Tackling climate change
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time and we are focused on reducing our contributions.
In 2019, we committed to reducing our emissions by 30% by 2030 from a FY18 baseline - this is our ‘30 by 30’ target. We were the first in our industry in Australasia to set a Science-Based Target (SBT) for carbon reduction.
Building on from this, we have further committed to being Net-Zero carbon by FY50.
Each of our business units has a Carbon Reduction Roadmap to achieve our ‘30 by 30’ target, and we are now putting plans in place for our operations, and working with our suppliers, to meet Net Zero by 2050.
In FY23, we achieved a 16% reduction in carbon emissions from our baseline year of FY18, which is equivalent to about 165,000 people flying from Auckland to London (we used the IATA CO2 Connect Calculator).
Some of our initiatives
We have launched many initiatives and products across the business that are helping us to achieve our carbon goals and contributing to better outcomes for New Zealand and Australia. Some examples are:
- New Zealand’s lowest carbon cement
Our Concrete Division business Golden Bay's Ecosure cement is New Zealand’s lowest carbon cement. EcoSure’s reduced carbon footprint includes the use of waste tyres within the cement production process both reducing carbon emissions and diverting waste away from landfill. In 2022, the business used over 3 million individual tyres as a substitute for coal, and these tyres would otherwise have gone to landfill. Since upgrading the facility, the business has moved from around 22% to 46% of the energy demand from coal substitutes with alternative fuels, including waste end-of-life tyres and waste wood that isn’t suitable for recycling. The embodied carbon and life cycle assessment for the product are available in the Ecosure Environmental Product Declaration (EPD).
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Green electricity for our Australian businesses
In Australia, electricity is the main source of carbon emissions from our operations and we are moving to make it greener. As well as purchasing a proportion of offsite renewable energy for our Australian operations, we are underway with the first phase of solar PV installations for our own facilities. Solar systems are being installed on three of our larger facilities in Victoria and Queensland, with plans underway to investigate more options.
- Low carbon living
Fletcher Living has launched a low carbon pilot home - a design that will produce less carbon over its lifetime through the build of the home and importantly reducing the amount of carbon emitted via the operation of the home over its life. It is being designed to use seven times less carbon than the equivalent standard-built home over its lifetime. The benefits extend beyond the carbon footprint, as the home has very high energy efficiency, meaning it is warmer, drier and cheaper to operate for families.
Products and processes to be proud of
Over the past two years, we have had a clear focus on offering products with sustainability certifications to our customers, playing our part to decarbonise the building sector and supporting our customers’ own sustainability goals.
Our product revenue from sustainably certified products has increased approximately 20% over the past three years to 71% in FY23, well on the way to our goal of 75% by FY26.
This is how we calculated it (PDF) >>
Search and view our Environmental Product Declarations >>
We are actively working to reduce our waste and investigating circular economy initiatives:
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Our diversion from landfill has improved from 51% in FY22 to 60% in FY23.
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Golden Bay has diverted 100,000t of waste from landfill.
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Our new GIB plasterboard manufacturing and distribution facility in the Bay of Plenty is expected to reduce emissions per unit of product by 13%as well as increase recycled content. Upward of 10% of total board volume can use recycled gypsum.
The belief that all injuries are preventable
Across the business, we have re-written our safety story and created a culture we are proud of. We have made Protect a value for us and we have been busy shifting our mindset.
We have put in place a multi-year programme to improve safety in our workplaces driven by the belief that all injuries are preventable.
In 2021, we launched our line-led Safety Leadership Programme providing a purpose-built framework for leadership development to enhance safety across the organisation.
Our leaders then followed up with Risk Containment sweeps, hunting out the dangerous stuff and containing it, and then engaged with their frontline teams through Power Up - a bespoke fun, interactive series of toolboxes to enhance the felt leadership at the frontline.
Our leaders’ efforts are making a difference:
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86% of all our people believe that all injuries are preventable, and 89% believe leaders take responsibility for safety at work.
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12% reduction in recordable injuries in FY23, with 90% of sites injury free.
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86% reduction in serious injuries since FY19.
Supporting our people
By embedding sustainability across all that we do, we are also showing care to the people we work and connect with every day. We have introduced market-leading policies and processes to ensure everyone feels welcome.
