Setting high ethical standards in our way of doing business is an integral part of WilliamDemant Holding’s mission. Within our natural sphere of interest, we are committed to doing our part to help tackle social and environmental challenges beyond the obligations imposed on us by Danish law.

In 2010 we have joined the UN Global Compact initiative, pledging our Group to comply with and promote the principles of human and labour rights, environmental protection and anti-corruption. Our joining this initiative is based on a wish to further systematise our work with corporate responsibility and to incorporate these efforts into a recognized global framework.

During the last couple of years, we have intensified our work on corporate responsibility and also stepped up our communication in respect of the outcome of such work. In 2009, we have adopted 14 principles, outlining Management’s overall approach to business ethics, the environment including work environment, human rights and good corporate governance. We have also formulated a comprehensive business ethics policy, consisting of a set of rules and guidelines outlining our approach to how – from an ethical point of view – we run our business and interact with our customers. We have furthermore adopted an extensive code of conduct for our suppliers, which we are in the process of implementing throughout the Group. At this point, over 100 suppliers of components and packaging have pledged to adhere to this code of conduct.

The environmental impact of the manufacture of Group products is limited: firstly, it is in the nature of things that very few materials are used for the manufacture of hearing aids as the major part of corporate production is the assembly of finished components. Secondly, we have worked on making unit packaging uniform, which will further reduce the use of resources. And thirdly, considering that we are manufacturers, our use of energy is fairly low with an annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emission of about 3.5 tonnes per employee in Denmark and Poland. Over 80% of corporate carbon dioxide emissions derive from the use of electricity, some 10% from the heating of buildings and approx. 7% from company cars.

Principles, policies and detailed information on our corporate responsibility efforts are available in this section of our website. We have also chosen to report on corporate carbon dioxide emissions and climate strategies through the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), thus enabling stakeholders to compare corporate carbon dioxide emissions and their impact on our business with figures from other companies.

The number of enquiries from investors and other key stakeholders in relation to our corporate responsibility policies rose moderately in 2009, and we expect this trend to continue. With our participation in the CDP and our Global Compact commitment, we wish to emphasise that we will prioritise and further develop these activities over the next few years.