Supporting people and planet

VodafoneZiggo is present in the daily lives of millions of people – and with this presence comes a profound sense of responsibility. Our ambition is threefold: to ensure no one is left behind in our rapidly evolving (digital) society, to foster diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces and to halve our environmental impact by 2025.

CSR governance

In 2023, we successfully integrated our corporate social responsibility (CSR) ambitions – previously known as People Planet Progress – into the Progress for Everyone pillar of our overarching business strategy (see Our strategy (new window)). This reflects our approach to sustainability across the environmental, social and governance (ESG) spectrum and beyond; namely, that our sustainability efforts cannot be separated from who we are, what we do and where we aim to go.

We established a more robust CSR governance system in 2023 to ensure we comply with all relevant regulations and maximise our positive impact on people and planet alike. This means we no longer rely on bottom-up initiatives and the goodwill of CSR ambassadors, but have now embedded formal ESG goals, set by our leadership teams, into VodafoneZiggo’s business mechanisms. In turn, this gives our business units the licence to prioritise sustainability alongside other commercial objectives – as well as ensuring management accountability for delivering on these goals.

Meanwhile, we have founded four ‘crews’ of experts and decision-makers in key sustainability areas: products, mobility, energy and reporting. These groups accelerate progress on these important topics by breaking down departmental silos, creating synergies and sharing best practices, information and resources.

Digital inclusion

Digital developments offer exciting opportunities, but they also widen the ‘digital divide’ between those with the access and skills they need to participate in our increasingly digitalised society and those without. VodafoneZiggo is committed to ensuring that no one is left behind. By leveraging our technologies and programmes, we are committed to improving the lives of vulnerable groups in today’s digital society.

Focus areas

Holding ourselves to high standards

VodafoneZiggo is working to ensure our products and services meet the standards set out in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2) and the upcoming European Accessibility Act (EAA).

• 1In 2020, we set ourselves the ambition of enabling two million people to progress in society by 2025. While we have achieved significant progress – reaching 194,000 people in the year 2023 – we will instead adopt yearly objectives and key results (OKRs) with clear focus areas from 2024 onwards. This will enable us to concentrate on the impact we have on individuals rather than on the numbers they represent.

People Planet Progress (PPP) Festival

In November 2023, we welcomed 1,349 colleagues to our annual PPP festival, with the overarching objective of inspiring colleagues to reshape the way we work, think and live our lives. Engaging in a diverse array of activities and information sessions (13 in total), attendees explored ways to make a positive impact on both people and the planet.

Annually, as part of the festival, we hold a competition where colleagues are challenged to submit ideas for improving sustainability in our organisation. In 2023, the winning idea involves reducing the unnecessary shipping of return packages – potentially saving thousands of kilograms of cardboard – by giving customers the choice of requesting a return box (or using their own packaging) rather than VodafoneZiggo automatically sending them to customers.

Diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace

At VodafoneZiggo, we strive to create a safe work environment, where talented people of all backgrounds feel able to participate, to be their true selves and to use their different perspectives to power progress within and beyond our organisation. This not only strengthens the well-being of our employees but also significantly enhances organisational performance.

Focus areas

Holding ourselves to high standards

We adhere to the ‘Quotumwet’ and ‘Banenafspraak’ (‘Quota law’ and ‘Jobs agreement’) to promote workplace diversity. In line with the Social Return on Investment (SROI) approach, we fulfil our obligations under the Tender Act and the contracts we enter into.

Environmental impact

As a purpose-led company, we take responsibility for our impact on the environment – the impact not only of our own operations (Scope 1 and 2), but also of our entire value chain (Scope 3). Following sector best practices, VodafoneZiggo has set short-term environmental targets aligned with the Paris Agreement — aimed at limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels - and approved by SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative). But our goals do not end there: we aim to reach net-zero emissions in Scope 1 and 2 by 2030 and in Scope 3 by 2050. To reach these ambitious – yet necessary – targets, we must act quickly to change our business and the way we operate.

Focus areas

Holding ourselves to high standards

We use existing mechanisms and best practices to align with market expectations and drive change internally. We have developed, for example, a sustainable finance framework, issuing our first Sustainability-Linked Bond (amounting to €2.1 billion) in 2022. VodafoneZiggo also aligns with international standards (such as the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol) and strives to earn recognised certifications. In 2023, 100% of our locations were certified to ISO14001 and we were awarded a second consecutive EcoVadis Gold Medal. Furthermore, we voluntarily compensate 100% of our Scope 1 and 2 CO₂ emissions by investing in Turkish wind farms through Gold Standards carbon credits, one of the most stringently safeguarded programmes available.