Sustainability

1. Truly customer centric
Being a sustainable company relies on understanding customer needs, responding to them and helping customers make the most of what we offer. We are committed to building relationships with our customers for the long term – from our first conversations, to the products we develop for them, the service we deliver and the way we handle any issues or concerns.

2. Inclusive banking
There are billions of people around the world with little or no access to the financial system. We are committed to extending our geographical presence and developing new products and services so we can reach potential customers and include more people in the financial system. We are also working in those countries where we are present to give unbanked customers access to products and services and to empower them to use them.

3. Diversity
To be a sustainable business, we need to find, develop and retain the most talented people we can to drive our business forward. We also want to make sure we build a workforce that reflects the communities in which we work, as this not only helps those communities prosper through job creation, but also gives us local understanding of customer needs.

4. Minimise environmental impact
We have established a series of challenging targets, leading up to 2010, which are central to the way we work. Those targets span areas such as climate change, resource use and waste management and are fundamental considerations as we plan our business across the globe.

5. Responsible global citizen
As a large multinational company we have a responsibility to conduct business in compliance with the law and internationally agreed ethical standards. We must also manage the indirect social, economic and environmental impacts of its business including its supply chain.

We are a proud and committed investor in the communities where we do business. We focus on three global initiatives:

• Banking on Brighter Futures, which sees us use our financial skills and expertise to maximum effect to help people out of poverty, disadvantage, and debt.
• Looking after Local Communities, which covers our support for local issues in the communities around the world where Barclays has a presence.
• Charity Begins at Work, which is the part of the programme that encourages and supports our employees to get involved in the community.