As part of our annual State of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report, we reached out to our community to get an understanding of the top trends and issues for 2016. This mini-report highlights some key findings from our community based in Europe. SOME KEY FINDINGS * Sustainability gets CEO buy-in: 69% of executives polled said their CEO is convinced of the value of sustainability. * COP21 delivered what was needed? Divisive issue: Just 53% of our respondents felt COP21 delivered the agreement needed to address climate change risk. When asked to give commentary on COP21, many respondents stated it creates the impetus for both businesses and industries to change their behaviours. * CSR is driving revenues: 55% executives polled stated that sustainability is driving revenue for their business. Corporate responsibility and sustainability gaining importance: 85% of respondents stated that CSR is becoming an increasingly important part of business strategy. To support this move, nearly 50% of respondents stated that they report to their CEO or Board. This gives an indication that CSR is integral to mainstream business strategy. * CSR as a source of competitive advantage: 21% of our respondents indicated sustainability as a source of competitive advantage as the single most exciting opportunity for their organisation in 2016.

1. The Responsible Business Summit Europe More information: events.ethicalcorp.com/rbs
Join 400+ attendees to learn how to build trust & purpose for business.
Speaking will be the likes of; Telefonica O2, Patagonia, Unilever, Nespresso,
Oxfam, M&S, Heathrow Airport and many more.”Sustainability in Europe – Top trends 2016
@ethical_corp @ethical_corp #RBSEU

2. The Responsible Business Summit Europe More information: events.ethicalcorp.com/rbs
Join 400+ attendees to learn how to build trust & purpose for business.
Speaking will be the likes of; Telefonica O2, Patagonia, Unilever, Nespresso,
Oxfam, M&S, Heathrow Airport and many more.”
25+
sessions
55+
speakers
2+ days
of insight & networking
Introduction
As part of our annual State of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report, we reached out
to our community to get an understanding of the top trends and issues for 2016. This mini-report
highlights some key findings from our community based in Europe.
SOME KEY FINDINGS
Sustainability gets CEO buy-in: 69% of executives polled said their CEO is convinced of the value of
sustainability.
COP21 delivered what was needed? Divisive issue: Just 53% of our respondents felt COP21 delivered the
agreement needed to address climate change risk. When asked to give commentary on COP21, many
respondents stated it creates the impetus for both businesses and industries to change their behaviours.
CSR is driving revenues: 55% executives polled stated that sustainability is driving revenue for their business.
Corporate responsibility and sustainability gaining importance: 85% of respondents stated that CSR is
becoming an increasingly important part of business strategy. To support this move, nearly 50% of respondents
stated that they report to their CEO or Board. This gives an indication that CSR is integral to mainstream
business strategy.
CSR as a source of competitive advantage: 21% of our respondents indicated sustainability as a source of
competitive advantage as the single most exciting opportunity for their organisation in 2016.
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Liam Dowd
Managing Director
@liamdowd10
@ethical_corp #RBSEU

3. Setting the scene
829
European
respondents
(41% of the
total)
Between December 2015 and January 2016, Ethical Corporation surveyed its global community to identify the
key issues, opportunities and trends in corporate responsibility and sustainability. More information on the
State of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability 2016 report can be found here.
This snapshot report presents the answers, ideas, opinions and insights of the 829 European respondents
(41% of the total).
Q: Which of the following best describes
where you work?
Q: Which of the following best describes
the level of your role?
Academic
Corporate / brand
Corporate / brand – agency /
service provider / consultant
Government
NGO
Other (please specify)*
*Majority of the respondents that replied ‘Other’ stated; media or Association.
10%
38%
37%
3%
9%
3%
Board level / business owner
Consultant
CSO / director / VP
Executive
Manager
Other
Professor
Researcher
16%
8%
16%
12%
31%
5%
6%
6%
@ethical_corp #RBSEU

4. The level to which sustainability is part of the business strategy varies considerably from company to company.
Q: Is CSR becoming an increasingly important part of
your business strategy?
Interestingly sustainability is becoming more important
to business strategy in Asia Pacific, than Europe and
North America. However, this chart does not indicate
the level to which sustainability is already part of
mainstream business. This will be tracked and analysed
with more clarity in 2017’s snapshot reports.
Q: Who does the ‘sustainability team’ ultimately
report to?
*Majority of the respondents that replied ‘Other’ stated; Academic Dean,
University President, Owner, EHS, President
29% of respondents report to the board, and 27%
report to the CEO. With over half of respondents
therefore reporting to members high and central to their
organisation, it indicates that corporate responsibility
and sustainability has a seat at the, and is important to
business strategy.
Importance of CSR
Just under
1/3
of all
respondents
report to
their CEO
NORTH AMERICA EUROPE ASIA PACIFIC
10%
90%
YES
NO
15%
85%
YES
NO
12%
88%
YES
NO
Board
CEO
Head / Chief of
Sustainability
Head of Marketing /
Communications
Other
29%
18%
27%
8%
18%
@ethical_corp #RBSEU

5. Allocation of finances to CSR
How much money an organisation devotes to sustainable and responsible initiatives gives a true indication of how
seriously they take these issues.
Q: What budget does your company have for CSR activity? (in USD) Q: Will your budget for CSR increase in 2016?
Unsurprisingly, very few organisations represented here have a budget in excess of $1 million: only 5% gave this answer,
providing an interesting point of comparison to the US and Asia reports, wherein 9% of respondents stated a budget
exceeding $1 million. One quarter of respondents stated low budgets i.e. less than $10,000, which may be a result of the
wide range of organisations taking part.
1/4of respondents
stated low
budgets, less
than $10,000
0 10 20 30 40
$0 - $10,000
$1,000,001 - $2,500,000
$10,001 - $25,000
$100,001 - $500,000
$25,001 - $50,000
$50,001 - $100,000
$500,001 - $1,000,000
MORE THAN $2,500,001
WOULD NOT LIKE TO SAY
25%
2%
5%
8%
7%
6%
4%
3%
40%
42%
32%
26%
I would not like to say
No
Yes
@ethical_corp #RBSEU

