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Summary

We progressed our climate resilience programmes and each of our sectors developed decarbonisation roadmaps to outline short-, medium- and long-term activities to support the Group’s net zero ambition by 2030 (Scope 1 and 2).

Report Highlights

Sustainability is fundamental to our business performance and the delivery of our sustainability agenda is how we address our material Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) risks and opportunities.

Our sustainability agenda supports our purpose to serve, supply and protect those who serve and protect us. Our products and services help to enable governments to defend the lives and freedoms of people around the world, support international stability and keep people safe. At the same time, our business supports the prosperity agenda of nations with high quality, well paid sustainable employment and being a valued member of the communities we operate in.

Many of our programmes are complex, pushing the boundaries of current technology. The products we design and build now will remain in service for decades to come which emphasises the need to develop long-term sustainable solutions. This is why we are strongly aligned with governments’ national decarbonisation programmes, working closely with our customers and partners in developing sustainable solutions, as well as setting a target of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and 2) across our own operations by 2030.

Reducing the impact of our products and wider value chain, whilst maintaining or improving delivery of our customers’ capability, is also a key part to this. To do this, we collaborate with our customers and partners and every year we invest hundreds of millions of pounds into research, development and skills.

Our ability to meet these complex engineering and technology challenges depends on the commitment, dedication and skills of our people and it is critical that we continue to attract, retain and develop the very best talent. To do this we must ensure that our workplaces provide an environment where our employees feel valued, included and able to thrive in their professional development. By contributing to activities and organisations that align with our business, we also aim to make a positive social and economic contribution to the communities in which we live and work.

From a governance and reporting perspective, we have once again reported against the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB): 2022 Disclosures and how we align to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).

Our 2022 highlights include:

Addressing climate risks

• Progress on our net zero programme, including our emissions reduction levers
• What we are doing to reduce our wider environmental impacts by consuming resources responsibly
• Outlining our approach to biodiversity and natural capital
• Progress against our TCFD disclosure, including scenario analysis.

Ideas, innovation and technology

• What we are doing to understand the emissions of our current products
• Research and development we are undertaking to develop low and zero emissions products.

Creating opportunity for people and communities

• What we are doing to maintain a diverse pipeline of talent and critical skills to fulfil our future customer requirements
• How we are developing and expanding our approach to career-long learning
• What we are doing to build and nurture mutually beneficial relationships between our business, our people and stakeholders to deliver a positive social impact in the communities where we operate
• During 2022 we contributed £11,504,152 to local, national and international causes, working with charities and not-for-profit organisations through our community investment programmes. This includes charitable sponsorships, donations, employee fundraising and volunteering.

Success through partnering

• What we are doing to build long-term relationships with supply chain partners to deliver mutual benefit
• How we are engaging suppliers in our sustainability ambitions to collaborate on issues and accelerate progress.

Charles Woodburn, CEO stated: “I am exceptionally proud of what the Group accomplished in 2022. We hired a record number of UK apprentices and graduates and I am particularly pleased that we increased the number of women to 30% of that intake. We progressed our climate resilience programmes and each of our sectors developed decarbonisation roadmaps to outline short-, medium- and long-term activities to support the Group’s net zero ambition by 2030 (Scope 1 and 2).”

For more information on the 2022 Annual Report click here.
For more information on our Sustainability Agenda click here.

At BAE Systems, we provide some of the world’s most advanced, technology-led defence, aerospace and security solutions. We employ a skilled workforce of 93,100 people in around 40 countries. Working with customers and local partners, we develop, engineer, manufacture, and support products and systems to deliver military capability, protect national security, and keep critical information and infrastructure secure.

Media Contact:
Kristina Anderson