Sustainable
progress.
The Economist Group Sustainability report 2023

The Economist Group
Sustainability report 2023

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Introduction

Championing progress:
who we are, as well as what we do.
We exist to champion progress. For 180 years, we’ve delivered insights
and analysis that have helped decision-makers press forward in what
our founders called the “severe contest between intelligence...and an
unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress”.

Lara Boro Group chief executive

There is no shortage of threats to progress today—threats to the climate andthe natural world, to fairness and equality, to opportunity, and to truth andtrust. As a business and as individuals, we are committed to contesting thosethreats, both through what we produce, and through how we act.
The Economist’s independent journalism and the actionable insights
delivered by the research, analysis and engagement of Economist Impact
and Economist Intelligence will always be the most powerful levers we haveto bring about positive change. But we also look to create change within ourown operations, and in our communities—whether that’s through building
more inclusive workplaces, reducing our own impact on the environment,or our support of The Economist Educational Foundation and Charitable
Trust. Progress in these areas is fundamental to the success of our growthstrategy—and to our continued existence.
While we can be proud of what we’ve achieved so far, there is always more
to do. The Board and leadership of The Economist Group, and colleagues
throughout the business, will continue to drive us forward, supported byour stakeholders. This, our first separate sustainability report, aims to give
stakeholders a transparent account of how far we have come—and how
far we still need to go.

Contents
2

Introduction

3
4

About us
Overview of progress

7

Our content

8
10
11

The Economist
Economist Impact
Economist Intelligence

12 Our colleagues
13

Affinity groups at The Economist Group

17 Our communities
19

The Economist Educational Foundation

21 Climate and environment
22
29

Our sustainability framework
Results

31 Contact

Annual report

20
23
We pursue progress forindividuals, organisations
and the world.

Our strategy, business model and2023 performance are describedin our annual report2The Economist Group
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Introduction About us

Our four businesses are linked by the “red thread” ofexcellence—and a Group-wide commitment to sustainability.
With rigorous reporting, in-depth
analysis and global perspective, we
explain today’s most important events andseek to discern the trends that will shapetomorrow. At the core of everything we do
is our independence, underpinned by our
editorial culture and governance structure.

We offer a unique model forclients who want to lead on theissues that matter most, drawing on
an unmatched portfolio of capabilities
including policy research and insights,
multimedia content, global eventsand advertising.

Sustainable progress

We equip current and future leaderswith a fluent understanding of theshifts shaping their world and theskills to navigate them, offering online
courses led by expert practitioners
and written by The Economist’s
correspondents and editors.

Through rich data, deep analysis
and global insight, we help clients
understand their operating
environment, navigate risks andopportunities, and move theirorganisations forward.

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Introduction Overview

Sustainable progress—one step at a time.
Sustainable and inclusive growth for our business requires us
to take a systemic approach to increasing the positive impacts
we have on the world, and to reducing our negative impacts.

“While our content is
the first element of ourapproach to sustainable
progress, we also
weave sustainability
into the fabric of our
growth strategy
and operations.”
Oscar GrutChief legal officer,
Group company secretary, head of ESG

To help deliver that approach, we have developed an environmental,social and governance (ESG) strategy for The Economist Group
based on five key priorities—content, colleagues, communities,
climate and environment, and governance. Within those priorities
we have created a set of key targets and measures to help us guideour sustainable progress into the future—a process which tooka significant step forward this year as a result of our first materiality
assessment, described on page 6.

Harnessing the passion of the whole Group—and
our colleagues
Our ESG strategy relies on the support of colleagues at every
level of the Group.
Our goals and targets are approved by our leadership team andBoard, and are included in our Group key performance indicators.
ESG performance is considered as part of assessing rewards
for the leadership team and senior managers. We also havea formalised network of sustainability champions, The Economist
Sustainability Group, which helps harness the passion of colleagues
to support our strategy, share ideas, and give feedback.

We aim to communicate our progress and challenges transparently
to our stakeholders. In previous years our main channel was ourannual report—which again this year contains critical information
about our governance in particular. This year, to give stakeholders
more depth and breadth of insight into what we do and why,
we have created this sustainability report. It is a further stepon our path to weaving sustainability and responsibility into
every aspect of our growth strategy. We know we have further
to go—and look forward to communicating our continued progress
to stakeholders in the years ahead.

20%	reduction in annual GHG
emissions since base year 2020,
while growing our business42%	of our global top pay
quartile are women**Annual base salaries, adjusted
for purchasing-power parity

Other information

New supplier code
Modern slavery statement
Gender pay-gap report
Annual report online summary
TCFD report
Governance

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Introduction Overview

Our five key ESG priorities

Our communities
Impact report
2021 - 2022

Enable access to informationand critical-thinking skills,
especially for disadvantaged
young people (see pages 17-20).

Our content
Enable progress throughthe strength of ourbusinesses—providing
a guide to a changing worldand empowering informed
choices about critical socialand environmental issues(see pages 7-11).

Climate and environment
Take ambitious climate action andweave environmental sustainability
into the fabric of our growth andoperations (see pages 21-30).

GovernanceOur colleagues
Champion and foster diversity, equity and inclusion,and fairly provide colleagues with resources andopportunities to thrive (see pages 12-16).

Operate in a clear and ethicalcontext and in line with
our guiding principles.
Our approach to governanceis described in the governancesection of our annual reporton pages 64-73.

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Introduction Overview

This year, we carried out an assessment to understand which
environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues are mostmaterial to The Economist Group. We conducted this assessmentwith the support of Carnstone, a specialist ESG consultancy.
We applied the concept of double materiality, following thedefinitions of the Draft European Sustainability ReportingStandards 1 (ESRS) general requirements. We report on ourmaterial issues based on the two aspects of materiality:
financial materiality, which includes issues that may drive risks
and opportunities with a potential material impact on our
financial situation; and impact materiality, which identifies
issues that may have the most significant actual or potential
impact on our stakeholders or the environment.
Our most material issues relate to our output; the biggest impact
we can have on social and environmental issues is empowering
people, governments and businesses to understand and tackle
the critical challenges and changes facing the world.
To speak with authority, we must preserve our independence.
We must also be leaders when it comes to our own footprint
and impacts. This includes managing our own climate impacts,
managing our impacts on nature, supporting diversity, andrespecting human rights.
Our materiality assessment is based on a combination of deskbased research, internal workshops and interviews with internaland external stakeholders. We will use the assessment to define
our sustainability priorities across ESG issues.

The Economist Group’s material ESG issues
HIGH

B

A
C

Impact materiality

Understanding our most material environmental,social and governance issues

G

D

F
E
I
H
J

LOW

Financial materiality

HIGH

A

Independent, high-quality
journalism

B

Enable decision-making
on ESG issues

C

Diversity of thought,
gender, ethnicity

D

Corporate governanceE

Corporate partnerships

F

Impact on climate
and natureG

Sustainable value chains

H

Talent attraction anddevelopment

I

Data privacy

J

Cyber-security

Issues we are watching:• Ethical AI• Trust in institutions“Our climate journalism continued to set The Economist
apart from its peers. We know climate change to bea problem that spans borders and sectors. In 2022
we covered it from every angle, combining our
expertise in science and policy, business andgeopolitics, trade and technology.”• Freedom of expression• Media literacy

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Introduction

Ourcontent

Our content

The insights and analysis we provide through
The Economist’s journalism and our research,engagement and events services are the mostpowerful tools we have to achieve positive change.
In this section we highlight some of the ways
we’ve shaped the debate and enabled action
this year—starting with a review of the year’s
journalism by The Economist’s editorial team.

