Sustainability Certification
We’re proud to announce that we have achieved the Planet Mark Business Certification, furthering our commitment to reduce our impact on society. This is an incredible achievement involving the entire business.
The Planet Mark Business Certification is an internationally recognised sustainability certification for all organisations acknowledging continuous progress, encouraging action and building an empowered community of like-minded individuals.
In order to achieve this sustainability certification, we’ve followed a robust three-step process: Measuring our impact, engaging everyone in the business and communicating our progress. We have measured our own carbon footprint and will continue to take responsibility of our carbon emissions to have a positive impact on planet and society. We are also contributing to the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) as we believe that it’s important, more than ever, to do more good and create a sustainable future.
Our entire business has contributed to our achievement in becoming Planet Mark certified, and every individual will continue to play an important role in our sustainability commitment.
We want to continue to have a positive impact through our business and hope that we can empower our community to take climate action. We hope that you will join us in this movement for change.
We have furthered our commitment to building sustainable communities by quantifying our contribution to society through Social Value measurement with Planet Mark.
Planet Mark measures our Social Value across five categories: our people – including measures such as health and well-being initiatives, community and volunteering, donations, procurement and environmental impacts. Using the Social Value Portal National TOMs methodology, Planet Mark allows us to report both financial and non-financial data, in turn recognising our positive contribution to society and our immediate community.
By being more strategic about our social responsibility, we have been able to significantly increase our positive impact and hope to encourage continual improvements within our community.
We encourage you to get in touch if you would like further details on our journey.
Link to certificate and sustainability Annual Sustainability report 2023.
Read our blog to find out more about ideas on how to make your education abroad experience more sustainable.
ESG Policies
Our ESG Vision
The AES, ESG vision is outlined by Four key principles:
- Develop and manage our premium services in a sustainable way.
- Protect environment and support communities within which we operate.
- Benefit interests of our employees, partners, students, clients, and other stakeholders, in a sustainable and ethical way and encourage all parties to engage in sustainable and ethical practices.
- Incorporate ESG matters into all investment, procurement, recruitment, and decision-making processes within the company.
Our Environment Policies
Across AES, we acknowledge that our business activities have impact on environment.
Energy Efficiency: We are committed to reducing our energy consumption and promoting energy efficiency in all our operations. This includes implementing measures such as using LED lighting as well as motion sensors in our offices, study centre and student housing, energy-efficient appliances, optimizing heating and cooling systems, and adopting renewable energy sources where feasible.
Waste Management: We aim to minimize waste generation and promote recycling and responsible disposal practices. This involves reducing single-use plastics, encouraging recycling programs, and partnering with waste management services that prioritize environmental sustainability.
Transportation: We encourage all parties the use of sustainable transportation options among our staff and students, such as walking, cycling, and public transport. We also support initiatives to reduce carbon emissions associated with transportation, including switching some of our business fleets to electric vehicles.
Resource Conservation: We strive to conserve natural resources by minimizing water usage, optimizing printing practices, and sourcing materials from sustainable suppliers whenever possible.
Our Social Policies
Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion: We pride ourselves on our diverse range of employees. This inclusive environment is also reflected in our facilities, academic programmes, and other services.
We provide a safe and fair environment to staff members and provide equal opportunities for progress.
Employee Health and Wellbeing: We are committed to maintaining a healthy and fair environment, providing resources for physical health and mental wellbeing to our employees and work life balance.
Education: Raising cultural awareness and encouraging our students to involve in our sustainable practices while providing a range of resources for safety, wellbeing, and sustainability practices during their education abroad here in the UK. We offer a varied range of ESG and sustainability workshops available to all our students to attend as part of the curriculum of each program. We have also launched The Lizzie Lowy Culture Abroad Grant, aiming at supporting the students towards their Education in the UK.
Philanthropy and Community Engagement: We endeavour to take part in different charity and social initiatives, such as donating to Just One Tree, to encourage staff, students, and other parties to give back to the community and the environment.
Our Governance and Company Policies
Decision making – We aim at basing our decisions on long-term company social and environmental sustainability principles.
Purpose and Values – We strive to build loyalty, to provide opportunities for growth, to make everyone feel welcome and we support health and wellbeing therefore we encourage people to be themselves.
Disclosure and Reporting: We are committed to transparently reporting our ESG performance to stakeholders through regular disclosures and reports, adhering to industry standards and best practices provided by our sustainability accreditation party, Planet Mark.
Please see our ESG and Philanthropy plan for the remainder of the year.