Our Annual Report 2020 provides detail on our sustainable business strategy, approach, focus areas and progress.

Our ESG Addendum 2020 provides more detailed information, including on our Sustainable Business governance processes, the scope and methodology of our reporting, alignment to GRI Standards and UNGC Communication on Progress.

Through our local businesses, our sustainable business strategy, goals and programmes, and the work of the Vodafone Foundation, we estimate that we make the greatest impact on five of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

As part of its commitment to sustainability, Vodafone Group Plc has designed a Green Bond Framework under which it can issue Green Bonds. It details project eligibility, selection, the management of proceeds and reporting. Sustainalytics, a provider of environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and analysis, has provided a second-party opinion on the framework. In 2020, Vodafone released its Green Bond Report detailing the allocation of funds and their impact.

We are committed to taking appropriate steps to ensure that everyone who works for Vodafone – in any capacity, anywhere in the world – benefits from a working environment in which their fundamental rights and freedoms are respected. In our Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement, we report on our efforts to prevent modern slavery in line with the requirements of the UK Modern Slavery Act (2015).

We are members of, and involved in, industry initiatives such as the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) in order to improve transparency in supply chains. If we can influence the design or manufacture of products, we try to ensure that they do not contain metals and minerals that fund conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We provide further details of our approach to this issue in our statutory Conflict Minerals Report.

We are one of the only communications companies in the world to report our total taxation and economic contribution to society voluntarily for each country in which we have a legal entity. Our disclosures are made on a cash paid and by country basis.

Our disclosures on matters regarding digital human rights include information on our policies and principles related to government access to customer data, as well as our principles on freedom of expression and insights into the issues surrounding network censorship and the digital rights of the child.

We believe our strong commitment to diversity is a source of business strength and welcome public focus on the need for a significant increase in women’s leadership of organisations. In this report, we present the gender pay gap data for our UK businesses and summarise the programmes that are designed to enhance our overall gender balance.