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Our content The Economist

Bringing clear-eyed realism to the debate over ESG.
Our editorial team—independent, as ever, from The Economist Group’s corporate
reporting—describes how The Economist equipped subscribers to understandenvironmental and social challenges. Our newsroom cut through the debate,providing unique and rigorous analysis of the way forward.
The Economist has long served its audience by offering clear
perspectives on complex questions. By helping subscribers
understand a challenge, we equip them to tackle it. In 2022
we applied our usual rigour and in-depth reporting to ESG,
as well as the problems ESG initiatives seek to solve.

“We delivered clear-eyedreporting on climate, arguingthat the world would missits target to limit the rise inglobal temperatures to 1.5°C
above pre-industrial levels.
That uncomfortable truth,
we wrote, makes it all themore urgent that leadersact, both to curb emissions
and to adapt to the realities
of a warming planet.”
Zanny Minton Beddoes
Editor-in-chief

Read Zanny’s editorial review of the year
in our annual report

The term ESG is nearly two decades old. The idea is to haveinvestors judge companies not just on their commercial returns,
but also on their environmental and social record and theirgovernance (hence the acronym). In recent years ESG has moved
from obscure corporate slide decks to the centre of the culture
wars. To some, ESG can mitigate the world’s largest problems,from climate change to racism. To others, ESG imposes arbitrarypriorities on firms and undermines capitalism itself.
Our special report on ESG cut through the debate, explaining
what has gone wrong with this concept and how it should be fixed.
Our cover leader did not mince words. ESG, we wrote, “is an unholy
mess that needs to be ruthlessly streamlined.” Metrics for ESG areinconsistent and prone to creative interpretation. Conflicting goals
within the ESG movement obscure real trade-offs—for instance
between shutting a coal mine and preserving its jobs, or building
a solar farm in a desert and protecting a desert species. Better,
we wrote, to centre attention on emissions, so that investors canunderstand the risk companies pose to climate change and viceversa. A more sensible ESG movement would be more focusedand humble. As our cover leader argued: “It is government action,
combined with clear and consistent disclosure, that can save theplanet, not an abbreviation that is in danger of standing forexaggerated, superficial guff.”

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Our content The Economist

Sobering, and urgent: journalism in a time ofclimate change
Our climate journalism continued to set The Economist apartfrom its peers. We know climate change to be a problem thatspans borders and sectors. In 2022 we covered it from every
angle, combining our expertise in science and policy, businessand geopolitics, trade and technology.
That included delivering some harsh truths. In November we
explained why the world would miss its goal to restrain the risein global temperatures to 1.5 degrees. “The same countries that
piously signed the Paris agreement have not cut their emissions
enough to meet its targets; in fact global emissions are still
growing,” we wrote. “Given the lasting impact of greenhousegases already emitted, and the impossibility of stopping emissions
overnight, there is no way Earth can now avoid a temperature riseof more than 1.5°C.” That does not mean the world should give up,
we argued. Rather, clear-eyed realism should energise leaders andhelp better direct their efforts.
One special report explained the imperative to invest in
adaptation, to limit the impact of rising sea levels and drought.
A technology quarterly described the extraordinary advances inenergy innovation that will help restrain emissions. Our leader
pages emphasised the link between protecting biodiversity andreaching net zero.

“Even as we outlined the urgency ofclimate action, we illuminated thegeopolitical events and domestic
politics that will shape its course.”

Even as we outlined the urgency of climate action, we illuminatedthe geopolitical events and domestic politics that will shape its
course. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roiled energy markets, creating
opportunities for some and challenges for others. As pricey crude
filled petrostates’ coffers, the Middle East boomed. An energy crisis
in Europe underscored the need for supplies that are both cleanand secure—a surge in natural gas projects was a reminder thatinvestments in fossil fuels will persist. Meanwhile subsidies for
American clean manufacturing heralded a new, green-tinged
protectionism. Such subsidies have made green policies politicallyfeasible; they will also disrupt trading alliances and make clean
energy more costly.

Our coverage of climate spanned new formats, too. To illuminate
the trade-offs in the energy transition, we published an essay andpodcast on Alaska, a state disproportionately dependent on fossil
fuels and harmed by them, as its ice melts. “Nowhere more clearlyshows the forces that will sustain the oil economy,” the essay
observed, “or the cost of failing to give it up.” To take our audienceto the heart of the United Nations Climate Change Conference,
we published four special episodes of Babbage, our science
podcast. Listeners heard our correspondents debating thebiggest questions facing policymakers, from how to spur
private investment in adaptation to whether to compensate
poor countries for the climate damage wrought by rich ones.
In 2022 The Economist offered a message on climate that wassobering, and urgent.

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Our content Economist Impact

Enabling leadership on the issues that matter most.
Economist Impact exists to help drive change—creatingclose relationships with clients and opening up possibilities
for them through access to expertise from across
The Economist Group, delivered through policy
research, multimedia content and events.

change. It is garnering industry recognition—The Sustainability
Project was nominated as a finalist in three categories at the WorldMedia Group Awards 2022, and the International Academy of
Digital Arts & Sciences named it in May 2023 as a Webby People’s
Voice Winner in Websites and Mobile Sites—Best Writing (Editorial).

We create multi-year partnerships with companies, non-profits,
foundations and government organisations that focus on the criticalareas of sustainability, health and new globalisation—and aredesigned to enable clients to lead on the issues that matter most.

Health is another Economist Impact focus area; this year ourpartnership with Haleon saw the launch of the Health Inclusivity
Index, which provides data and insights designed to help inform
polices on issues surrounding health inclusivity. And we work to
add insight on other crucial social issues: The Out of the Shadows
Index, designed by Economist Impact for Ignite Philanthropy,
provides the first global benchmark looking at how countries are
addressing child sexual exploitation and abuse.

The Sustainability Project is a clear example. A collaboration with
our digital-innovation partner Infosys, The Sustainability Projectis a forum which provides insights, innovation and influence toengage global stakeholders who have the power to effect real

Our events business: convening and curating tohelp drive change
Delivering world-class events is one of the most importantways that Economist Impact can help create positive change.
Our international portfolio of sustainability events delivers
high-quality content and actionable insights to an influential
audience of businesses, policymakers, financiers, investors,
NGOs and others, helping them achieve their sustainability goals.
In March 2023 Economist Impact Events hosted a highly-successful
Sustainability Week—our eighth—with more than 6,000 attendees.
And we continued to help instigate action to develop a sustainableocean economy through our tenth World Ocean Summit, part ofour World Ocean Initiative.
Read more about Economist Impact. Find out how Economist Impact
performed this year in our annual reportC A S E S T U DY

Back to Blue: evidence-based
advocacy on plastic pollution“The world will continue to drown in plastic waste unless a bold
and comprehensive set of policy changes are agreed by the UN.”That was the stark finding of modelling published this year by Back to Blue, theinitiative set up by Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation to improve
evidence-based approaches and solutions to the pressing issues faced by theocean. The Peak Plastics report was published as the United Nations began talks
in November 2022 on an agreement to tackle plastic pollution—and it highlighted
just how urgent action has become. Without an agreement, the research showed,
plastic use in G20 countries is on course to nearly double by the middle of the
century. The way forward, it concluded, was a ban on single-use plastics, higher
production taxes, and mandatory schemes to make producers responsible for thewhole life-cycle of their plastics.

