The new strategy ensures a holistic approach that addresses the interconnected challenges and opportunities with six focus areas encompassing climate change, nature positive, resource efficiency, supply chain integrity, community engagement and employee diversity, equity and inclusion.

With extreme weather events, rising sea levels, the competition for talent and pressures on raw materials increasingly impacting the global economy, regular updates ensure the company’s strategy remains ambitious, relevant, and aligned to the sustainability challenges and opportunities ahead.

The updated strategy sees the company commit to new UK targets in two focus areas:

• Community engagement:
          . An increased social value target which will see the Company aim to deliver £6 billion of social value in the UK by 2030 (previously £3bn of social value in the UK by 2025)
          . A new UK social impact target dedicating a total of 60,000 hours to education engagement by 2030
• Nature positive:
          . Measurable, annually evolving targets to halt UK nature loss by 2030, which align with a critical initiative to reverse biodiversity loss so that by 2030 nature is visibly and measurably on the road to recovery

These ambitious community engagement targets will be supported by the appointment of STEM Learning as Balfour Beatty’s UK corporate charity partner through which the company will support teacher training, mentoring, and work placements – helping to grow the skills the industry depends on while reinforcing its commitment to The 5% Club.

Balfour Beatty is also introducing a new community engagement platform to connect employees directly with community projects in need of funding or volunteers. The platform will be launched in phases over the coming months.

Balfour Beatty’s nature positive targets will be overseen by its team of in-house ecologists (one of the few dedicated teams in the industry). The company will continue to leverage its What3Things for Environment approach across its workforce, introduced to ensure better understanding of the seven most prevalent environmental risks and provide guidance on the mitigation measures required to protect and enhance habitats, wildlife, and communities. This will be supported by the company’s open and transparent culture that encourages its workforce to raise environmental project observations, share ideas for improvement and highlight risk areas.

Jo Gilroy, group director of sustainability at Balfour Beatty, said: “By strengthening our community engagement targets and introducing a new nature positive approach, we’re turning words into action; ensuring that we’re building communities and protecting and enhancing the natural environment side by side.

“We’re focused on six areas which form our Building New Futures Sustainability Strategy and are committed to ensuring each and every part of our business has the knowledge, tools and support needed to deliver meaningful, measurable and lasting benefits in each of these areas for people, places and nature. It is critical that we take responsibility for safeguarding the natural resources and communities we depend on. Every action counts.”