Human rights & Report your concerns
Sponda is committed to respecting, protecting and promoting all internationally recognized human rights throughout our operations. We support and promote the International Bill of Human Rights and the principles concerning fundamental rights set out in the ILO ́s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. We are also committed to adhering to the principles to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP). We take constant care to avoid causing or contributing to adverse impacts on people – whether in our own operations, in our value chain or in the communities where we operate.
We also respect and comply with the UN Global Compact and its 10 principles. The Code of Conduct provides the ethical guidelines for everyday actions. It is based on our values and creates the cornerstone of our responsibility efforts. The Code of Business Conduct is a code of ethics for our business partners and other stakeholders. The Code of Conduct is the foundation for all our Compliance policies at Sponda, such as Conflict of Interest, Anti-Bribery and Corruption, and Modern Slavery policies.
In 2022, Sponda conducted a Human Rights Due Diligence gap analysis advised by external human rights experts. In 2023, we utilized the UNGP framework to conduct a systematic human rights risk and impact assessment. The aim was to identify potential human rights risks and impacts in our operations and value chain and develop an action plan to proactively address the identified salient risks. The assessment and action plans were validated with relevant internal stakeholders, such as procurement, governance, property development and human resources and it was approved by Sponda’s Executive Board.
Based on the conducted human rights risk and impact assessment, the identified salient human right risks in our operations and value chain are:
- Worker rights and health and safety on our construction sites
- Health and safety in our properties
- Forced and child labour in our value chain, especially outside of Finnish/European borders
- Forced labour in the solar panel production.
To manage these risks, we have implemented various actions, including:
- Ensuring compliance with our Code of Conduct and Code of Business Conduct.
- Conducting ESG audits on our construction sites.
- Implementing Sponda’s Health and Safety policy and management framework.
- Enforcing Sponda’s indoor air quality operating model and guidelines.
- Conducting site audits and other technical assessments in our properties.
- Carrying out regular sustainability assessments for key suppliers, with specific procurement criteria for solar panels regarding respect for human rights.
- Actively promoting human rights themes in industry organisations.
- Promoting grievance mechanisms such as the Whistleblower channel.
We have identified existing indicators and evaluated the need for new ones to measure and monitor our human rights performance. These indicators are annually reported as part of our Sustainability Review. We have incorporated the management of the most significant human rights risks into Sponda’s corporate level risk management procedures.
The work is on-going, and we actively assess the effectiveness of our actions and implement remedial measures or update existing policies and guidelines if required.
SPEAK UP!
Our company does not condone illegal or unethical practices and we encourage our stakeholders to report any misconduct. If you notice or suspect that our cooperation networks violate Sponda’s Code of Conduct, please contact us immediately. All notifications will be treated in the strictest confidence and the necessary action will be taken subtly, respecting all parties.
If you feel you cannot make a report personally, you may submit a report anonymously through our Whistleblowing Channel. In order to protect your identity in the safest possible way, the channel is produced for Sponda by an external service provider, WhistleB.