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Our content Economist Intelligence

Creating the insights that can catalyse change.
Economist Intelligence helps subscribers understandthe challenges and opportunities of their operating
environment—including the risks and opportunities ofenvironmental and social change. It shares The Economist’s
strict stance on editorial independence, so clients can trust
what they see and hear—and its reputation for analytical
excellence is second to none.
C A S E S T U DY

Measuring what matters:
EIU’s Democracy Index
Democracy is fiendishly difficult to measure. Elections alone
do not make a democracy—and democracy can express itself
through non-electoral channels. The data can be confusing,but the truth really matters—and measuring what mattersis one of the ways we make a positive social impact on theworld around us.
In February 2023 we launched the 17th edition of EIU’s flagship
Democracy Index. The annual index provides a snapshot of thestate of democracy globally, based on five categories: electoral
process and pluralism, functioning of government, politicalparticipation, political culture, and civil liberties.

Democracy Index 2022

Frontline democracy andthe battle for Ukraine

The 2022 index told a storyof stagnation, with a halt in the
decline in democracy that we’dbeen tracking over previous years,
but no sign of significant progress.
We’ll keep measuring—so we cankeep generating insights that help
our readers and clients understandthe challenges of our times.

One arm of the business in particular, EIU,
specialises in deep insights into complex
economic and political developments, giving
subscribers access to expert content onover 200 geographies in developed andemerging markets. It brings this analyticalexpertise to clients who are in a position todrive change—governments, financial-services
firms, multinational corporations and academic
institutions—and offers an increasing rangeof research and resources in the areas coveredby the catch-all “ESG”.
As well as its ESG rating service (see right)
covering 95% of the global economy, EIU has
developed detailed analysis that helps decisionmakers understand the available pathways outof the energy crisis, the investment needed torebalance energy supply and demand, and how
geopolitical developments will affect the oil andgas markets.

C A S E S T U DY

ESG Rating Service: shining a lighton the most complex issues
A deteriorating climate. Inequality. Corruption. The erosion of freedoms—and theabuse of human rights.
These are complex challenges that cannot be addressed until they are properly
understood—but as with many environmental, social and governance issues, data
and definitions are often unclear.
EIU’s ESG Rating Service is designed to shine a light on these sometimes murky
subjects. It is a comprehensive measure of country-level ESG risk, a global index
of 150 geographies that considers 90 underlying indicators, with some 120,000 data
points contributing to an easy-to-understand and comparable A-E rating scale.
It draws on EIU’s track record of quantifying subjective issues, and it is supportedby the extensive hard data gathered from partners, in a package that also provides
historical ESG risk scores and indicators dating back to 2015 and quarterly reports
on key ESG trends and developments—giving decision-makers a vital tool for
driving positive change.

Its guide to energy provides a comprehensive
view of the challenges, opportunities and trends
to watch, including on emissions. And its
research and analysis—rigorous, independent,
unflinching—is always available to help theworld’s change-makers drive progress.

Read more about Economist Intelligence
Find out how Economist Intelligence performed
this year in our annual report

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Our colleagues

The pursuit of progress drives
everything we do—including
progress for colleagues in theircareers within an equitable,
inclusive workplace.

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Our colleagues

Fostering excellence, enabling flexibility,and building diversity and inclusion.
We’ve been working over several years to develop a morediverse, inclusive workplace where colleagues have clear
and rewarding career pathways, which help them fulfil theirpotential and contribute to the “red thread” of excellence
that runs through The Economist Group.

“We’ve strengthened thedevelopment resources
we can offer colleagues
at every stage of theircareers, enhanced our
hybrid-working policy inresponse to colleague
feedback, and added
greater depth andbreadth to our workon inclusion.”
Lauren Wartho
Chief talent officer (interim)This year we built on that progress. We strengthened thedevelopment resources we offer colleagues at every stage of
their careers, enhanced our hybrid-working policy in response
to colleague feedback and added greater depth and breadth
to our work on inclusion, including through the creation of new
affinity groups. We also saw encouraging progress in employee
engagement, with colleagues telling us how much they value
the autonomy and purpose that comes with working at
The Economist Group. There is still plenty to do, however:
our progress on diversity and inclusion has not been fastenough, and we have room to improve our gender pay gap.

Building clear pathways to help colleagues develop
their careers
For the past three years, partly in response to feedback fromcolleagues, we’ve placed a strong emphasis on developing career
pathways for everyone in the Group. That included an extensive
career-mapping process, which recognised that colleagues could
not always see how, and where, they should focus their efforts
to expand on their current role or prepare for the next.

48%

	of colleagues are black, Asian,multi or diverse ethnicity

54%

	of colleagues are women
Alongside a concerted effort to increase collaboration between
teams and create opportunities for colleagues to work acrossbusinesses and functions, we’ve developed a new careerdevelopment platform, Degreed, to build skills and help
colleagues plan a rewarding career pathway. Degreed gives
colleagues learning opportunities tailored to their personal goals
and interests through access to a huge range of content andtraining programmes—and in its first full year of operation, it hasreached 976 active users across the Group. All new hires are given
access to Degreed as part of their onboarding, and in total, 11,690
modules were accessed during the year. We’ve also increased theopportunities for colleagues to give feedback, and improved our
processes for regular progress reviews, so that colleagues andtheir managers can work together on their goals and ambitions.

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Our colleagues

Focusing on excellent outcomesWe’ve made real strides in our efforts to focus on the excellenceof the work our colleagues produce—however and wherever they
produce it. Our hybrid-working environment aims to combine thecollaborative and social benefits of office working with theflexibility to work at home, or from abroad.
Most colleagues now have the option of working two days eachweek in the office and three at home, with up to five weeks a yearof working from overseas. Across the business, we’ve seen a very
positive response from colleagues.
A clear rewards structure is an important part of fostering
excellence—and we offer excellent benefits including competitive
salary, incentive schemes, health-insurance schemes, generous
annual and parental-leave policies, volunteering days, and freeaccess to all The Economist content.
We also continue to provide support for colleagues’ well-being—
including through well-being and stress-management training
sessions developed with the mental-health charity, MIND.
Managing Mental Health in the Workplace is a mandatory module
in our management-development programme, and mental-healthfirst aiders are in place in our largest offices to support colleagues.

“We’ve made real strides
in our efforts to focus on the
excellence of the work ourcolleagues produce—however
and wherever they produce it.”Our values
Independence
We are not bound to any party or interest and encourage
exploration and free-thinking. We champion freedom,
both within our organisation and around the world.

Strengthening inclusion, and furthering diversity

Integrity

Creating a more diverse and inclusive organisation is a priority
across the Group—and we’re transparent about the progress
we’ve made, and about where we need to improve. As well as
our Gender pay-gap report, we publish global data on ethnic
and gender diversity on our website. Every colleague (outside
The Economist’s editorial team) who manages people has diversity
targets as part of their bonus objectives, as do the leadership team.

We are bold in our efforts to uncover the truth and standup for what we believe in. We inspire trust through our
rigour, fact-checking and transparency.

But we still have more to do. One of our focus areas for the year
ahead will be to strengthen our inclusion, so we perform betterat retaining colleagues from diverse backgrounds. Our colleague
affinity groups, which encourage people to connect with andcontribute to a more diverse and inclusive culture, play animportant role, and we have strengthened our affinity-group
network this year while increasing our budgets and executive
sponsorship for these groups (see case study).

Excellence
We aspire to the highest standards in all we do. We areambitious and inquisitive in our pursuit of continuous
progress and innovation.
Inclusivity
We value diversity in thought and backgroundand encourage healthy debate with a breadth ofperspectives. We treat our colleagues and customers
fairly and respectfully.
Openness
We foster a collaborative and empathetic culture
conducive to the interests, wit and initiative of ourcolleagues. New ideas are our lifeblood.

