what is expected in terms of their connection,” explains Mr. Elcock. “This has allowed us to have a sustainability and continuity of a really high level of service, and delivery SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: EVERSON R. ELCOCK & CO LTD (ERECO)
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of that service. Promptness is important because in construction, time is always of the essence.” Comprehensive staff training is essential to ensure that ERECO’s systems are consistently of high quality. “We have some staff members who have been with us for 50 years,” says Mr. Elcock. “The retention is good. Long-term staff members are then able to pass on their expertise to new trainees. However, it comes at a cost, because once you have retention, you have liabilities. What we’ve done over the years is to ensure that our staff members continue the training required along the way. You have to make sure you’re still up to date, in some instances where management is required, and supervision within the more supervisory courses. Things change: employment, safety and health, different acts which have been proclaimed.” IN LIGHT OF COVID-19 A lot of ERECO’s anticipated projects have been shelved or postponed to maintain the available financing. “As a result of that, we have not been out of the gates in full, mostly openings last year and this year, for 34 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
stock complement as well as job complement,” says Mr. Elcock. “It has taken a bit of ingenuity to keep everything afloat and open, and making sure that we can keep our suppliers satisfied and our staff paid, along with statutory requirements.” ERECO is a member of the professional engineering body in Barbados and the licensing board for RE, while also being a former member of the registration board.
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“We’re in the process of issuing licenses in that respect,” explains Mr. Elcock. “That industry here has turned into more of an investment vehicle, more so than just for energy saving. We’re seeing a large volume of applications from Barbados as well as coming into Barbados to deal with renewable energy. I am very heartened to see there is a lot of work on the horizon for renewable energy companies. So where
“THIS HAS ALLOWED US TO HAVE A SUSTAINABILITY AND CONTINUITY OF A REALLY HIGH LEVEL OF SERVICE, AND DELIVERY OF THAT SERVICE. PROMPTNESS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IN CONSTRUCTION, TIME IS ALWAYS OF THE ESSENCE.”
it has fallen off in terms of new build construction, I see the work picking up more on the renewable energy investment side, which would still have the component of electrical contracting involved.” “My brother and I have a proposed continuation for the sustainability of the company, to make a path for new development companies that will allow us to utilize the new capacity that we have here for housing and building developments,” says Mr. Elcock. “In terms of asset management and engineering, we’ll be picking more of a front burner role as opposed to a back
burner role that we used to do before. We will probably bring more on design because RE is gaining steam. Once we build out that platform, there’s going to be an obvious need for asset management.” “I would say there will be more cutting-edge engineering as well,” explains Mr. Elcock. “Right now, we’re still involved with the IT infrastructure for security cameras, fire alarm systems, and security systems. We’re going to take it to the next level outside of the IT infrastructure, to get further in the actual delivery of service and maintenance.” c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: WHAN TONG AGENCIES LTD
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CONSERVATION
TECHNOLOGY
Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Christopher Chandler, Sales and Marketing Manager from Whan Tong Agencies Ltd. about products that conserve water, projects and collaborations, and their plans for expansion across the Caribbean. By Beth Cope Whan Tong Agencies Ltd is a Trinidadian plumbing fixtures and fittings distributor. Founded in Trinidad and Tobago in 1968 by William Whan Tong and Sue Hong Whan Tong, the small business started out with simple plumbing fixtures, but as time progressed, brands were added to the portfolio to make the company what it is today. For the past thirty years, Whan Tong’s flagship brand has been Delta Faucet, which is today one of the most popular brands in the plumbing business in Trinidad and Tobago. “With that said, we’ve been able to successfully undertake a variety of projects, from private homes to condos, townhouses, and large developments using that brand,” says Christopher Chandler, Sales and Marketing Manager from Whan Tong Agencies Ltd. WATER CONSERVATION PRODUCTS Whan Tong Agencies Ltd. work with brands that provide customers with water conservation products. “Hansgrohe, a company
based in Schiltach, Germany, is another brand of Whan Tong,” says Mr. Chandler. “They are a global supplier of plumbing fixtures, such as shower systems and other associated products. In terms of technologies, both Hansgrohe and Delta Faucet have products that are environmentally friendly and conserve water. In the commercial landscape, they both have products that would be used in public arenas or washrooms where it would save water by sensor activated faucets, which during these pandemic times is very important. There are also faucets that work on solar power, meaning the electronic faucet is powered by the ambient light within the washroom, which conserves electricity and energy.” “In terms of shower technology, both brands offer shower options where the consumption of water is limited,” explains Mr. Chandler. “For showers from the 1980s and 90s, average consumption was 2.5 gallons or 3 gallons in a showerhead, whereas the showSUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: WHAN TONG AGENCIES LTD
