Climate Change Data

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Sustainable Economic Growth
• Good Governance
• Employee Well-being
• Environmental Protection
• Community Support
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction

Environmental Achievements

• 52% of global electricity usage covered by renewable energy
• More than 1,500 trees planted in India and the UAE (9.2 tonnes CO2 sequestering)
• Support of the Kolar bio-gas project, offsetting 73,429 tCO2 emissions for business-related travel
• 18% of locations use certified green printing paper

Social Achievements

• Female to Male ratio of 58:42 across all ranks
• 99% of women employees in India returned to work after maternity leave due to flexible working hours and creche facilities
• Close to 60% of operations staff are women
• Equal pay ratio of 100%
• 67% employee engagement (above industry average)
• 82% of global workforce attended at least one training program
• Average 2.9 person-days of training participation
• More than 55,000 individuals benefited through VFS Global outreach initiatives
• 60+ community initiatives rolled out across 22 countries

Governance Achievements

• Leadership performance linked to sustainability goals
• Integrated Report 2021 based on GRI standards
• Target to increase women in leadership roles to more than 28% by end of 2022 from 23% in 2021

Climate Goals & Targets

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement

• Green procurement (18% of locations use certified green printing paper)

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Sustainable Economic Growth
• Good Governance
• Nurturing Colleagues
• Protecting the Environment
• Supporting Communities

Environmental Achievements

• Shifted 72 percent of electricity needs to renewable energy through the use of Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs) in eligible countries, covering 11,023 MWhs.
• Planted 202,000 trees (cumulative total of 203,500 trees) as part of our tree planting goal of one million trees by 2027
• Overall carbon footprint decreased by 40 percent in 2022, compared to the base year of 2019

Social Achievements

• Increased Employee volunteering from 0.25 hrs/FTE in 2021 to 0.68 hrs/ FTE in 2022
• Benefited 59,000+ individuals from over 100 initiatives with more than 40 charity partners across regions towards education, women's empowerment and empathy causes.
• Launched our Inclusive Language Guide within our framework of supporting Diversity Equity and Inclusion in the workplace.

Governance Achievements

• Became a participant of the UN Global Compact Initiative, signed the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles and pledged to accelerate women representation in managerial levels with the UAE Gender Balance Council
• Implemented an internal verification mechanism to ensure that the performance data presented in this report is accurate.
• ESG Committee has reviewed and approved the report.

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• War between Russia and Ukraine and the slower than anticipated lifting of travel restrictions in China affected the recovery in these regions.
• Geopolitical and travel disruption
• Changes in consumer demand may impact the group’s short-term growth rates and margin expectations.

Mitigation Strategies

• VFS Global diversified footprint / travel corridors, and resilient business model, driven by the variety of visa categories available to applicants (including non-discretionary categories such as work, student and long-term settlement) as well as in-country citizen services has enabled VFS Global to recover its business more quickly.
• Continuing cost discipline improved operational structure and efficiency measures put in place will enable VFS Global to capitalise significantly on the continued upswing in travel in 2023 and beyond.
• VFS Global serves applicants across a broad range of visa requirements (tourist, business, relocation, employment, religious travel etc.), which also mitigates the consumer demand risk.

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: 90% of total vendors assessed against sourcing code of conduct

Responsible Procurement

• Supplier Code of Conduct
• Prioritises purchasing from local businesses, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and diversifying our supply chain such as focusing on women-owned/run businesses, and indigenous peoples’ vendors

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Not disclosed

Transition Risks

• Not disclosed

Opportunities

• Not disclosed

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI Standards 2021, SASB Standards, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, UN SDGs

Certifications: ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, ISO 27001:2013, ISO 45001:2018, ISO 10002:2018, ISO/IEC/IEEE 23026:2015, Germany IT Grundschutz, Spain ENS, UK Cyber Essentials, ISO 37001:2016

Third-party Assurance: Not disclosed

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Goal 1
• Goal 4
• Goal 5
• Goal 8
• Goal 10
• Goal 12
• Goal 13
• Goal 15
• Goal 16

Not disclosed

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• eVisa services
• Visa At Your Doorstep (VAYD) service

Awards & Recognition

• Dubai Quality Appreciation Award (DQAA) 2021
• Service Excellence 2022
• Gulf Sustainability Awards Finalist
• 19th Ghana Club 100 Awards
• Golden Peacock National Training Award 2022
• iVolunteer Awards 2022 Finalist
• Best HR Management Team HR Flag Awards
• Best HR Management Programme Award HR Flag Awards
• People Maturity Model (PMM) Level 5 Certification