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Our colleagues

Employee engagement

Gender pay gap

We run an annual employee-engagement survey calledYour Voice, which we support with regular pulse surveys
to check in on how our colleagues feel about our business,and their careers. 82% of colleagues took part in our Your
Voice survey in 2022, with an average engagement scoreof 7.6 out of 10, which is at benchmark for our sector.

Our sixth Gender pay-gap report showed an improvement at themedian pay gap (from 22.4% to 20.4%), but a deterioration at the mean(from 18.7% to 21%).

Our highest scoring area was autonomy, which includes
flexibility in the work schedule and remote working.
Colleagues feel positively about their teams and theirwork/life balance. The areas that had most improved
were growth and reward, which were our priorities theprevious year. They remain our priorities for 2023,
alongside diversity, equity and inclusion.

With variable pay excluded, our fixed pay gap has shrunk by 3 percentage
points at the mean (from 21% to 18%) and 5 percentage points at themedian (from 23% to 18%). This improvement was reflected at the global
level too, with our mean global fixed pay gap improving from 19% in
2021 to 16% in 2022.
Our focus in this area has led to a steady reduction in the fixed pay
gap each year. It is now half what it was in 2017, when we started ourreporting, but we will continue our efforts until the gender pay gap nolonger exists. We publish our Gender pay-gap report on our website.

42%

Gender pay
gap report2022

The calculation was based on UK data on a snapshot date of April 5th
2022 and includes variable pay such as bonuses and commissions.

	of our global top pay
quartile are women**Annual base salaries, adjusted forpurchasing-power parity

Read our Gender pay-gap report

Our guiding principles
The Group’s guiding principles state: “We value ourcolleagues and treat each other fairly. The Group iscommitted to equality of opportunity in all employment
practices and policies. We support colleagues who
through disability or illness are unable to perform theirduties, by adapting the work environment and hours
of work to suit them as far as practicable. We provide
employee assistance programmes and access to mentalhealth facilities.”

The Economist (editorial)

2

Gender1

More flexible working
Our hybrid-working policy is designed to give colleagues
the freedom to work at their best, with most full-timecolleagues expected to attend an office a minimum of twodays a week, and able to work from abroad for up to five
weeks a year. Editorial colleagues at The Economist havedifferent flexibility given the nature of their work.

Gender and ethnicity
of editorial colleagues
January 2023, % of total

6%

1 Female
2 Male5

Gender and ethnicity
of non-editorial colleagues
January 2023, % of total

Gender1

Gender

%47.7

1 Female

55.4

52.3

2 Male44.6

nil

3 Non-binary

Ethnicity2

3
4

Ethnicity2

Gender3 Non-binary

1

The Economist Groupnil

Ethnicity

1 Asian

10.0

2 Black

1.9

3 Multiple ethnicity

3.2

4 Other/not disclosed

6.1

5 White, British
6 White, other5

1

1 Asian

40.6

2 Black

4.4

3 Multiple ethnicity

2.2

4 Other/not disclosed

6.8

50.6

5 White

46.0

28.1

*Includes employees on permanent andfixed-term contracts.

Ethnicity

4

3 2

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

F E AT U R E

Affinity groups at The Economist Group
Colleagues across the business cometogether through our network ofaffinity groups, which create safe
places where they can share ideas,
contribute to building on diversity,
equity and inclusion across thecompany, and ensure their voices
are heard. This year we plan to also
grow our TEG disAbility Network,and the Family Network.

WILDE stands for Workplace Inclusion of
LGBTQ+ Diversity at The Economist Group.
WILDE exists to promote acceptance andsupport for LGBTQ+ colleagues and allies,
and to engage our company and the wider
community in debate and activism
on LGBTQ+ issues.
“As a member of the LGBTQ+ community,
I understand the importance of creating a supportive
environment where individuals can be their authentic
selves without fear of discrimination or prejudice.
By actively participating in the group, I aim tocontribute to the advancement of LGBTQ+ rights
and representation within our workplace. I want
to be part of a collective effort to raise awareness,
educate others, and advocate for policies andpractices that promote inclusivity.”
Issey Osman (Chair) Global head of talent acquisition,
Human Resources (London)

The Economist Sustainability Group provides
a network that aims to weave sustainablebusiness practices into the fabric of The
Economist Group while delivering on our
strategy to reduce our emissions.
“When the Group launched its sustainability agenda
and called on colleagues to input into shaping thatstrategy, I immediately signed up to help. What’s
been fantastic to see is how much enthusiasm
our sustainability agenda has created within thecompany. We now have 16 office champions
around the world working with us to identify how
their offices can be more efficient and promoting
better office practices, with many others supporting
our sustainability agenda in their own way.”
Tatiana Der Avedissian Office champion lead,head of business development, World Ocean Initiativeand non-profit, EMEA (London)

VOICES focuses on making the India officea more inclusive space for people from various
backgrounds. Its aim is to create a culture ofequitable opportunities and foster a diverse
workplace that includes representation frommarginalised groups.
“It has been a challenge navigating working life asa homosexual man in India, and when I saw someHR policies that could have been more inclusive,
I wanted to do something about it. I met a bunchof colleagues with a similar mindset and we formed
VOICES. We have made much headway with inclusionin the India office. We were able to hold a talk on
caste by an external expert and it turned out to be
one of the most viewed events of all time. We havegender-neutral restrooms for TEG colleagues.
We have made changes in our health-insurance
policy to include LGBTQIA+ couples as well.”
Iqbaljeet Singh (Chair) Talent acquisition manager,
Human Resources (Gurugram, India)

Women of TEG supports, promotes, empowers
and recognises women at The Economist Group.
It provides a place where women can connect,
inspire and learn from one another, bothprofessionally and personally.
“With female co-workers in 25 offices across the globe,
meeting with mentors and inspirational female rolemodels can sometimes be tricky face-to-face. We’ve
overcome that through an active Slack channel where
we can celebrate successes and share information andsupport, as well as hybrid events that bring people
together over shared issues such as menopause,International Women’s Day or Women in Tech.
The most popular feature of the network has been
our ‘Spotlight on...’ interview series, where colleagues
from across all divisions and levels take part ina relaxed conversation highlighting their successes
and failures, their aspirations and top tips, their rolemodels and pet peeves.”
Michelle Wright (Chair) Purchasing & administration
manager, Technology (London)

Minds of All Kinds’ mission is to bring awarenessto mental health and well-being. Its purpose
is to provide a supportive community to fellow
colleagues and champion “minds of all kinds”.

TEG in Colour is a group for ethnically diverse
identities across The Economist Group, alongwith those who support and wish to further
diversity across the organisation.

“I became involved with Minds of All Kinds after
becoming a UK-qualified Mental Health First Aider
through TEG’s training programme with MIND.
My personal interest in mental health came about
after experiencing a breakdown following thedeath of a close family member.

“Our vision is to grow, keep and uplift diverseand BAME employees, embed racial equity within
TEG and create a culture that cares. I joined theaffinity group a few years ago when I moved fromour India office to the headquarters in London,
which was a really interesting experience as my own
understanding of identity changed. Over the lastyear I have been chairing the group, and along withmy fantastic peers have been pursuing the progressof racial equity through our efforts.”I t’s brilliant to see the group grow and have input
from the community globally. In 2023 we formeda productive partnership with the TEG Ability
Network, and we ran event programming for
Mental Health Awareness in May.”
Melanie Smith (Co-chair) Deputy head of production,
EMEA, Operations (London)

Shreya Deora (Chair) Senior product manager,
Product, EIU (London)

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Going beyond our business,to inspire free-thinking andcreate opportunity.

