Submission of the first United Nations report on our commitment to sustainability

hands of children drawing images of the world and nature with pencils on brown paper

Following the announcement in November 2020 that both Cambridge Assessment and Cambridge University Press are both participants in the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, the United Nations Global Compact, Cambridge Assessment has now submitted its first report on progress.

Cambridge Assessment United Nations Global Compact Communication on Progress report 2021

The United Nations’ (UN) Global Compact is a global call to organisations and businesses to align strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. 

Our report is based on analysis of ways in which Cambridge can increase its alignment with the 10 principles and advocate for increased support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals throughout our global activities. In preparation for this report we have examined a range of potential initiatives that help us to enhance our positive impacts and reduce areas of negative impact, for example, ways in which we are reducing  our environmental footprint in relation to plastic waste. 

As a global organisation we have a responsibility to people and our planet, which is why we wanted to make the commitment of reporting on our sustainability progress publically. We take our commitment seriously; our people, our communities and our planet are core to both our purpose, our joint strategy and the ways in which we operate. The process of developing this report helps us to examine how we can make an even bigger difference to our learners and communities by bringing our practises more closely into alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and other global sustainability initiatives.

We share our University’s mission to contribute to society by advancing learning, knowledge and research at the highest levels of international excellence. Education is the most powerful long-term solution to poverty, to conflict, and many of the issues facing the world today. We seek to increase knowledge and understanding of environmental and sustainability issues in developing curriculums, educational programmes and assessments. There is a fundamental connection between our products and services and the way that we produce and deliver them. That means working sustainably and ethically, constantly seeking to reduce our environmental impact and supporting diversity and inclusion in our businesses, our supply chains and in education and research around the world.

Our next report will be submitted in 2023.

You can learn more about the 10 principles on the United Nations' website.

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