We have successfully submitted our 2024 Communication on Progress (CoP). As a result of our submission, our reporting status is Active. We are UN Global Compact business participants since 2018.
The enhanced CoP enables us to:
Measure and demonstrate progress to stakeholders and the public on the Ten Principles and the Sustainable Development Goals in a consistent and harmonized way;
Build credibility and brand value by showing their commitment to the Ten Principles, and the Sustainable Development Goals;
Receive insights, learn, and continuously improve performance by helping to identify gaps and inform goal-setting to improve sustainability performance year over year;
Compare performance against peers through access to one of the largest sources of free, public, and comparable corporate sustainability data.
The enhanced Communication on Progress (CoP) we have submitted through the CoP digital platform consists of two elements:
- CEO Statement of Continued Support. Barbara Beatrice Lavitola, our CEO, publicly expressed BBLTranslation’s ongoing commitment to the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact at the highest level.
- A Communication on Progress Questionnaire, reporting on corporate action and performance related to the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Among the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, we would like to communicate, for example, how do we deal with our translation agency sustainability (Principle 6: Environment)
As a translation agency, we mainly work online and, physically, just when we deliver interpreting services. Last year, Ovo Energy claimed that if every British person sent one fewer thank you email a day, it would save 16,433 tonnes of carbon a year, equivalent to tens of thousands of flights to Europe. Sending fewer emails can help save the planet, so we are doing our best to reduce “useless” one-line messages and we try to spend a few minutes more thinking and elaborating a message to avoid sending more e-mails adding information we could have added from the beginning. Most people think of the Internet as a cloud that exists outside their computing hardware. But the reality is when you send an email – or anything else – it goes along a chain of energy-burning electronics. We think that any company concerned about their carbon footprint, can add this measure to the other ones they are taking for a sustainable present (and future).
By incorporating the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact into strategies, policies and procedures, and establishing a culture of integrity, BBLTranslation is not only upholding its basic responsibilities to people and planet, but also setting the stage for long-term success.
BBLTranslation upholds the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation (Principle 8: Labour)
We selected employees and collaborators on the basis of their ability to do the job and that there is no distinction, exclusion or preference made on other grounds.
We are aware of the diversities of language, culture and family circumstance that may exist in the workforce. We give work to people with disabilities may have particular needs that should be met, where reasonable, in order to ensure that they have the same opportunities (e.g. for training and advancement) as their peers. For this reason, at BBLTranslation, we wanted to place our trust into a member of our translation team who was dyspraxic, and recommend to other businesses not to close their doors to any kind of diversity. Read about our experience here.
We have also adopted measures to help reconcile work, private and family life of one of our staff member once back from maternity leave. We firmly state that good work-life balance promotes the well-being of workers. It can also contribute to achieving major EU policy goals: stimulating employment (especially among women and older workers); promoting child and youth development; and encouraging gender equality. Flexibility in working time, remote work and time to have a proper healthy lunch were among the measures BBLTranslation adopted.
By giving jobs to BBLTranslation our clients are supporting:
- Gender Equality: We have achieved gender equality in terms of women’s economic empowerment and participation, always preserving men’s rights at any time. We’re supporting flexibility at work and reconciliation between work and family life for both our male and female employees.
- Living Wage: We pay all our workers what they need to afford a decent standard of living, for them and their families.
- Climate Action: We have cut paper-based files and documents by 95% and, as sworn digital translators, we have been signing documents electronically. We have reduced unuseful e-mails to save tons of carbon each year.
BBLTranslation is among the 3,400 SMEs from more than 50 countries that are committed to sustainability by joining the Sustainable Suppliers training programme of the UN Global Compact Spain, ICEX and Fundación ICO.
We are actually working on the good practices implementing initiatives to support and find long-term solutions for a quality work and for reducing our carbon footprint on the world. Stay tuned to be updated about our initiatives.