Our
communities

Climate andenvironment

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Our communities

Upholding freedoms, supporting disadvantaged groups
and enabling critical thinking.
Our reach goes far beyond our readers and clients,
connecting us to the communities everywhere we work,and to civil society as a whole—and we aim to champion
progress through creating opportunity, supporting freedoms,
and acting as a responsible corporate citizen.
Our guiding principles set out our commitment to independence,
integrity and delivering high quality in everything we do. These
values govern our relationships with readers, audiences and clients,
shareholders, colleagues, suppliers and the community at large.

“The Board, like colleagues
across the business,has long supported The
Economist Educational
Foundation and The
Economist Charitable
Trust, which bothdemonstrate colleagues’
values in action bylending our expertise andpassion to championing
education, opportunityand critical thinking.”
Paul Deighton
Chair

We are not bound to any party or interest and encourage
exploration and free-thinking. We champion freedom, bothwithin our organisation and around the world. And we support
charities that create opportunity and empower the disadvantaged,
through our close links with The Economist Charitable Trust and
The Economist Educational Foundation.

Defending press independence, and ensuring accessto independent journalism
Access to information is vital to democracy. Since Russia’s invasionof Ukraine in February 2022 we have stopped all sales in Russia—
but we have given full digital access to The Economist content toreaders visiting the site from Ukraine and Russia, by lifting our
paywall and renewing digital subscriptions without charge.

At the same time, we take part in joint initiatives that seek to protectpress freedoms everywhere, and that defend media standards.
The Economist is a partner of The Trust Project, an international
consortium of news organisations building standards of transparency
and working with technology platforms to affirm and amplify
journalism’s commitment to transparency, accuracy, inclusion,and fairness so that the public can make informed news choices.
We are members of the Responsible Media Forum, an industry-wide
partnership between leading media companies to identify and takeaction on the social and environmental challenges facing the sector.

The Economist Charitable Trust—supporting thedisadvantaged
Our colleagues share the Group’s commitment to supporting
charities that empower people from disadvantaged groups,
and which champion the values of free-thinking and education.
As a Group and as individuals, we support two nominated charities,
The Economist Educational Foundation (see pages 19-20) and
The Economist Charitable Trust.
The Trust was established in 1986. It funds charities chosen by ourcolleagues each year, using the money they raise, which is matchedby the Group.

£108k	donated by the Group to
The Economist Charitable Trust

In the year to March 31st 2023, the Trust received £108,000 from theGroup. In February 2023 the Trust partnered with charities to set
up a double-match campaign to support colleagues’ donations tocharities for Turkey/Syria Earthquake relief. In total, 76 colleagues
donated £5,527.54, and this was double-matched with an additional£11,055.09 from the Trust for a total of £16,582.63.

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The Economist Educational Foundation
The Economist Educational Foundation is an independent
charity established in 2012 by employees of The Economist,
combining deep education know-how with The Economist’s
journalistic expertise. Our mission is to change young people’s
lives by giving them the skills to think and speak forthemselves about current affairs.

Who we are and what we do
Learning to think and speak well can change lives—but disadvantaged
children have the fewest opportunities to build these skills.

“In today’s schools, finding
the space for regular,
in-depth discussions
about the news is extremely
difficult; having access togood resources is notenough. So we’ve always
gone further than providing
resources, offering training
and support to passionate
teachers who are committed
to overcoming barriers.”

There’s an urgent need to empower the next generation tothink more deeply and talk more constructively so they cantackle the huge social and environmental challenges aroundthem—challenges that are not of their making.
We empower disadvantaged schoolchildren with the knowledge
and skills they need—especially in these times of misinformationand polarisation. We enable them to join inspiring discussions
about the news which teach them to think critically, communicate
effectively and understand the world.
We give teachers training and resources to have these discussions intheir classrooms, and children use our website to join international
discussions online with each other and leading topic experts.
Find out more about
what we do in our
Impact Report

Impact report

Topical Talk: empowering more young people withcritical skills
Our core programme is called Topical Talk—and we’ve grown
it rapidly over the past few years. Over 7,900 teachers from
more than 100 countries now have Topical Talk accounts, andthis year we reached 200,000 children through the programme,
double the previous year. Around 40% of Topical Talk teachers
work with a high number of children from socioeconomicallydisadvantaged homes.
We expanded the programme to the US—partnering with
Clayton County Public Schools, a school district in Georgia,
to deliver a pilot Topical Talk project. And we continued tomeasure the impact of our programmes, seeing up to fivetimes more progress in critical thinking and communication
skills among Topical Talk students.
Each year, we report on the difference we’re making—and ourplans for the future—in the Foundation’s Impact Report.

Five times more progress in critical thinking and communication skills
Measured progress averages across case-study schools
4
Average progresswith Topical Talk
over 6 months

322021 - 2022

Emily Evans
Chief executive, The Economist Educational Foundation

Average progress
without intervention
over a year

10Listening

Speaking

Problem-solving

Creativity

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BACK

Our communities The Economist Educational Foundation
HIGHLIGHTS
Topical Talk Festival Highlights

talk.economistfoundation.org 2022

2

World Cup: the legacy of big events
COP27: is it sustainable?
Protests in Iran: Mahsa Amini
US midterms: are young people political?
The global food crisis
TOPICAL TALK FESTIVAL 2022

“It’s a very wonderful feeling when someone comes
and asks how, when and where about something
in the world and I know the answer!”Student, Jabalia Preparatory Girls School, Palestine

8th annual Sustainability Week

HIGHLIGHTS MAGAZINE

Topical Talk Festival 2022
The world’s biggest news festival for young people

OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2022

Topical Talk Festival
Between October 31st and December 16th 2022,
children took part in a seven-week Topical Talk
Festival. This is the biggest global current affairs
festival for children.

“Students are more able
to relate academic ideas
to their context; they ask
about how the things westudy apply to their lives
and think about how tobuild better communities
as a result.”

106 classes took part across 14 countries.

How does it work?
Teachers lead a classroom discussion
about a different topic in the news
each week.
After these classroom lessons, children
join global conversations about different
issues in the news with peers around theworld.
They ask questions to topic experts, takepart in live lessons and are supported
in their discussions by volunteers fromseveral corporate organisations.
At the end of the seven weeks, children
create a Standpoint; they pick the topic
they feel the most passionate about
and create a piece of work sharing theiropinion in written, audio or video format.

Scoris International School, Nigeria, 2022

Students, aged 9 and over, contributed 10,000
comments to discussions and over 500 Standpoints
were submitted.

106
classes

10k

comments506

	Teacher, DrummondCommunity High School, UK

Ensuring young people’s voices are heard:
Economist Impact’s Sustainability Week
Young people from India, the UK and Romania took partin Sustainability Week 2023, the annual event organised
by Economist Impact which brings together businesses,
policymakers, financiers, investors and NGOs. It was a great
opportunity for young people to express their ideas aboutsustainability to an influential audience. You can listen to thediscussion here.

Standpoints

This Topical Talk Festival Highlights magazine gives
readers a taste of some of the fantastic discussions,
Read moreideas and work from across the seven week Festival.

Join inIf you would like to enable more young people to join inspiring, high-quality discussions about the news,
please contact the charity’s founding chief executive, Emily Evans. emilyevans@economist.com

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Ourcolleagues

Climate and environment

Climate change threatens progress
everywhere—and though our businesses
provide insights that will help individuals
and organisations take action, we knowthat we must also play our part throughour operations.

