FIDELITY INTERNATIONAL historically , involved considerable travel , paper usage and carbon emissions .
Ben believes that digital is and will be a considerable ally in the company ’ s own approach to climate change . “ We ' ve set for 2024 as our date to reduce paper by 50 %,” he says . “ We have also moved to more digital-based contracts and will continue moving towards more digital solutions in terms of how we operate as a business . This is a big area of growth in finance and we will be striving to progress in the digital space over the next few years .”
The digital dimension came into sharp focus for the company when COVID-19 struck in March 2020 . Ben reflects : “ Many of our people began working from home throughout the pandemic and , consequently , they haven ' t been printing as much , while also considerably reducing the business travel side or their job . Moreover , using collaboration tools and digital forms of communication has definitely reduced our overall carbon footprint .”
Net-zero target With Fidelity ’ s net-zero target only nine years away , it has applied five key principles to reaching the sustainability summit .
The first one is around the data , the verification of the data , the transparency of that data and , ultimately , the disclosure of it in external forums . “ We want to challenge ourselves , but we want to make sure that we do it in a credible manner ,” insists Ben . “ Subsequently , we have had a big focus on data and the processes surrounding it .”
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