Ethics and vigilance

SUEZ is committed to implementing high ethical standards.

Our values are based on four fundamental principles defined in the Ethics Charter: excellence, commitment, audacity and collaboration.

In practice, these four fundamental principles apply to the three circles in which SUEZ operates:

• The company itself, i.e. SUEZ employees, shareholders and entities
• The market, where we maintain relations with our customers, suppliers, partners and competitors
• The environment, in the countries where we are implemented.

In addition to the Ethics Charter, we publish manuals and procedures aimed at clarifying these rules and ensuring compliance with them. SUEZ also formalized its Human Rights Policy and its vigilance plan.
 
To reaffirm our commitment to ethical values, we are also a member of the Global Compact Initiative, which is based on the 10 principles of the United Nations Global Compact, and is one of the most advanced companies (COP Global Compact Advanced).

We’re  also a member of the French section of Transparency International and of Entreprises pour les Droits de l’Homme (Corporations for human rights).

The Board of Directors' Ethics and Sustainable Development Committee is tasked with monitoring the ethics policy and guaranteeing  employees' respect of the individual and collective values underlying our actions.

The ethics policy is coordinated by the General Secretary, who is the group's ethics officer. To make sure  this policy is implemented, we have a network of about 30 ethics officers whose role is to implement the policy within their entity and ensure that ethics-related questions and alerts are properly handled.

> See board of directors and its committees

Lobbying is increasingly attracting the attention of stakeholders. To strengthen responsible lobbying practices, we adopted in 2013, an internal code of conduct, in line with its Ethics Charter, which contains eight key commitments for each employee or consultant acting on its behalf our lobbying activities.

We maintain continuous dialogue with public institutions at the local level, and at the national, European and international level.

 

SUEZ, which is committed to transparency, is listed in the Register of Interest Representatives vis-à-vis the European institutions and publishes a large amount of information annually on the website of the European Commission and the French Parliament, such as the Group's areas of interest or costs related to representation activities vis-à-vis the European institutions (personnel expenses, membership fees paid to professional associations, external service providers).

Continuing the efforts the Group makes every year to increase its contribution to the common good and support its companies in their development momentum and transformation, SUEZ devoted itself in 2017 to preparing a vigilance plan to control its impact on local areas.

SUEZ considers that conducting business activities in accordance with human rights everywhere it operates is an integral part of its responsibility. SUEZ formalized its Human Rights Policy, its commitments, the principles for action and the governance of this policy. Given its activities, SUEZ Group puts a special focus on the right to water and sanitation, and fully plays its role of promoter and actor in the implementation of the right to water and sanitation.