Ourcommunities

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Climate and environment

Tackling the unprecedented challenge of climate change
Where we live, how well we live, how long we live—every aspectof our lives is being affected by climate change. It is shaping thesocieties and economies around us, and it is shaping what we do andwho we are as a business—because The Economist Group exists topursue progress, and climate change puts that progress in jeopardy.
Our biggest impact when it comes to tackling global warming will
always be through our content—the insight, analysis and engagement
we generate through journalism and information services, described on
pages 7-11, which enables individuals and organisations to understandthe risks and opportunities around them, and take action.

“Environmental limitations,and social and economic
needs, render a businessas-usual approachunsustainable. Ambitious
climate action is critical.
As are measures to adapt
to the inevitable impactsof climate change.”
Emily Jackson-Kessler
SVP sustainability

But we can also make a difference within our own operations. We haveset ourselves a “25% by 2025 emissions-reduction target”, validated by
the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a coalition for corporate
climate action. We are signatories to the Business Ambition for 1.5°C
and UNFCCC Race to Zero campaigns. Our longer-term vision is tohalve our emissions by 2030 and achieve science-based net zeroby 2045 at the latest.

Working across our value chain—and disclosing
transparently
We were recognised by CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure
Project) with a B score for our climate-change disclosure in 2022.
We also recognise the risks and opportunities that climate changepresents to our business. We report voluntarily in line with therecommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial
Disclosures (TCFD) in our annual report.
At the same time, we know that carbon emissions are not the
only impact we have on the natural world. We look across ourvalue chain for opportunities to improve our environmental
performance—often, as with our carbon-emissions work,in collaboration with our partners and suppliers.
To help us deliver our ambitions, we’ve developed an environmental
sustainability framework that outlines three steps to progress:
manage, measure, mitigate.

Our environmental sustainability framework

ManageMeasureMitigate

Progress

Weave sustainability into the fabricof our growth and operations

Build a plan and understanding
based on data

Harness the passion and be an
active leader

Results• Raise Group awareness ofclimate change• M easure greenhouse-gas (GHG) • Science-based emissionemissions across the full value chain
reduction target of 25% by 2025

• 9% year-on-year decarbonisationin line with a 1.5°C-aligned pathway• Accountability for the strategy
rests with the Board andleadership team• Life-cycle assessment• Plan for 50% reduction by 2030...

• Plastics footprint• ...and net zero by 2045

• Automated carbon reporting• Invest in renewable energy• 20% emissions reduction frombase year 2020 in line withvalidated science-based target• C limate-related risks andopportunities• Support innovative climate
solutions and technologies• The Economist SustainabilityGroup is our formalisedinternal network• 19% reduction in the use ofplastics in our supply chain• Accelerated digital product growth22

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ManageOur commitment to climate action
At The Economist Group, we are taking important steps towards ourscience-based 25% by 2025 near-term emissions-reduction target—aligned with the aim of the Paris agreement to limit global warmingfrom pre-industrial levels to 1.5°C—by continuing to deliver on
our commitment to reduce our carbon footprint. Our longer-term
ambition is to halve our emissions by 2030, and reach net zero by 2045.
At the same time, we need to understand how climate change
is affecting our business and adapt to its impacts. Climate-related
extreme weather conditions in the US caused flooding at one of ourprint sites this year, disrupting our business and supply chain in North
America, and we expect impacts to increase over time (see our TCFD
report). Managing our carbon footprint and measuring climate-change
risk is critical for our business—and our efforts in this area wererecognised by CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) witha B score for our climate-change disclosure in 2022.

“The consequences of the world’s failure to curb
emissions are catastrophic, and not just for coral
atolls in the Pacific. Climate-related disasters areproliferating, from Pakistan, much of which wasinundated by this summer’s unusually intensemonsoon, to Florida, which in September endured
its deadliest hurricane since 1935. Even less lethal
distortions of the weather, such as this summer’s
extraordinary heatwave in Europe, do enormous
economic damage, impeding transport, wrecking
infrastructure and sapping productivity.”
The Economist, November 3rd 2022

C A S E S T U DY

Reducing
our plastic
usage by 19%
We are actively reducing the use of plastics
across our supply chain for The Economist
newspaper. In June 2021 we commissioneda plastics footprint and leakage analysis inaccordance with the Guidelines for Corporate
Plastic Accounting developed by 3RI and VERRA.
The analysis found that our total plastics
footprint was 58,000kg. The majority of ourplastics footprint comes from subscriber
poly-wraps, but also includes bundle and pallet
wraps, and strapping.
We have now cut our plastics usage by 11,000kg,
which is a 19% reduction in comparison with our
2021 assessment, and in some countries we havebeen able to remove the subscriber poly-wrap
entirely. These new measures ensure that 73%
of our weekly subscribers receive their print
copy either paper-wrapped or without any
packaging. In some markets, it is morechallenging to remove plastic due to mailing
requirements—but we continue to explore
environmentally sustainable solutions.

73%

3

2

1

	of subscribers receive
their print copy either
paper-wrapped orwithout packaging

Wrapping by market%

1 Non-wrapped

USA, Canada, Germany and Switzerland

66.5

2 Paper-wrapped

France, Belgium, Netherlands,
Sweden and Norway

6.6

3 Plastic-wrapped

UK, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong,
India, Japan and others

26.9

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CONTENTS

Climate and environment Manage
C A S E S T U DY“Harnessing the passion”—drawing on climate
engagement among our colleagues
Our colleagues all over the world are passionate about climate issues—and as a Group,
we want to harness that passion to drive more engagement, awareness and support
for our sustainability goals.
The Economist Sustainability Group is the formalised network for our colleagues.
The Sustainability Hub on the Group’s intranet, and our dedicated Slack channel,
enables colleagues to keep in touch with our progress, take part in activities andsurveys, or use the Group’s Degreed education and learning platform to develop
their understanding of climate issues. Our network of 16 sustainability officechampions help exchange information and ideas around our GHG and environmental
performance, while regular campaigns such as Earth Week foster engagement and,this year, included beach clean-up sessions in London and Singapore, and other events
around the world. As you’d expect from The Economist Group, colleague engagement
is analytical and insightful—and we have regular discussions informed by colleagues
from The Economist, Economist Impact and Economist Intelligence.

We are successfully driving colleague engagement on environmental sustainability
Intranet

Internal
Slack channel

Sustainability
champions network

Earth Week
campaign

Launch of a dedicatedSustainability Hub
intranet page withmonthly blogs#teg-sustainability
Regular posts to an
engaged group ofaround 170 channel
members

The Economist
Sustainability Groupis our formalisedinternal group

Office champions ran
a series of events in our
major offices, engaging
around 350 colleagues(beach clean-ups,
recycling, stationary
bikes, office events)

Colleague surveys
drive strong
engagement
Degreed learning
channel featuring
dedicated sustainability
sectionChannel used to share
relevant articles, news
and information

Growing network of
16 office champions
25 colleagues support
GHG data collection

Hosted an Earth Week
Insight Hour on green
infrastructure

Colleagues in London and Delhi get involved in Earth Week activities in April 2023.

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MeasureOur environmental impact

12

Total GHG emissions decreased by 9% year-on-year

We have now conducted our fifth annual GHG emissions
inventory in accordance with the Corporate Standard of theGreenhouse Gas Protocol, considered the gold standard inemissions accounting and reporting. Our carbon-footprint
measurement was conducted by CO2 AI, a carbon-management
software platform developed by Boston Consulting Group.

