Our Company Values distinguish us and guide our actions. We conduct business in a socially responsible and ethical manner. To us, sustainability is about economic success, about the safety and development of our employees, about lasting relationships with our business partners, and about environmental stewardship and social progress.
Our sustainability efforts and activities are focused in such a way that balanced consideration is given to the interests of all respective stakeholders, including employees, customers, shareholders, partners, local governments and the communities in which we are active.
We set improvement targets and monitor and report progress on the CSR areas and aspects defined by the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards. Our Sustainability Report 2017-2018 covers the sustainability performance of the entire Group and has been evaluated and approved according to the ‘Core option’ of the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards. Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a non-profit organization that promotes economic, environmental and social sustainability and is a globally recognized standard in sustainability reporting.
Bekaert’s responsible performance in 2017 has also been recognized by its inclusion in the Ethibel Excellence and Sustainability Index (ESI) Europe - a reference benchmark for top performers in terms of
corporate social responsibility based on Vigeo’s research - as well as in Kempen SRI. In 2017, Bekaert was awarded a gold recognition level from Ecovadis, an independent sustainability rating agency whose methodology is built on international CSR standards. In response to growing interest throughout the supply chain to report on the carbon footprint of operations and logistics, Bekaert also participates in the Climate Change and Supply Chain questionnaires of CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project), a non-profit organization which works with companies and cities to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions.
Scope and progress: The Sustainability report of Bekaert covers the CSR KPI of all subsidiaries of the Bekaert Group, including Bridon-Bekaert Ropes Group. We commit to book further progress in our sustainability performance, and do so by
* defining clear targets for both the short term and over the longer run
* continuing the roll-out a group-wide safety program to enhance the safety behavior and results
* the annual compliance commitment declaration of all managers and white collars of the Group to the Code of Conduct
* supporting and involving stakeholders in the value chain on a global scale