Some of our initiatives
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In 2022, we introduced a market-leading parental leave policy that includes enhanced paid leave options for primary carers, four weeks paid secondary carers leave and ‘phased return to work options’ to help our people transition back in to work when they return from parental leave.
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In 2022, we introduced paid Gender Affirmation Leave and Transitioning at Work Guidelines
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In FY22, our people-led action groups – Tatai, the Equality Network Group and FB Pride continued to promote inclusion and mentoring across our business.
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We are measuring gender pay parity and working to close the gap. It was 4.3% at the end of FY21, 3.5% in FY22, and 4.2% in FY23.
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In FY23, 296 more women have been placed in operational roles across our businesses. We also have 36 more women leading operational teams, this means 15.7% of our operational leaders are now female, up from 14.4% in FY22.
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In FY22, nearly 40% of our vacancies were filled internally, showing the positive outcomes of our approach to supporting our people build their careers at Fletcher Building.
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We believe Fletcher Building is a place where our people can develop personally and professionally. Our people took almost 158,000 hours of training in FY22, and over 195,000 hours in FY23.
These are just some examples. Check out our Careers section for more information on how we support our people.
Our communities at the heart
We genuinely believe our purpose cannot be achieved unless we have our community, our suppliers, and our customers at the heart of what we do.
We are working with great organisations and communities to create local impact, while creating policies to ensure the ethical treatment of people who work with us.
We support labour rights and freedom of association for our people and within in our supply chain, and 26% of our workforce are part of a union and/or covered by collective bargaining agreements in FY22.
Some of our initiatives
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In Australia, FY23 saw the establishment of Fletcher Building’s own Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). Endorsed by Reconciliation Australia (the lead governing body for reconciliation in Australia), the plan sets out our commitment to tangible and impactful actions, both in the present and the future, to actively contribute to the ongoing process of reconciliation.
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Since 2019 Fletcher Living’s Canterbury team has been helping to replant sections of the Port Hills.
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Fletcher Living is teaming up with Ngā Maunga Whakahii o Kaipara Whenua Hoko Holdings Ltd to build 160 homes in Albany.
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Fletcher Construction is a member of Amotai, which enables diversity in their supply chain. Amotai connects Māori and Pasifika-owned businesses with buyers wanting to purchase goods, services and works.
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Our Fletcher Building Employee Education Fund has been providing financial assistance to our employees and their families wanting to further their education and professional development for over 20 years.
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The Fletcher Building Employee Welfare Fund supports our people and their families financially in the event of death, disability or financial hardship resulting from unexpected medical misfortune
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To help everyone to get into a great career with us, we have a range of youth development and student scholarships including First Foundation, TupuToa, and other internship and graduate positions.
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Our Human Rights Policy and our Supplier Code of Conduct, outlines how we and our suppliers will ensure ethical treatment of people who work with us.
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We are focused on identifying areas with potential risk for forms of modern slavery in our supply chain, and how we manage and address these risks is outlined in our completed risk assessments to identify where to focus. We published our second Modern Slavery Statement in FY22.
Recognition on a global scale
Our sustainability programmes, initiatives, and transparent reporting have earnt us recognition on a global scale, putting us amongst the top sustainability leaders in the world.
Disclosing our emissions and working with our supply chain
We actively disclose our carbon emissions and report them to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CPD). In 2022, we obtained a CDP rating of A- showing that CDP regard us as following best practise and as a leader in our sector.
Check out our rating at CDP >>
We actively engage with our suppliers and work together to reduce emissions in the entire supply chain. We provide our major suppliers with tools and resources through CDP to help them to disclose and reduce their carbon emissions. In 2023, we made CDP’s 2022 Supplier Engagement Leaderboard and made the top 8% of companies globally that are engaging with their suppliers.
S&P Sustainability Assessment
Each year, we assess our sustainability performance against the S&P Corporate Sustainability Assessment. In 2023, we are pleased to be members of the DJSI Australia index, and the S&P Global 2023 Sustainability Yearbook. Our inclusion in this globally recognised report acknowledges us in the top 15% of companies globally for sustainability in our industry.