The Economist
Group emissions
by GHG category

We calculate The Economist Group’s GHG emissions for the period2022-23 as 42.24 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e),which is a 9% reduction on the previous reporting period. Thistakes us a step closer to achieving our 25% near-term emissionsreduction target validated by the Science Based Targets initiative(SBTi), a coalition for corporate climate action. We are signatories
to the Business Ambition for 1.5°C and UNFCCC Race to Zerocampaigns. Aligned with these commitments, we plan to submit
a target upgrade to the SBTi to reflect our ambition to continue
reducing our emissions at a similar rate, in line with the Paris
agreement, through 2025-30.

3

Our impact
Total Group CO2 emissions footprint: 42.24kt CO2e
Year-on-year progress: 9% reduction from 2022

50.00

46.03
0.21

0.29

0.98

0.34

(0.53)(3.62)

40.00

42.24
(1.46)

30.00

20.00

Emission scopes
Total kt CO 2e emissions

1 Scope 1

0.38

2 Scope 2

0.64

3 Scope 3

41.22

10.00

0

2022
results

Facilities
andoperations

Business
and travel

Other
upstream
emissions

Capitalgoods

Consumeruse ofproducts

Purchased
goods andservices

Print andproduction

Emissions measurement across The Economist Group’s full value chainRawmaterials

Upstreamlogistics

Production

Operations

25% to 2025 progress: 20% reduction from base year 2020

Distribution

Productend of life

Use

MARCH 5TH–11TH 2022

I/N 9286

Renewable-energy attribute certificates (EACs): 2.08kt
20220305_ECN_NP_NAVA_001.indd 1

We measure carbon emissions across our entire value chain,including direct scope 1 emissions and indirect scopes 2 and 3
emissions. Reductions from the previous reporting period are
driven, in particular, by a reduction in print and production
volumes of The Economist newspaper, as customers increasingly
choose digital over print (see The Economist business review
in our annual report). An overall reduction in expenditure also
drove down emissions in various scope 3 categories, suchas purchased goods and services.

02/03/2022 18:22

Scopes 1 + 2 + 3
Scope 3 upstream emissions

Scope 3 emissions from business travel and purchased goods and services

Scope 3 downstream emissions

2023
results

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F E AT U R E S

Understanding our impacts: life-cycle assessment
for printed copies of The Economist

Holding ourselves toaccount: transparent
climate disclosure

The Economist Group champions actions basedon evidence—which means we need to understandthe impacts our products have on the natural
world, so that we can take steps to mitigate them.

Transparent reporting is central to our approach
to climate—and this year, we carried out our first
CDP Climate Change disclosure.

We conducted a life-cycle assessment of printed
copies of The Economist newspaper using 2021 data,
looking beyond our carbon footprint to consider
impact categories like acidification and water scarcity.
Our life-cycle assessment was certified by TÜV Rheinlandin 2022. We’ll use the findings to review how we source,
print and distribute the newspaper—while we’ll also
continue our drive to expand our range of digital products,
which are increasingly popular with subscribers. This year,
digital-only subscriptions made up 59% of total
subscriptions to The Economist, a rise of 13%.

Life-cycle assessment—selected insights

170-1,210

160-200

1-5

Impact on
global warming
per copy

Impact on
water scarcity
per copy

Impact on
acidification
per copy

Paper

Printing

Distribution

g CO2eaccounts for
13-90% of
impact acrossall categoriesl H2Oeaccounts for
1-14% of impact
across all
categories

g SO2eaccounts for
1-80% * of impact
across all
categories*Distribution can have a significant impact on the overall footprint ofa printed copy, mainly influenced by the distance to the recipients.

CDP is a not-for-profit charity formerly known
as the Carbon Disclosure Project, and it runs
a global disclosure and benchmarking system fororganisations, regions and even states to assess
their environmental impacts. CDP holds the largest
environmental database in the world, with around19,000 companies submitting disclosures in 2022,
and CDP scores are widely used to drive investment
and procurement decisions.

“My key focus as a member of the
Sustainability Group is the environmental
impact of our printed publications,in terms of paper, production anddistribution. I’ve led a life-cycle analysisof The Economist from three different
sites to develop strategies to minimise
this impact. I’ve also managed a plastics
footprint analysis and worked on
initiatives to deliver a 19% reduction in
our plastic waste in the past 12 months.”	Faye Jeacocke Director, global production
and distribution operations

19%

	reduction in ourplastic waste in thepast 12 months

The CDP disclosure process looks at emissions,targets, risks and opportunities, and scoressubmissions from A to D on disclosure, awareness,management and leadership. We were scored B
overall for our first disclosure, a strong beginning.
We achieved A scores for strategy, governanceand target setting, reflecting our science-basedtarget and voluntary TCFD disclosure. Click here
to access company responses and scores on the
CDP database.

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Mitigate
Our reduction strategy
To reduce the impact of our carbon footprint as part of ourpathway to net zero, our reduction strategy has four pillars:1	Digital transition: accelerate digital-product growth acrossour businesses2	Travel: limit business travel, in particular flights
3	Energy: improve office energy efficiency and introduce
renewable-energy certificates
4 Value chain: innovation
Engaging with our value chain is critical to achieving ourambition. Around 98% of The Economist Group’s carbon
footprint is from goods and services provided by partners todeliver our core products and services. There are some clear
steps we can take:• Improve supplier-specific emissions data collection• Encourage key value-chain partners to set science-based
emissions-reduction targets• Collaborate and innovate with our suppliers
To support these steps, our business partner code,
launched in June 2023, outlines practices and standards
we expect to see demonstrated across a wide range
of issues, including climate and the environment(see our business partner code on The Economist
Group’s website for more information).

Our principles of emissions reduction
Our approach to emissions management is rigorous andtransparent. We take into account all scope 3 emissions (in addition
to scope 1 and 2)—which covers all products we produce and sell,
as well as all goods and services we buy—and we will continue toexplain our emissions performance in greater detail as reportingin this area matures.

20%

	reduction in annual GHG
emissions since base year 2020

Although we know our actions alone will not save the planet, weare taking voluntary action to reduce our emissions, and we would
welcome improved regulation for companies in this area.
We prioritise emissions reduction over offsets. Our targets are
more ambitious than the reductions required under the Paris
agreement, which aims to limit global warming to 1.5°C above
pre-industrial levels. Our science-based target of 25% by 2025 has
been validated by the SBTi, and we plan to submit a target upgrade
to the SBTi to reflect our ambition to continue reducing ouremissions at a similar rate, in line with the Paris agreement, through2025-30. Our longer-term vision is to seek validation for sciencebased net zero by 2045.

Partnership and collaboration on climate action
Partnership and collaboration with our stakeholders, suppliers
and peers is key to making sustainable progress. We are signatories
to the Business Ambition for 1.5°C and UNFCCC Race to Zerocampaigns. Economist Impact Events is now a signatory of the Net
Zero Events Carbon Pledge, an industry-led initiative to drive theevents industry towards net zero, and across our events portfolio,
we have developed new approaches to reduce emissions at eventsand source materials sustainably, to embed sustainability acrossour events business and operations. We are members of the
Responsible Media Forum, an industry-wide partnership between
leading media companies to identify and take action on the socialand environmental challenges facing the sector. To understand thecarbon impact of our digital products, we have joined DIMPACT,a collaborative initiative convened by Carnstone, the Universityof Bristol and leading media and technology companies.