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er output is now reduced to 1.6 or 1.5 gallons per minute. The same can be said for toilets and urinals. In the past, the consumption for toilets would have been as much as three or four gallons every time you flush. That has now been reduced to one gallon per flush.” PERSONAL CONSULTATION “In terms of our services as a company, for the longest part of our existence, we have predominantly been a supply company,” says Mr. Chandler. “The dynamics of busi-
ness have since changed – the push towards online shops and platforms are growing, for example – but there are aspects of the business that are still very personal in terms of consultation or advice. As of now we do full 360 services, where people can come to us, sit down, and we consult from the beginning to the end. Whether it’s a large project or small project, we can consult the best products that would suit their needs.” The agency has started to implement a new service. “Customers can receive profes-
sional installations and services as we start to apply our own installation and renovation aspects of the company,” says Mr Chandler. “A lot of customers who have purchased our products are not getting the full experience that they ought to and, 7 out of 10 times, when we visited those customers, the initial installation was done incorrectly. At the moment we are offering this service for residential clientele only, as opposed to hotels or larger businesses, but in the future, we can possibly grow to that.” ONGOING PROJECTS Whan Tong Agencies intends to be part of a future project aiming to reduce water consumption and energy bills. “This is in collaboration with a company called Home Solutions,” explains Mr. Chandler. “They are a local development company that has
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“THESE PRODUCTS ARE HIGH QUALITY AT A GREAT PRICE, AND ULTIMATELY, THAT IS OUR END GOAL AS A SUPPLIER OF VARIOUS BRANDS AND PRODUCTS.”
produced high quality developments and condos on various multi-family living buildings throughout Trinidad and Tobago. Their most recent project is called North Hills, a multi-family condo style living space that will be 6 buildings, spanning about 144 apartments. The goal is to offer them products that would help conserve water as this is very important to us.” “Our intention is to offer the developer a great product at a great price. In fact, we always aim to offer all of our customers this service, and we have ongoing projects with other valued clients, such as Caribbean Housing and Anthony P Scott. We enjoy having very good relationships with various builders and contractors” says Mr. Chandler. “Another aspect as to why there is a big push in water conservation for Trinidad is that there is talk about an increase on our water
bills. At the moment, our water rates are low when compared to other Western countries and they are soon to be reviewed. Due to the economic climate, our current government is trying to find ways to reduce the debt and expenses. This would possibly mean removing certain subsidies and or increasing the rates on water for the population. We think it’s a good ethical practice on our part by starting to provide our customers with environmentally-friendly products that would help conserve water and, in turn, help to reduce their bills at the end of each month.” REGIONAL AND PRODUCT PORTFOLIO EXPANSION “We have predominantly supplied projects locally in Trinidad and Tobago, but we are looking to reach out to other territories within our surrounding area,” says Mr. Chandler.
“These countries are Guyana, Suriname, Barbados, Grenada, and St. Lucia. Whan Tong is looking to extend our services and products to those territories and have been talking with all the brands that we currently have representation for.” “Within the last year, we have also expanded into other areas that are of interest to some consumers,” explains Mr Chandler. “We are now providing kitchen designs and installations, along with selective household appliances for the kitchen. Whan Tong has also partnered with a tile company so our showroom can now offer customers a true one-stop-shop experience, so you can purchase tiles among other items for your home. These products are high quality at a great price, and, ultimately, that is our end goal as a supplier of various brands and products.” c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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Q&A: LIBERTY LATIN AMERICA
LIBERTY LATIN AMERICA’S ANNUAL MISSION WEEK VOLUNTEER INITIATIVE, TRINIDAD 2020
LIBERTY LATIN AMERICA Could you introduce Liberty Latin America’s approach to ESG, and the impetus behind your inaugural annual report? At Liberty Latin America, we built our overall ESG programme around three pillars that guide us every day, and in every decision. The first of these pillars is developing sustainable and responsible business practices. We have committed our entire company to reducing our impact on the environment, reducing our energy usage, and developing renewable energy products in our markets to support our communities, such as in Barbados, where we have partnered with innovative solar companies to reduce our reliance on carbon emissions. Our second pillar is being a socially responsible company. In that respect, we support initiatives that have a positive impact on the communities we serve and help to foster a more inclusive culture. We view it as a top priority to provide children with the tools and connectivity they need for digital 40 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
learning, and we’ve spent significant time and resources to design platforms to support that – at low cost, and most of the time, at no cost to end-users. The final pillar is the strong ethical standards we seek to maintain across all our interactions. With stakeholders, but also with our customers, our staff, and with each other. This means conducting our business with honesty and integrity, according to the highest legal and ethical standards. It’s about being respectful to each other, and the people with whom we work.