6. There is increasing feeling that sustainability is now becoming a core component of mainstream business.
Understanding which department strategies it should be impacting helps give an indication of where it sits in
mainstream strategy and where developments will first occur.
Q: Sustainability should be involved in setting the strategy for...
93% of respondents agreed that sustainability should be involved in setting supply chain strategy. This could be
a reflection of recent laws and corporate cases around supply chain risk mitigation. In fact, respondents believed
strongly in the integration of sustainability across the board.
The full State of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability 2016 outlines the similarities and nuances between the
different global regions.
Central to business strategy
93%of respondents
agreed that
sustainability
should be involved
in setting supply
chain strategy
STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE NEUTRAL AGREE STRONGLY AGREE
Marketing and communications
Supply and procurement
Human Resources
R&D
2% 2%
2% 1%
2% 2%
2% 1%
50% 36%
4% 33% 60%
16% 46% 34%
12% 37% 48%
@ethical_corp #RBSEU

7. The Responsible Business Summit Europe More information: events.ethicalcorp.com/rbs
Join 400+ attendees to learn how to build trust & purpose for business.
Speaking will be the likes of; Telefonica O2, Patagonia, Unilever, Nespresso,
Oxfam, M&S, Heathrow Airport and many more.”
25+
sessions
55+
speakers
2+ days
of insight & networking
Was COP21 a success?
In December 2015, global leaders met in Paris and negotiated the Paris Agreement, a global agreement on the
reduction of climate change. We asked our respondents whether they felt it was enough.
Q: In your opinion, did COP21 deliver the agreement needed to address climate change risk?
When asked how COP21 will impact their role, there were a considerable number of responses stating that it wouldn’t
affect their work. On the positive side, a lot of respondents reiterated the need for all businesses to start acting
responsibly and also, to agree a carbon pricing model.
53%47%
Yes
No
47%of respondents
felt COP21
delivered the
agreement needed
to tackle climate
change risk
@ethical_corp #RBSEU

8. A source of revenue
Corporate responsibility and sustainability is the right thing to do, but organisations still struggle to shift their
business strategy due to worries that it will negatively affect revenues. The following question ascertains as to
whether there is a business benefit to acting responsibly.
Q: Does sustainability drive revenue for your business?
Encouragingly 55% of our respondents stated that CSR is delivering revenue for their organisation. Even more
encouraging is this represents a 9% increase on this exact same question from the 2015 State of Sustainability (http://1.
ethicalcorp.com/LP=7533) report. Any business department needs to be able to report on whether it’s delivering
revenue. The fact that 23% of respondents don’t know if sustainability is in fact driving revenue shows there is
considerable work to be done around tracking and measuring CSR initiatives.
55%
22%
23%
Yes
No
I don’t know
55%of respondents
stated that CSR
is delivering
revenue for their
organisation
@ethical_corp #RBSEU

9. On the back of COP21 and the UN’s SDG Summit there are exciting opportunities abound in the world of responsible
business.
Q: Which one area holds the single most exciting opportunity for your organisation in 2016?
Continuing the theme of CSR being a source of revenue, 21% of our respondents cited sustainability as a source of
competitive advantage as being the most exciting opportunity for 2016. Internal changes are the next two most
exciting opportunities. Our European community stated embedding sustainability (14%) and sustainable innovation
(14%) as equally exciting opportunities for 2016.
These findings represent a small proportion of analysis and insight from the State of Corporate Responsibility and
Sustainability 2016. With over 50 graphs and analysis broken down into region, business type and industry the 2016
report gives a thorough indication of how responsible business is progressing across the globe.
Looking ahead
Big data in sustainability............................................................................................ 4%
Cross-industry collaboration......................................................................................9%
Culture of sustainability.............................................................................................13%
Customer behaviour change......................................................................................7%
Embedding sustainability......................................................................................... 14%
Impact assessments......................................................................................................5%
Resource savings...........................................................................................................5%
Supplier partnerships...................................................................................................8%
Sustainability as a source of competitive advantage.......................................21%
Sustainable innovation.............................................................................................. 14%
4%
13%
9%
7%
14%
5%5%
8%
14%
21%
21%of our respondents
cited sustainability
as a source of
competitive
advantage as being
the most exciting
opportunity for 2016
@ethical_corp #RBSEUROPE

10. Estelle Brachlianoff
Senior Executive Vice-President,
UK & Ireland
Jean-Marc Duvoisin
CEO
Bas van Abel
CEO
Paul Donovan
CEO
Jane Griffiths
Company Group Chairman
John Holland-Kaye
CEO
Hear from these sustainability leaders:
#RBSEU
 SDGS – HOW BUSINESS CAN DELIVER:
Redevelop your strategy and identify the required
capabilities and relationships
 INFLUENCE CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR:
Engage all departments to deliver a positive change in
customer behaviours
 MANAGE BUSINESS RISK:
Promote a responsible culture and mitigate risk throughout
the value chain
 PARTNER SUCCESSFULLY:
Identify opportunities to add real value to brand and reputation
Become a trusted business.
Deliver positive impact.
The 15th Annual Responsible Business Summit 2016
7-8 June 2016 | London
Europe’s leading forum on responsible business