We support

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Climate and environment Mitigate
C A S E S T U DY

Exploring mitigation—when the science stacks up
Cutting our emissions is the main way we’ll makeprogress on our pathway to net zero—but we’re also
exploring science-based approaches that aim to
extract and store atmospheric carbon and accelerate
the stabilisation of the climate.
We’ve set up a climate contribution budget to support
verified nature-based projects and promising climate
technologies. We’re aware that not all carbon-credit
schemes do exactly what they claim on the tin—so
we’ve worked with trusted advisers to reinforce ourconfidence that we’re supporting projects that havethe potential to make a difference. These include
afforestation and conservation projects such as
mangrove reforestation in Myanmar, carbon-credit
schemes such as the HACT pilot programme in the UK
which focuses on decarbonising social housing throughinsulation, heating and windows, and a range ofinnovative carbon-removal projects. Running Tide,for example, creates underwater carbon stores using
ecological buoys seeded with microalgae that sinkto the bottom of the ocean. We’re also investing ina biochar project which converts forestry byproducts
into a natural soil fertiliser (in effect, charcoal), locking
in carbon for up to 100 years.
Overall, our contributions in this area are equivalent to9,558 carbon credits, or nearly 5.9kt CO2e. This is in linewith the Science Based Targets initiative Net Zero
Standard recommendation that companies invest in
mitigation outside their value chains to contributetowards reaching the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) target of limiting global
warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Beyond our value chain: projects we’re supportingt CO2 ereduction

Climeworks carbon dioxide removal: 44 carbon credits

44

HACT social housing retrofit credits, United Kingdom: 600 carbon credits

600

TIST community reforestation, Kenya: 981 carbon credits

824

Rimba Raya, rainforest protection, Indonesia: 6,620 carbon credits

4,237

Mangrove reforestation, Myanmar: 1,110 carbon credits

666

Carbuna biochar, Germany: 112 carbon credits

89.6

Running Tide, ocean carbon removal, Iceland: 91 carbon credits

72.8

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Progress
Results
The Economist Group’s global greenhouse-gas emissions (GHG)
Base year
2020 adjusted
kt CO 2e2022 adjusted
kt CO 2e2023
kt CO2 eYear-on-year
variance

Direct scope 1 emissions

0.22

0.33

0.38

15%

Indirect scope 2 emissions

1.80

0.48

0.64

33%

3.01 Purchased goods and services

36.99

35.26

30.83

-13%

Category

Indirect scope 3 emissions by category
3.02 Capital goods

2.34

1.92

1.39

-27%

3.03 Fuel- & energy-related activities

0.15

0.05

0.06

26%

3.04 Upstream transport and distribution

5.10

3.66

3.15

-14%

3.05 Waste generated in operations

0.08

0.02

0.02

-1%

3.06 Business travel

1.64

0.58

1.56

168%

3.07 Employee commuting

1.01

1.25

1.24

0%

3.08 Upstream leased assets

0.86

0.76

1.05

38%

3.09 Downstream transport and distribution

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

3.10

Processing of sold products

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

3.11

Use of sold products

0.07

0.45

0.79

75%

3.12

End-of-life treatment of sold products

1.92

1.26

1.12

-11%

3.13

Downstream leased assets

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

3.14

Franchises

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

3.15

Investments

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Scope 3

50.17

45.21

41.22

-10%

Total kt CO2e

52.19

46.03

42.24

-9%

Group GHG intensity/tonnes CO2e per £m turnover (scopes 1, 2 and 3)

163

133

112

-16%

Notes on data

Scope 1 emissions are marginal, as The Economist Group does notdirectly operate vehicle fleets. Scope 2 emissions comprise allelectricity consumed at Group offices worldwide, and emissions
associated with the production and distribution of grid energy.
We have reported market-based emissions for electricity.
The increase in scopes 1 and 2 emissions can be attributed toa return to work following covid-19 restrictions from April 1st 2022.
In addition, The Economist Group temporarily occupied several
office buildings as it conducted renovations before moving to new
office locations in both London and New York.
Indirect scope 3 emissions encompass all value-chain andproduct-portfolio emissions, and have been reported in line withthe 15 standard GHG categories for scope 3 emissions. As we
improve our data quality, we have made some methodologicaladjustments to the way we account for end-of-life treatment, which
now distinguishes between recycled, incinerated and landfill waste,
and draws upon the findings of the print life-cycle analysis
conducted in 2022. Business-travel emissions are now calculated
based on activity data rather than expenditure. The year-on-yearincrease in business travel reflects a full 12-month period without
covid-19 restrictions on travel in most parts of the world.
Reductions in scope 3 emissions reflect a reduction in print andproduction volumes of The Economist newspaper (included in 3.01)
as customers increasingly choose digital over print, and an overall
reduction in expenditure (reflected in 3.01, 3.02 and 3.04).
Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs): We occupy leased offices withfew opportunities for onsite energy generation, and rely on green
energy tariffs and EACs to purchase renewable energy equal to100% of our global electricity consumption for offices and print sites.
In 2023 we purchased 2.08kt CO 2e of EACs. We currently do notaccount for EACs as part of our total greenhouse-gas emissions,and await upcoming revised guidance from the Greenhouse Gas
Protocol Accounting Standard on accounting rules.

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Results
UK Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR)

Progress towards our 25% by 2025 science-based target

In line with the requirements set out in the UK Government’s guidance on Streamlined Energy
and Carbon Reporting, the table below represents The Economist Group’s energy and GHG
footprint from UK operations (from April 1st to March 31st), calculated in accordance with theGreenhouse Gas Protocol. The scope of this data includes four office sites located in London
and Birmingham in the UK. In 2023 the UK accounted for 36% of our global scope 1 and 2
emissions, outlined in the table below.

Our near-term science-based target aims for a reduction of absolute scope 1 and 2
emissions of 68% by FY2025 from a FY2020 base year, and a 24% reduction ofabsolute scope 3 GHG emissions within the same timeframe. The Economist
Group also commits to increase annual sourcing of renewable electricity from
0% in FY2020 to 100% by FY2025.

UK operations

Target2020
base year
kt CO2 e2023
kt CO2 e

Scope 1

0.22

0.38

Scope 2

1.80

0.64

Scope 1+2

2.02

Scope 3

0.10

Total

0.40

Notes on data

FY22

FY23

Natural gas (kWh)1,286,470

1,414,950

Electricity (kWh)348,800

485,690

Total UK energy (kWh)1,635,270

1,900,640

Total UK scope 1 emissions (kt CO2e)

0.27

0.29

UK scope 1 emissions (CO2e) per £million turnover

1.10

1.13

Total UK scope 2 emissions (kt CO2e)

0.10

UK scope 2 emissions (CO2e) per £million turnover

0.30

Notes on data
Scope 1 emissions increased in comparison with 2022 by 0.02kt CO 2 e in 2023. Scope 2 emissions increased in comparison with
2022 by 0.032kt CO 2 e. The increase in both scopes can be attributed to a return to work following covid-19 restrictions from April
1st 2022. In addition, for a period of six months, The Economist Group temporarily occupied several buildings in London while it
conducted renovations before moving its commercial operations from Canary Wharf to the Adelphi building in central London.

Reductionfrom baseline(2023 v 2020)

2025
SBTi reduction
target

1.03

-49%

-68%

50.06

40.62

-19%

-24%

52.09

41.65

-20%

-25%

The figures for our progress towards our science-based target in this table and our total GHG emissions in the table on theprevious page are slightly different. This is because, in line with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Accounting Standard, the target
for scope 3 emissions here excludes emissions from employee teleworking under category 3.07.

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The Economist Group
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Contact
Emily Jackson-Kessler
SVP sustainability

The Economist GroupThe Adelphi
1-11 John Adam Street
LondonWC2N 6HT
sustainability@economist.com

economistgroup.com

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