Applying our sustainability pillars in CIEL's day-to-day business

Through the release of CIEL’s Sustainable Initiatives Information Booklet entitled Building Our Ability to Sustain, the group has unveiled the five pillars around which its actions are undertaken, and shows its commitment to sustainability vis-à-vis its stakeholders and anchoring its position as a responsible and sustainable entity.

These five pillars which represent the guiding principles of CIEL’s Sustainability Journey, are imprinted in our way of conducting business through our Ethics, Labour, Environmental, Stakeholder Engagement, and Sustainable Design, Pl anning & Procurement practices.

How exactly does the group ensure that all measures advocated in Building Our Ability to Sustain are shared and applied? The implementation is driven at two levels: as a management practice and as a group culture.

As a management practice

Based on the proposals made by Mott MacDonald, an external consultant appointed for the design of a Sustainability Strategy for CIEL as a group, a Corporate Sustainability Committee has been set up to assist the Board in meeting its responsibilities in relation with the group’s sustainability policies and practices. This is done through:

• The institutionalisation of sustainability through a governance structure, i.e. the establishment of Sustainability Committees at different levels (cluster, subsidiary, operational).
• The adoption of IFC (International Finance Corporation) standards, particularly through regular visits on operational sites. 

As a group culture 

In order to turn the prescribed concept of sustainability into actions, it is essential for these measures to become part of the group culture and our DNA. The popularisation and routinisation of sustainable practices are implemented through:

• The identification and appointment of Sustainability Champions within each cluster and regular working sessions.
• Constant support from the Corporate Sustainability Department, but also from external consultants on sustainability issues when deemed necessary.
• Training sessions (e.g. sustainability training programmes in the Hotels & Resorts cluster), awareness sessions and organised events (e.g. Environment Day in the Textile and Finance Clusters) within the operational sites around sustainability related topics.

Furthermore, the implementation of a sustainable development policy and procedures specific to the context of each entity as well as several initiatives (holding of a Sustainability Forum, the sharing of good practices and ongoing dialogue with sustainability champions) ensure alignment, across the group, in terms of sustainability and good practices.