Dufry Becomes UN´s Global Compact Signatory Member

Strengthening its commitment to sustainability, Dufry formally announced in March that it became a signatory to the UN Global Compact, an initiative for companies to align strategies and drive operational awareness around universal principles on human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption.

Dufry has become a participant of the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative. As a signatory, Dufry will support the Global Compact's 10 principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption, reinforcing the company's commitment to responsible business practices on a global basis.

Joining the UN global compact is a step-up on Dufry´s commitment to sustainability. Efforts carried out to date in the areas of anti corruption and bribery, environmental sustainability, code of conduct and many other initiatives were closely aligned with the principles of UN´s Global Compact. By joining this initiative, Dufry shows its intent to further implement and foster those principles and to make the UN Global Compact and its principles part of the strategy, culture and day-to day operations of the company.

Dufry will also continue to engage in collaborative projects, which advance the broader development goals of the United Nations, particularly the Sustainable Development Goals. In this context, Dufry has been supporting the awareness campaign #YouNeedToKnow since 2016 and promoting the 17 SDGs reaching over 55 million people across more than 30 airports worldwide.

“We are delighted to have been admitted to join more than 9,500 companies and groups in over 160 countries in the world´s largest corporate sustainability initiative” – said Julian Díaz, CEO of Dufry. “Our support of the UN Global Compact principles is both a formal expression of Dufry´s commitment to sustainability and a new milestone in our objective of creating a sustainable business.”

The United Nations Global Compact

As a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact works with companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with ten universal principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. Launched in 2000, the UN Global Compact guides and supports the global business community in advancing UN goals and values through responsible corporate practices. With more than 9,500 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and more than 60 Local Networks, it is the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world.

Beyond corporate reputation

Becoming a signatory member of the UN Global Compact is an important milestone of Dufry´s long-term sustainability roadmap and complements the efforts already carried out by the company in previous years.

It underpins Dufry’s strong commitment towards sustainability. Becoming a signatory member implies the commitment of incorporating the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact into our strategies, policies and procedures, and establishing a culture of integrity. The old days where Corporate Social Responsibility only consisted of sponsoring a few charities are gone. Society now expects more from corporations – big and small – and wants to make sure companies self-impose mechanisms, policies and procedures that safeguard the most elementary rights and that ensure that corporates act responsibly in the areas of human rights, relationship with their workforce, the natural environment and corruption.

Where does Dufry stand with the 10 principles?

The observance of these 10 principles is not new ground to Dufry. Just by reviewing Dufry´s Sustainability Report of the last few years – and even before – you can see that our business has been run according to the principles outlined by the UN.

Dufry however, as well as the most important companies, has made a big effort towards transparency with the disclosure of elements which, to date, remained completely internal and private. Initiatives such as the UN Global Compact or the Global Reporting Initiative (which Dufry started to follow in 2016 for the Sustainability Reporting) establish a universal language for corporate responsibility and provide a framework to guide all businesses regardless of size, complexity or location.

The journey initiated a few years ago has served to identify areas of improvement and growth. By becoming a signatory member of the UN Global Compact, Dufry has also committed to report on the progress made by the company. This means that, every year, Dufry will publicly share the objectives set by the company around the principles and what has been done to achieve them, hence, raising reinforcing our sustainability commitment.