Environment and sustainability

Many O2 customers, employees and stakeholders tell us they are concerned about the environment and expect us to find ways to meet the needs of the present without compromising the future.

At O2, we are committed to operating in a sustainable way and we have developed a rigorous policy to reflect this. 
 
A programme of continual improvement underpins our Group-wide environmental strategy and we aim to reduce the effect of our operations on the environment.

The main focus of our work is certification to the international environmental management standard ISO14001. Questions about the environment have been included in a number of our internal audit checklists and we carry out dedicated environmental reviews through internal auditing.

We are also checked annually by third-party auditors as part of our corporate responsibility risk reviews (conducted for our insurance programme) and as part of the corporate responsibility assurance audit conducted by Ernst & Young.

We publish detailed information about our environmental management, our commitments and our performance in key environmental impact areas in our 2006 Corporate Responsibility Report.

At O2, we recognise that in addition to thorough environmental policies and stretching performance targets, we also need to consider the wider effects of our business on the environment.

We operate a checklist to help minimise the visual and environmental effects of where we site our mobile phone masts, for example where schools or places of natural beauty are concerned.
 
Through our ethical and environmental procurement policies, we also work closely with our suppliers and try to help them minimise the impact of their operations by using sustainable sources for products and components and following safe and fair working practices throughout the supply chain.

Our aim is to ensure that their practices mirror ours in terms of safeguarding the world’s resources - and we encourage them to see this as a competitive advantage.

We believe that if we help to protect the environment and the health and safety of communities, we also enhance our reputation as a sensitive and sustainable business.