Sustainability
Act. Pact. Impact.
We are embedding sustainability into everything we do at HCL Technologies. With a comprehensive environmental, social, and governance (ESG) framework, we are delivering sustainable, long-lasting impact through our corporate actions and our pacts with stakeholders.
Our commitments
We are committed to long-term value creation for our stakeholders, and our philosophy has always been about incorporating the right environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices to ensure a sustainable present and future. Our approach is designed to maximize our contribution towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our Sustainability strategy is based on three guiding principles:
Act
We understand that impact starts with us. We act in the most responsible and sustainable manner. We ensure we use every resource efficiently to maximize value.
Pact
Our relationships go beyond a formal contract with our stakeholders. We are working for a sustainable future, in collaboration with our clients, partners, communities, and all stakeholders.
Impact
We focus on creating sustainable impact through all our initiatives and activities.
HCL is adopting global best practices for ESG to create long-term value for all stakeholders. Aligned to this, the Board committed to focus on ESG and recently reconstituted the Board’s Diversity Committee (created in April 2016) to become the ESG and DEI Committee. The Company also hired this year a Global Head of Sustainability.
Using the lens of risk and responsibility, HCL has defined 12 material topics and created a set of 100 performance metrics aligned with global ESG standards and guidelines to monitor the progress in these 12 dimensions.
The 12 material topics are:
1. Climate Change
2. Eco Efficiency
3. Human Capital
4. Local Hiring
5. Diversity and Inclusion
6. Talent Atrraction and Retention
7. Work Environment
8. Citizenship
9. IT Security, Data Protection and System Availability
10. Sustainable Impact on Clients
11. Sustainable Procurement
12. Governance and Ethics
HCL Technologies Climate Pledge
Our Climate Pledge is a commitment to being net-zero carbon by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement. As part of this pledge, HCL will measure and transparently report progress against the goal.
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has validated and commended our ambitious 1.5°C-aligned targets. On the pathway to net zero by 2040, renewables will be our top priority, followed by energy and eco-efficiency. We also have initiated action plans for nature-based sequestering projects.
Creating value in FY 2022
Our achievements have created value and delivered long-lasting, sustainable impact for our stakeholders.
3.7 million lives
Impacted through HCL Foundation initiatives: education, health, water, sanitation & hygiene, skill development & livelihoods, environment, and disaster risk reduction, response & management
55%
Over half of the beneficiaries of HCL Foundations projects are women
30% reduction
Scope 1 and 2 emissions compared with our baseline in FY 2020
17.7%
Renewable energy in our total energy consumption globally
844,000+
Saplings planted to support the environment
21x
Through community initiatives, we recharged twenty-one times more water than what is consumed for India operations
How we act matters to us
Our Climate Pledge is a commitment to achieving net-zero carbon by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement. As part of this pledge, HCL will measure and transparently report progress against the goal. The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has validated and commended our ambitious 1.5°C pathway targets. On the pathway to achieving net zero by 2040, renewables will be our top priority, followed by energy and eco-efficiency. We also have initiated action plans for nature-based sequestering projects.
Aligned to the 10 principles of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), we have policies that govern our actions and expectations from our stakeholders. These policies include anti-bribery and corruption, Code of Conduct, whistleblower, human rights, corporate social responsibility, remuneration and procurement. We continue to be a signatory to the UNGC and regularly disclose progress toward the commitments. As we aim to achieve these environmental targets, we constantly track and measure key indicators. For example, we have achieved around 70% reduction in per capita Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions in the last decade.
HCL strongly believes that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are key to the success of the Company. The Employee Resource Groups, Multi-Cultural Groups, and Diversity Councils help us drive our charter across the globe. We are focused on dimensions including people of color, women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities (PWD), neurodiversity and mental health.
HCL recognizes the demand for technology and digitalization in the journey to a sustainable future. HCL is therefore committed to enhancing the ESG skills of its employees to ensure that sustainability is incorporated in all its engagements with clients and partners. HCL continues to engage with various business forums to showcase the importance of digitalization in the transition to a more sustainable world.
Our pact with all stakeholders
As a responsible corporate citizen, we support and help activate the communities and societies in the places where we operate (refer to Change begins here: HCL and societal responsibility in this report). We collaborate with clients and ecosystem partners to embed sustainability into everything we do.
Key initiatives:
- We are a founding member of the WEF Global Parity Alliance , a cross-industry group of companies taking action to accelerate diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in the workplace and beyond
- HCL Technologies has partnered with UN Women as a HeForShe Champion. HCL and UN Women intend to transform such corporate and social norms to promote greater equity and inclusion – dramatically accelerating progress toward UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 on Gender Equality. As a HeForShe Champion, HCL has made a bold and transformative policy commitment to achieve gender parity in recruitment across the organization globally by 2025
Sustainability solutions for clients with partners
We have a focused approach to evolving new solutions and products to help our clients improve their performance around ESG. We are committed to improving the ESG skills of our employees to ensure that we incorporate a sustainable impact creation approach to our engagements with clients and partners.
Sustainable impact for clients with partners
Selected Sustainability Solutions
Product Design and
Manufacturing
and Re-engineer
(sustainable IT)
Performance monitoring
and Reporting
and Emission
Management
Key recognitions of our impact
- HCL Technologies received an Edelweiss Sustainability score of 91.9 out of 100 on 40 key metrics across Sustainability
- HCL featured in the Gender-Equality Index by Bloomberg
- Business World – HCL Technologies was featured amongst “Most Sustainable Companies”.
- The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence 2021 – HCL Technologies was named the Corporate Citizen of the Year
- Crisil ESG Score - HCL Technologies ranked as one of 14 ESG Leaders in a listing of 586 companies evaluated by CRISIL
- HCL Technologies received an “A” ranking from the MSCI ratings which positions us in the top performers among peers