Scope 1 Emissions
2022 Communication on Progress
Pearson plc.
Published date
June 21, 2022
No. of questions
64
Supplemental files
Updated Environmental Policy 2022.pdfCEO Statement
Governance
Policies and Responsibilities
1. Does the Board / highest governance body or most senior executive of the company:
Optional commentPlease see p7 of Pearson's Annual Report 2021: https://plc.pearson.com/sites/pearson-corp/files/pearson/annual-report-2021/pdf/pearson-annual-report-2021.pdf#page=12. Does the company have a publicly stated commitment regarding the following sustainability topics?
Optional commenthttps://plc.pearson.com/en-GB/purpose3. Does the company have in place a code of conduct regarding each of the following sustainability topics?
Optional commenthttps://plc.pearson.com/en-GB/corporate-policies4. Has the company appointed an individual or group responsible for each of the following sustainability topics?
Optional commentPlease see Pp. 98-100 of Pearson's Annual Report 2021: https://plc.pearson.com/sites/pearson-corp/files/pearson/annual-report-2021/pdf/pearson-annual-report-2021.pdf#page=15. Does the company have a formal structure(s) (such as a cross-functional committee) to address each of the following sustainability topics?
Optional commentPlease see p.43 of Pearson's Annual Report 2021: https://plc.pearson.com/sites/pearson-corp/files/pearson/annual-report-2021/pdf/pearson-annual-report-2021.pdf#page=1Prevention
6. Does the company have a process or processes to assess risk?
Optional commentPlease see Pp 60-69 of Pearson's Annual Report 2021: https://plc.pearson.com/sites/pearson-corp/files/pearson/annual-report-2021/pdf/pearson-annual-report-2021.pdf#page=16.1. During the assessment of risk, which business relationships are reviewed?
7. Does the company have a due diligence process through which it identifies, prevents, mitigates, and accounts for actual and potential negative impacts on sustainability topics?
Optional commentPearson has several due diligence processes7.1. During the due diligence process, which business relationships are reviewed?
Concerns and grievance mechanisms
8. Are there any processes through which members of the company’s workforce can raise concerns about the company’s conduct related to human rights, labour rights, environment, or anti-corruption?
Optional commentPlease see Raising Concerns on our website: https://plc.pearson.com/en-GB/corporate-policies8.1. Please provide additional detail regarding the process(es) the company has through which members of the company’s workforce can raise concerns about the company’s conduct.
Optional commentPlease see our relevant policies including Raising Concerns: https://plc.pearson.com/en-GB/corporate-policies9. Does the company provide or enable access to effective remedy to right holders / stakeholders where it has caused or contributed to the adverse impact?
Lessons
10. How does the company capture lessons regarding each of the following sustainability topics?
Executive Pay
11. Is executive pay linked to performance on one or more of the following sustainability topics?
Optional commentExecutive remuneration is linked to establishing Pearson as purpose-driven across product, people, and the planet. Please see page 117 of Pearson's Annual Report 2021: https://plc.pearson.com/sites/pearson-corp/files/pearson/annual-report-2021/pdf/pearson-annual-report-2021.pdf#page=1 The targets for 2022 are as followsBoard Composition
12. Percentage of individuals within the company’s Board / highest governance body by:
Optional commenthttps://plc.pearson.com/en-GB/company/governance/the-board13. Do you produce sustainability reporting according to:
Data Assurance
14. Is the information disclosed in this questionnaire assured by a third-party?
Human Rights
Materiality / Saliency
1. Which of the following has the company identified as material human rights issues connected with its operations and/or value chain, whether based on their salience (i.e., the most severe potential negative impacts on people) or another basis?
Commitment
2. Does the company have a policy commitment in relation to the following human rights issues?
2.1. For each human rights policy, is it:
Prevention
3. In the course of the reporting period, has the company engaged with affected stakeholders or their legitimate representatives in relation to the following human rights issues?
4. What type of action has the company taken in the reporting period with the aim of preventing/mitigating the risks/impacts associated with this human rights issue?
5. Who receives training for the following human rights issues?
6. How does the company assess progress in preventing/mitigating the risks/impacts associated with the following human rights issues?
Response
7. During the reporting period, has the company been involved in providing or enabling remedy where it has caused or contributed to adverse impact associated with the following human rights issue(s)?
8. Briefly describe practical actions the company has taken during the reporting period and/or plans to take to implement the human rights principles, including any challenges faced and actions taken towards prevention and/or remediation.
The governance and protection of our customers’ information is of critical importance to us and, as part of our ongoing digital transformation, Pearson has continued to invest in both its talent and capabilities to enhance its cyber security and data privacy practices. Pearson has established data security and privacy principles which form the foundation of our privacy and cyber security policies, and are used to design privacy and security into our products and platforms. Learning is one of our most important principles, with our people participating in mandatory data privacy and cyber security training that is tailored to their job roles. These principles are being embedded throughout the organisation. An independent assessment of Pearson’s cyber security maturity, based on the latest international standards, is performed annually to check progress.Labour
Commitment
1. Does the company have a policy commitment in relation to the following labour rights principles?
1.1. For each labour rights policy, is it:
Prevention
2. In the course of the reporting period, has the company engaged with affected stakeholders or their legitimate representatives in relation to the following labour rights issues?
