Helping our customers to do more, using less As a leader in technology, we believe that advanced engineering has a critical role to play in achieving a sustainable future. We are committed to developing the most efficient power systems in the world. This helps the environment and our customers by enabling them to do more, using less.
As a power systems company our primary contribution to sustainability is to develop technologies and products with a continually improving environmental performance. We have the capability to respond to several of the major environmental challenges through our low-emissions and low-carbon energy solutions.
We recognise that the challenges posed by climate change must be addressed by a proper understanding of the science. This will require a combination of technology, the ability to execute industrial scale solutions, public policy and regulations. This means industry, governments, academia and society will have to work together.
As a business it is possible for us to meet the needs of our customers, employees and shareholders by developing products and services that benefit society and reduce environmental impact. We pay the highest attention to product responsibility, supported by our product safety management system. From design to manufacture and throughout the life of our products in service, we encourage responsible thinking and prudent use of resources. As the original equipment manufacturer, we are best placed to provide service support, long-term product care and well planned maintenance on behalf of our customers.
We operate under a publicly available Global Code of Business Ethics and view sustainability as a fundamental part of our business strategy.
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Further information
Our Sustainability Council is chaired by Board director, Colin Smith CBE, Director – Engineering and Technology. A senior-level body, it comprises our Group HR Director, Operations Director, Chief Procurement Officer, Director Corporate Affairs, Director HS&E and Head of Environmental Technology.
The Council is responsible for the steering and co-ordination of sustainability across all stakeholder groups and for making recommendations to the Executive Leadership team. It drives improvements in sustainability performance across the business by establishing company-wide improvement programmes.
Rolls-Royce is a world-leading provider of power systems and services for use on land, at sea and in the air. We have established a strong position in global markets - civil aerospace, defence aerospace, marine and energy.
Our broad customer base comprises more than 300 airlines, 4,000 corporate and utility aircraft and helicopter operators, 160 armed forces, more than 4,000 marine customers, including 70 navies, and energy customers in more than 80 countries.
Annual underlying revenue was £12.2 billion in 2012, of which more than half came from the provision of services. The firm and announced order book stood at £60.1 billion at 31 December 2012, providing visibility of future levels of activity.
We employ over 45,000 people in offices, manufacturing and service facilities in over 50 countries. Over 14,000 of these employees are engineers.
In 2012, we invested £919 million in research and development, two thirds of which had the objective of further improving the environmental performance of our products, in particular reducing emissions.
We support a global network of 28 University Technology Centres, which connect our engineers with the forefront of scientific research.
The Group has a strong commitment to apprentice and graduate recruitment and to further developing employee skills.
We continue to be one of the leading companies in the CDP Index. Our 2012 carbon disclosure score was 72 and our performance band 'B'. We led the Global 500 industrials in governance and strategy, emissions management and reporting.
Dow Jones Sustainability World and European Indexes (DJSI)
We have retained our position in the DJSI for the eleventh consecutive year, with an overall score of 74 per cent, well above the average of 42 per cent in the aviation and defence sector.
