Auckland PR consultancy Wright Communications has released its 2019 Sustainability Report, building on several years of publishing sustainability reports for clients Air New Zealand, Global Women, Moana, OfficeMax, T&G Global and other organisations.

Managing Director Nikki Wright said this year’s Wright Communications Sustainability Report built on the achievements of the company’s first report, published December 2018, by continuing to demonstrate the company ethos of ‘walking the talk’ from purchasing carbon credits to adjusting company practices in pursuit of true environmental and economic sustainability.

“The major differences we see in our Sustainability Report this year are our consumer division grew further, we launched a smart-phone crisis management app, and we retained our carbon neutral status with a slight reduction in our carbon intensity per FTE,” Ms Wright said.

“In terms of sustainability for our staff, we actively participated in professional development, had 100 percent staff retention and we mentored AUT students to try and improve the gender diversity in the PR industry, working towards a balanced ratio of males and females in our team and in the placement of students into communications roles.”

“We also improved career pathway planning for our team, developed policies and induction processes and, as part of our commitment to diversity, had staff undertake a 10-week course in Te Reo Māori.

“Pleasingly we reduced our gender pay gap from 23 per cent in 2018 to 6.2 per cent in 2019, under the national gender pay gap of 9.2 per cent.

Wright said the company – a member of the Sustainable Business Council and Climate Leaders Coalition - has always had a commitment to helping clients do the right thing through corporate social responsibility and sustainability reporting with reference to United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and now the same measures have been used on Wright Communications itself – with encouraging results.

Sustainability outcomes in Wright Communications’ 2019 report include:
• Toitū Envirocare helped Wright Communications evaluate its organisational footprint of 20.91 carbon dioxide equivalent tonnes (tCO2e) of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the financial year and compensate by purchasing 21.00 tonnes CO2e of GHG emissions reductions
• Measurement of staff carbon dioxide emissions, showing that carbon intensity per employee reduced from 2.20 tCO2e to 1.90 tCO2e during the last financial year
• Transitioning to carbon neutral electricity provider ecotricity
• Strategic communications management provided to charities working on challenges including affordable housing, domestic violence prevention, social services, surf lifesaving, Dry July and improved access to cochlear implants
o $161,755 of communications services contributed to charitable storytelling for organisations.

This year’s report also shows Wright Communications has achieved positive sustainability results in terms of:

• Reducing the gender pay gap in the Wright Communications workplace
• Pro bono and sliding scale-rated communications services for public service clients
• Establishing a sustainable procurement policy and diversity and inclusion policy
• Working with Toitū Envirocare to develop an Emissions Management Plan.

Wright said sustainability defines the agency’s reason for being. “Corporate Social Responsibility underpins our approach to clients and informs our business ethos,” she explained.

During the year Wright Communications worked on sustainability projects including launch of The Aotearoa Circle’s ‘Sustainable Finance Forum’ Interim Report, helping Toyota NZ an increase to the availability of low-carbon vehicles and the setting of targets for reduced tailpipe emissions.
Wright Communications also partnered with NZX and produced a report into the quality and volume of environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting in the NZX50 Index.

The Wright Communications 2019 Sustainability Report can be viewed here.