C&W PANAMA EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATING IN A CLEAN UP IN COSTA DEL ESTE, PANAMA CITY 2017
How is the inaugural report aiding the pursuit of Liberty Latin America’s ESG goals? Our first report is all about setting a baseline for what we’re going to do in the future. We’ve outlined the aspects that we are going to test and measure ourselves against, and we will report on them on an annual basis. We chose to base our reporting framework around the internationally recognised SASB (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board), reporting against sector-specific metrics. It’s important to highlight a couple of those metrics that stand out to us. The first
KERRY SCOTT, CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER, LIBERTY LATIN AMERICA, SUPPORTING FAMILES AFFECTED BY HURRICANE DORIAN IN GRAND BAHAMA 2019
FLOW EMPLOYEES PARTICPATING IN LIBERTY LATIN AMERICA’S ANNUAL MISSION WEEK VOLUNTEER INITIATIVE
of those is energy consumption data: holding ourselves accountable for reductions in our carbon emissions and increasing our reliance on clean forms of energy. Secondly, our strategy for data privacy: as a telecommunication company, we manage sensitive data. It’s our responsibility to understand what data we have, where we store it, how we are using it, and to reassure our customers that we’re protecting that information in the right way. The final metric is testing against how we protect that information: how our networks are secure from hacks, and how we can implement group policies in a safe and secure environment. How have you overcome the challenges of the last year to deliver impact to customers, employees, and communities? Despite everything, it’s been a year of great impact. We operate in a region heavily reliant on tourism. When borders closed, the resulting impact to communities and economies in our region was and remains extensive. For many of our employees, it’s meant working from home. For our frontline teams, the challenge has been continuing to be out in the communities keeping them safe so that they can keep our customers connected at a time when our service was perhaps more essential than ever before. We set up an internal COVID-19 employee assistance fund to which more than 1,000 of our employees applied to, raising US$425,000 in funding to support themselves and their families. We continue to invest in our fixed and mobile networks, expanding capacity to reach and to meet the increased demand for bandwidth and speed. With everyone working and schooling from home, we brought in self-installation so that people could receive our services without the pressure of technicians physically going into their home. Through all of our operations, in particular Flow, our consumer brand in the Caribbean, we provided access to digital education platforms for hundreds of thousands of
KERRY SCOTT, CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER, LIBERTY LATIN AMERICA, ESG CO EXECUTIVE SPONSOR
students across the region. Overall, we have found new ways of working that will extend positively beyond the pandemic. Can you talk us through your practical strategies to achieve Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion? The last two years have seen a key shift in our approach to our equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) agenda. In the past, we focused heavily on several innovative policies and initiatives to support a more socially inclusive culture, with a particular focus on gender, and we’ve celebrated International Women’s Day ever since our inception. In 2019, we launched our parental leave policy – an innovative policy, providing eight weeks of fully paid leave to all new parents and 16 weeks to a birthing parent, in a region where most receive only a day to three days at best for paternity leave. At the same time, we made a huge leap to equalise parental leave for all new parents regardless of family structure, whether through adoption or surrogacy. But diversity isn’t just about gender; there are so many more facets to it. Beginning in 2020, we launched a virtual listening tour to hear from more than 100 colleagues across 22 countries about what it’s like to work for Liberty Latin America. A number of focus areas came out of that, one of which saw our first pride celebrations as a company. More tragically, we’ve been incredibly saddened by the death of two colleagues in the last eight months due to gender-based violence. Latin America and the Caribbean
LIBERTY PUERTO RICO EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATED IN THE INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP INITIATIVE, SAN JUAN 2019
PARTNERING WITH ONE-ON-ONE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES TO PROVIDE FREE ACCESS TO THE FLOW STUDY PLATFORM FOR OVER 130,000 STUDENTS
has one of the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world, and this has only increased during the pandemic. This is highlighted by a recent UN report noting a 30% to 50% increase in gender-based violence as a result of extensive lockdowns and inequality. This year we will launch a forward-thinking gender-based violence policy, together with supporting resources and education. We will make that available through our public website, www.lla.com, for every company to access, and hopefully to benefit from the work we’ve done in this important area. What should we expect ahead of the next annual report, and what does the year ahead look like for Liberty Latin America? We’ll be building on what we’ve started, continuing to work towards much greater transparency and accountability in our efforts to meet our goals. Our whole premise around connecting the unconnected will continue to be a key pillar, bridging that digital divide for everybody in the community to have access to the internet, making it easier to do business, and more straightforward to do simple things that in the US or Europe we might take for granted, like renewing your driver’s licence or even registering for a new service. Similarly, our focus on equality, diversity, and inclusion will continue to be a key focus, and we’ll continue our focus on education. We’ve set the baseline. Now, we expect to improve and progress. c Learn more about our commitment to ESG at lla.com/environmental-social-governance
JOHN WINTER, CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER, LIBERTY LATIN AMERICA, ESG CO EXECUTIVE SPONSOR
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