Introduction
According to Qantas Airways Limited (2011, par.1), the airlines industry emits a substantial amount of manufactured carbon dioxide. The Group has established a program named carbon-offset that enables travelers to counterbalance carbon emission caused by their flights and moved to using neutral carbon.
The Group has worked together with the community by engaging in donations and global funds to fight diseases. It also works with the government in providing enticements to sponsor research and development that aims at coming up with new methods and techniques of sustaining the environment. Qantas employees also take part in the organization’s “Clean up Australia”.
Qantas has developed a culture of accountability, good governance through transparency and reporting of all activities to its stakeholders, customers and regulators. It complies with global standards of reporting such as accountability (AA100) and International Labor Organizations regulations. Employees are educated on their fundamental human rights and practice.
Sustainability of Qantas
The Qantas Group seeks to operate in the most sustainable manner possible. It seeks to operate in a sustainable manner by optimizing and continually improving all its aspects of operations. The specific areas in which the Qantas Group seeks to narrow down to achieve sustainability are areas such as economic and environmental impacts. The group continues to be keen on the economic and environmental impacts as it continues to achieve sound financial results to the satisfaction of shareholders.
The Qantas’ Groups performance and standards in the scope of sustainability have been clear and elaborate. The Dow Jones Sustainability Asia Pacific Index was first published in 2009 and since then, the Qantas Group has consistently featured in the list. The Index listing is reviewed quarterly and annually (Qantas Airways Limited 2010a, par.2).
It is the objective of this measure to ensure the accuracy of index composition in order to provide a good representation of leading sustainability companies. The fact that the Group has been featuring in the index is a clear indication of its sustainability levels (Qantas Airways Limited 2011).
The group has been acknowledged and recognized in the area of sustainability performance and disclosure. For one, it has appeared in the DJSI index since 2009, secondly it has won the ESG Citi Award in the 2010 Australian Investor Relations Association awards.
Thirdly, the 2010 Carbon Disclosure Project Leadership Index (CDPLI) has also included the Qantas Group in its index for New Zealand and Australia. Concerning carbon emission reduction category, Qantas Airways has appears among top ten firms that promote reduced carbon emission hence the only industrial company to appear in the list showing its high levels of sustainability (Qantas Airways Limited 2010b, par.2).
Conclusion
Qantas Group has ensured environmental sustainability by participating in the clean up activities in the Clean Up Australian Day (CUAD). The group indeed has a 15 years partnership with the Clean Up program in which it provides support in terms of flight services.
The Qantas has helped the development of online Future Sustainability Leaders Program so that many people may be linked to online training and support. The Qantas Group has enhanced environmental sustainability by adopting an investor definition that focuses on exploiting opportunities and managing business risks in order to grow and remain sustainable.
List of References
Qantas Airways Limited 2010a, Community and health. Web.
Qantas Airways Limited 2010b, Health. Web.
Qantas Airways Limited 2011, Qantas Airways. Web.