3. What type of action has the company taken in the reporting period with the aim of preventing/mitigating the risks/impacts associated with this labour rights issue?
4. Who receives training for the following labour rights issues?
Optional commentAll employees receive annual training on Pearson's Code of Conduct and associated policies5. How does the company assess progress in preventing/mitigating the risks/impacts associated with the following labour rights issues?
Performance
6. What is the percentage of employees covered under collective bargaining agreements?
Optional commentWe do not track this metric7. What is the percentage of employees in a trade union or other workers' organization?
Optional commentWe do not track this metric8. In the course of the reporting period, what was the percentage of women in:
9. What was the average ratio of the basic salary and remuneration of women to men (comparing jobs of equal value) during the reporting period?
10. In the course of the reporting period, how frequently were workers injured (injuries per hour worked)?
11. In the course of the reporting period, what was the company’s incident rate?
Response and Reporting
12. In the course of the reporting period, has the company been involved in providing or enabling remedy where it has caused or contributed to the adverse impact associated with the following labour rights issues?
13. Briefly describe practical actions the company has taken during the reporting period and/or plans to take to implement the labour rights principles, including any challenges faced and actions taken towards prevention and/or remediation.
2021 Progress on key initiatives include: — Focussed on employee engagement during business transformation. — Identified the career aspirations and skills needed to drive the ongoing transformation of the company for 100% of our SVPs, VPs and Directors in alignment with the Pearson Capabilities Framework (identifying skills gaps to close is part of our talent review). — Launched DE&I Strategy and associated governance council For more information, please see the People pages (48-50) in Pearson's Annual Report 2021: https://plc.pearson.com/sites/pearson-corp/files/pearson/annual-report-2021/pdf/pearson-annual-report-2021.pdf#page=1Environment
Commitment
1. Does the company have a formal policy on the following environmental topics?
Optional commentOur environmental policy is updated every year.1.1. For each environmental policy, is it:
Prevention
2. In the course of the reporting period, has the company engaged with affected stakeholders or their legitimate representatives in relation to the following environmental issues?
3. What type of action has the company taken in the reporting period with the aim of preventing/mitigating the risks/impacts associated with these environmental topics?
4. How does the company assess progress in preventing/mitigating the risks/impacts associated with the following environmental topics?
4.1. For each environmental topic in which the company sets timebound goals / targets, what kind of targets has the company set?
4.2. For each environmental topic in which the company sets timebound goals / targets, how is progress against target / goal tracked?
5. In the course of the reporting period, has the company been involved in providing or enabling remedy for any actual impacts associated with the following environmental issue(s)?
Climate Action
6. What were the company’s gross global greenhouse gas emissions for the reporting period?
Scope 2 Emissions
Scope 3 Emissions
7. What percentage of the company's revenue was invested in R&D of low-carbon products/services during this reporting period?
8. Has the organization acted to support climate change adaptation and resilience?
Energy / Resource Use
9. Please report the company's renewable energy consumption as a percentage of total energy consumption in the reporting period.
Technology
10. What percent of the company's revenue came from environmentally friendly products / services during this reporting period?
Sector-specific Questions
11. Which sector(s) does the company operate in? If diversified, choose top 3 by revenue.
Overall Environment
21. Briefly describe practical actions the company has taken during the reporting period and/or plans to take to implement the environment principles, including any challenges faced and actions taken towards prevention and/or remediation.
2021 Progress on key initiatives included: — We reduced our combined Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 26% from our 2018 baseline that was adjusted for business disposals. The ongoing work we have undertaken to digitise our business and reduce our physical footprint has been a key driver of the reduction. The impact of COVID-19 will also have had an impact due to international mobility restrictions and office closures, however it has accelerated the changes in how we do business and the shift to digital. We are pleased with the progress we have made in digitising our business and we are continuing to focus on this as a priority. — Progress on supplier baselining and data models.Anti-corruption
Commitment
1. Does the company have an anti-corruption compliance programme?
2. Does your company have policies and recommendations for employees on how to act in case of doubt and/or in situations that may represent a conflict of interest, e.g. with regard to gifts and hospitality, donations, sponsorship, or interactions with public officials?
Prevention
3. Who receives training on anti-corruption and integrity?
Optional commentPearson has a risk based approach for training its third parties.3.1. How often is such training provided?
Optional commentAs noted above, Pearson adopts a risk-based approach4. Does the company monitor its anti-corruption compliance programme?
Response and Reporting
5. Please report the company's total number and nature of incidents of corruption during the reporting year.
6. Within the reporting period, what measures has the company taken to address suspected incidents of corruption independently or in response to a dispute or investigation by a government regulator?
Optional commentPlease see notes on section 5 above on the issues cover on this response.7. Does your company engage in Collective Action against corruption?
8. Briefly describe practical actions the company has taken during the reporting period and/or plans to take to implement the anti-corruption principle, including any challenges faced and actions taken towards prevention and/or remediation.
- Implemented an automated ABC training programme - Created a global denied third-party list across the company - Revised and strengthened our Gifts and Hospitality and Conflicts of Interests policies and procedures - Strengthened our Compliance Council