Society

How we work to become a more sustainable and socially responsible business

Addressing climate change by focusing on four sustainability themes

The world is in a climate crisis. This calls for focused efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by decarbonising for net zero, build resilient societies, improve circularity and reduce resource consumption, and protect biodiversity and ecosystems.

Those four sustainability themes 1) decarbonising for net zero; 2) resilient societies and liveability; 3) resource management and circular economy; and 4) biodiversity and ecosystems are at the centre of Ramboll’s efforts to create sustainable change through our architecture, engineering, and consultancy solutions, as well as by reducing the footprint of our own operations.

Our largest sustainability impact on society is through the projects, designs, and consultancy that we deliver to clients and stakeholders. We also work systematically to improve environmental, climate and social sustainability impacts across our company value chain.

Ramboll’s targets to reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions have been approved by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) as being in line with the 1.5°C goal outlined in the Paris Agreement. We are also working to reduce our scope 3 emissions from business travel and our purchased goods and services.

Furthermore, as part of our strategic ambitions towards 2025, we have made several new commitments for climate and nature. These include a commitment to exit oil and gas exploration before the end of 2025 and with the ambition to halve CO2 emissions from new building projects by 2030.

Climate impacts on human rights

Vulnerable societies, communities, and minorities, who contribute the least to climate change, are often at most risk from its impacts. This includes adverse human rights impacts on their rights to life, safe drinking water and sanitation, food, health, housing self-determination, culture, work and development.

There is an urgent need to transition towards sustainable economies, but environmentally sustainable solutions cannot come at the expense of human rights.

In the European Union, this principle will be legally enforced through the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which includes a mandatory value chain due diligence obligation with respect to human rights, and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Those regulations set requirements in line with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

By adopting these new requirements for human rights due diligence and reporting in 2023, Ramboll will strengthen human rights protections throughout our global value chains by operationalising these safeguards in our management tools and processes.

In doing so, we will work to identify new ways of assessing and influencing indirect business relationships that have been identified to be at risk, and to effectively increase stakeholder engagement in our projects.

Ramboll volunteers

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In 2022, many Ramboll employees generously volunteered their personal time towards 23 charitable projects and initiatives spread across 13 countries, primarily in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. While the volunteers participated on site in most cases, remote assistance was offered in countries such as Ukraine and Pakistan.

Volunteering to support underprivileged groups and communities

Ramboll strives to be an active and recognised partner for sustainable change in society, not least through our support to underprivileged groups and communities. Many Ramboll employees volunteer their skills and time in NGOs or through local programmes, often with support from the Ramboll Foundation.

In 2022, as Covid-19 restrictions have been gradually lifted across the world, hundreds of Ramboll employees have volunteered their free time and many others have supported projects with direct donations. Volunteering projects are diverse and encompass activities such as a collecting toys and educational materials for children in Ukraine and building bridges in Rwanda.

Volunteer programmes that involve Ramboll employees include long-term partnerships with NGOs such as Bridges to Prosperity, Engineers Without Borders and the International Red Cross. Ramboll volunteers are also engaged in longer running local programmes in Denmark, India, and the UK, supporting a wide range of causes.

Looking ahead to 2023, Ramboll Group and the Ramboll Foundation will launch a joint Society Impact Programme, focused on selected geographies. By leveraging the skills and expertise of Ramboll employees, the programme aims to establish a more proactive, coherent and impactful approach to increasing our societal impact through volunteering and donations.

Climate action begins with new knowledge

In 2022, we collaborated with partners in private, public and NGO sectors to shed light on low-carbon pathways through reports and webinars.

In transport, we documented how data gaps keep cities from pursuing best practices on walking and cycling policies. Working with 18 public authorities and two NGOs, we documented that cities rarely collect systematic data about cyclists and pedestrians, delivering a report that concludes:

Walking is at the bottom of the mobility hierarchy and the need for data is often not recognised.
It is difficult to capture accurate data about pedestrians and cyclists, because they move about in a more fluid way than cars and other vehicle traffic.
Cities should collect data about pedestrian and cyclist traffic, but also safety and satisfaction; helping identify who is not walking and cycling – and why.

Quick Facts

: 10%
of total global CO2 emissions comes from materials and construction, according to Laudes Foundation reports.

: 2050
is when the European economy must be climate-neutral according to the 27 EU member states.

Tackling embodied carbon with Laudes Foundation

The built environment generates 37% of annual global carbon emissions. In collaboration with the Laudes Foundation and universities KU Leuven and Aalborg University BUILD, Ramboll authored four reports aimed at reducing embodied carbon in the built environment.

Embodied carbon covers emissions from a building’s materials and construction processes throughout its entire lifecycle. This is often contrasted with operational carbon, which are emissions from a building’s use such as electricity and heating.

The reports focus on the need to accurately capture data about the embodied carbon of building materials, and promoting low-carbon building methods through the use of carbon budgets and targets.

“This study shows how policymakers can start to set carbon budgets, spark industry innovation to meet these targets, and significantly reduce emissions this decade,” James Drinkwater, Head of Built Environment at Laudes Foundation

Embodied carbon covers emissions from a building’s materials and construction processes throughout its entire lifecycle. This is often contrasted with operational carbon, which are emissions from a building’s use such as electricity and heating.

Ramboll Foundation charitable activities involving Ramboll Group

The owner of Ramboll, the Ramboll Foundation, donated 21 million DKK in 2022 to promote sustainable development for the benefit of nature, society, and people. Donations are given to projects within research and education, as well as to those that support humanitarian efforts and strengthen civil society – often with direct involvement of Ramboll employees.

The Foundation also sponsors a number of industrial PhD scholarships; as well as supporting individual employees in difficult circumstances. You can read more about these activities in the Ramboll Foundation 2022 report.

The Foundation has also awarded the Flemming Bligaard Award for groundbreaking research by an early-career researcher in 2020-2022, in close collaboration with Ramboll.

Furthermore, in early 2022, Ramboll employees, Ramboll and the Ramboll Foundation donated €424,500 to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to support humanitarian aid in Ukraine and neighbouring countries.

“The owner of Ramboll, the Ramboll Foundation, donated 21 million DKK in 2022 to promote sustainable development for the benefit of nature, society, and people.”

Local tax obligations

Ramboll views tax as a positive consequence of our business activities. Ramboll pays corporate income taxes and other business taxes in the countries in which we have profitable business activities. Ramboll also collects and remits employee income taxes, social security taxes, VAT, sales tax, and other indirect taxes. Together, these taxes represent significant contributions to the countries and societies in which we operate.

Ramboll is committed to acting with integrity, transparency, and compliance with all taxation regulations.

Corporate Income Tax Charges (DKK million)

Ramboll’s 2022 financial statements show a corporate income tax charge of DKK 247.9 million out of DKK 624.9 million of earnings before tax. This tax charge is allocated between the following main regions: