At Browning Environmental Communications (Browning), we are highly committed to conduct our business in a responsible, sustainable way and to encourage, wherever practical, our suppliers and clients to do the same.
This means we are monitoring and aiming to continually increase our positive impacts and reducing the negative impacts that our activities have both on society and the environment.
Browning supports the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact on human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption and is committed to implementing those principles. We do this across five key areas:
1. Human Rights
Browning strives to be an equal opportunities employer and to create a safe, fair and progressive culture that also reflects on the organizations it works with. We have zero tolerance for discrimination in any form.
We take our commitment toward human rights very seriously and only work with suppliers and clients who share our values. Browning continually strives to improve the working environment for the team and make sure the employees have the best tools available to do their job efficiently and effectively.
The company upholds the principles contained in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Among other commitments, this means that Browning will:
- Select and promote its people on the basis of qualifications and merit, without discrimination or concern for race, religion, national origin, color, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or disability.
- Support training and career development.
- Provide a safe and civilized workplace free from sexual harassment or offensive behavior.
- Ensure we are not complicit in any form of human rights abuses.
- Not generate profit or revenue from practices that threaten life or have negative social, ethical, or environmental impacts
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)
Browning is committed to the rights of people to be respected and valued for their differences, with equitable opportunities, in an inclusive environment. DEI is critical to who we are, how we think about our employee culture, and how we engage with our clients and partners. We believe that by embracing unique perspectives and backgrounds, we can better serve our clients and partners while actively contributing to dismantling systemic racism and promoting a more just, equitable, and sustainable world. Our DEI work is an ongoing commitment that is constantly evolving as we learn, grow, and adapt.
Diverse Team
We strive to have a diverse team with a broad mix of educational backgrounds, state, ethnic and religious backgrounds, as well as gender identities, sexual orientations, physical disabilities, and people with neurodiverse backgrounds. For us, diversity also means differences regarding working and thinking style, work and life experiences, and career paths. We believe it is most effective to address challenging problems with the broadest range of thinking.
Equitable Opportunities
We are committed to our team members as individuals, providing them with equitable opportunities in terms of personal and professional development, recognizing that everyone has different starting points and different needs. We believe that people should receive pay that reflects their contributions, value, and size of their role. We constantly work to address unconscious bias in our efforts to ensure equal opportunities.
Inclusive Workplace
We strive to create an inclusive workplace where individual differences between people are valued and seen as a strength. Everyone should feel accepted and respected regardless of age, race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
Health & Safety
We are committed to the right of our employees, interns and contractors to enjoy a physically and psychologically safe work environment. We strive to meet and exceed all applicable occupational health and safety regulations and to ensure the well-being of our team.
2. Labor
Browning Environmental Communications is committed to the right of all people to just and favorable terms of employment and supports the International Labor Organisation’s fundamental conventions on core labor standards. This also means that if we come into contact with forced, compulsory, or child labor, we will act against it. Also, we proactively encourage positive labor practices.
According to Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact we are committed to the following labor principles:
- Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining.
- Principle 4: Work for the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labor.
- Principle 5: Secure the effective abolition of child labor.
- Principle 6: Eliminate discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
3. Marketing Ethics Policy
As a communications consultancy, Browning Environmental Communications can influence the behavior of individuals for or against the benefit of the environment or the wider interests of society on behalf of its clients.
We are fundamentally committed to using communication to drive positive change. To prevent miscommunication of information, Browning Environmental Communications endeavors to:
- Comply with applicable regulations and self-regulatory codes of practice in the countries in which we operate.
- Not undertake work designed to mislead in any respect, including on social, environmental and human rights issues.
- Not undertake work which contains statements, suggestions or images offensive to general public decency or on minority segments of the population, whether that minority be by race, religion, national origin, color, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or disability.
- Never use specific data points that are not representative of a clients’ impact.
- Only use words that are realistic descriptors.
- Rejecting “greenwashing” and being fully honest and transparent about our clients’ social and environmental impact.
- Never use dishonest tactics for our own or clients’ campaigns, e.g., false or exaggerating messages, fake testimonials, inflated analytics or results.
4. Environmental Policy
Browning Environmental Communications has a broad knowledge on many aspects of effective environmental management and we are committed to delivering improved environmental impact across the world through our communications activities in support of our clients’ environmental technologies, services and initiatives.
As an office-based agency, we don’t have manufacturing facilities or expansive supply chains. We provide intellectual services and have a relatively low environmental impact.
However, we strongly recognize that climate change is a significant global challenge and are committed to continually improving the environmental performance of our own business and incorporate environmental considerations in all our key business decisions. Also, we recognize that the projects we manage for our clients have an environmental impact and that we are responsible for minimizing this impact where possible.
Therefore, we aim to reduce the direct impact, and indirect impact, of our operations on the environment, through the following principles:
- Compliance — We fulfill all compliance obligations globally including law, regulations and other requirements relating to our environmental aspects. In addition, we aim to go beyond and continuously improve our environmental performance on the highest level.
- Operations – We pursue to run our offices in the most sustainable way possible by incorporating energy and water efficiency into our operations where possible. Therefore, we endeavor to minimize energy consumption through a number of strategies including a strict ‘switch-off’ policy for all electrical equipment, and the use of energy efficient light fittings and appliances where available. We consider energy efficiency as a key factor when purchasing electrical equipment. Also, we aim to reduce office waste to the maximum and recycle waste material where feasible. We encourage the use of refillable bottles and the use of tap water.
- Procurement — We ensure to purchase environmentally sustainable products and services and consider service partners’ environmental credentials. As a first preference, we use fairly-traded and environmentally-friendly products, and paper that is either recycled or FSC-certified.
- Transport – We are constantly aiming to reduce our business travel GHG emissions and encourage employees, associates and stakeholders to commute via public transport or by bike where feasible. We keep business travel to a minimum and use public transport where possible. We fly only for essential trips and promote technology solutions to reduce the need for employee travel.
Anti-Corruption and Bribery Policy
Browning Environmental Communications has a zero tolerance policy towards corruption and is strictly committed to act against any form of corruption, including extortion and bribery, whenever we come across it. We believe it is core to building a fair business environment to encourage access to free markets. We support our team to speak out about any corruption identified.
For Browning Environmental Communications this encompasses:
- Bribery – We do not offer, promise, give, or demand a bribe or other undue advantage to obtain or retain business or any other improper advantage neither as an employee nor as a business.
- Money Laundering – We strictly refuse financial transactions derived from or to be used for criminal activities.
- Political Contributions – We do not make financial contributions to political parties or political causes.
- Gifts – Gifts (given or received) should always be reasonable. They are only acceptable to the extent that they do not improperly affect a specific business