New report titled “For a Better World: Walk the Talk –Assessing Limak’s Performance from Sustainability Rhetoric to Action” is published. The new report follows Limak’s strategy on sustainability which aims to create positive impact for environment and society in all sectors of operation. 

Limak Group of Companies, which prioritizes sustainability with its founding values and working principles, carries out a business approach that is valid in all sectors in which it operates, prioritizing sustainable, fair and participative manner and by focusing on the humanitarian development and the future of the planet centered and prioritizing the extensification of prosperity, in line with the contemporary global targets.

With this business approach that prioritizes sustainability; Limak shapes its founding values and working principles and ensures that its objectives are embodied in all sectors and business processes. The report titled “For a Better World: Walk the Talk” and within the scope of the sustainability studies of the new period aims to share and evaluate the projects realized by Limak in all sectors in which it operates since 2015, transforming the sustainability approach from discourse to action.

516 projects, has been implemented since 2015 on the focus of sustainability

The report titled “For a Better World: Walk the Talk” presents an extensive assessment on the activities of Limak Foundation and Limak in the fields of construction, infrastructure, cement, tourism, food and energy sectors on the sustainability projects that has been accomplished and being continued since 2015. 

Limak believes that development and improvement may only be possible with the participation of all the stakeholders; and it undertakes to take an active role to expand the understanding of sustainability, which is in conformity with the global goals, also for its business partners and all the stakeholders. 

The company, while taking the preserving of the values and the principles as basis on one hand, on the other gives priority for the spreading of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in all of its collaborations. Within the process of preparation of the report “For a Better World: Walk the Talk”, which is a concrete indicator of that mission, briefing meetings has been held and trainings has been given, exceeding 50 hours in total, between June and August of 2019, with the participation of 100 representatives from Limak Foundation and construction, tourism, cement, infrastructure and food & beverage sectors  In these meetings, the good examples of the projects, applications and improvement works of Limak, which are in progress and which were completed between 2015 and 2019, were analyzed within the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals according to their economic, environmental and social impacts, and the necessary determinations were made. It is aimed to provide support to the strategic decisions on all sectors within a sustainable business model with the outputs of the report being analyzed in global extent and particularly at the level of Limak Group of Companies. 

Within the scope of the study, 516 projects that were reported and focused on sustainability were determined. The concerned projects were assessed at three levels. 

1. Conformity to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals;
2. Economic, environmental and social analysis;  
3. Humanitarian goals, welfare goals, planet earth goals, peace and partnerships. 

Furthermore, the report includes examples on conformity to the principles of the United Nations Global Compact, which the Limak is the signatory of since 2014. 

Ebru Özdemir: “When we make a further comparison with the priorities of Limak Group of Companies, it is clearly observed that the first 5 Sustainable Development Goals are among the first 7 Sustainable Development Goals in global ranking, which proves that the priorities of Limak are coherent with the global priorities.” 

Ebru Özdemir, the Chairperson of the Board, made explanations regarding the report, particularly stating that;

“This report, which we published under the title “For a Better World: Walk the Talk”, serves as a comprehensive assessment of Limak Group of Companies carrying on activities in various sectors, with a manner taking the sustainability as the focus in the sense of SDGs. Our report also reflects the activities of our group, the services we deliver, our management regime, the commitments we undertook in line with the UNGC with the purpose of providing information regarding the works we have performed within the scope of sustainability, the improvements we have taken within the concerned periods, and the projects we have implemented. In this comprehensive inventory work involving the projects we implemented within 2015 and 2019 and summing up to 516, the sustainability performances of the projects we have implemented were additionally analyzed in the sense of conformity to the UNGC. When we look at the figures at this point, I want to share with great pleasure that we have put our understanding into action by signing a performance consistent with global discourse. ”

Emphasizing that Limak has realized 218 environmental, 71 human rights, 22 anti-corruption and 19 working standard projects in compliance with the UNGC, Özdemir continued; “When the relation of a project with the simultaneous economic, environmental and social fields is considered, we measured that 445 projects have economic, 189 projects have environmental and 133 projects have social aspects. When we make a further comparison with the priorities of Limak Group of Companies, it is clearly observed that the first 5 Sustainable Development Goals are among the first 7 Sustainable Development Goals in global ranking, which proves that the priorities of Limak are coherent with the global priorities.

As the sustainability performance of the projects between 2015 and 2019 are assessed, it is observed that Limak has presented a performance that is congruous at the global scale. According to the UNGC’s “UN Global Compact Progress Report”, which ranks the Sustainable Development Goals that the companies from all over the world are primarily focusing on, the first 5 SDGs that Limak gives priority do take place among the first 7 SDGs in global ranking. Accordingly, it is seen that the rates and the purposes of the projects that has been assessed throughout Limak Group of Companies are as follows: 59% Decent Work and Economic Growth, 46% Responsible Consumption and Production, 32% Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, and 30% Climate Action. 

Within the scope of the social investments, 12 projects of Limak Foundation have been assessed for the purposes of the report. Limak Foundation, which focuses on the economic and the social growth, has been pursuing various effective educational projects, primarily “Engineer Girls of Turkey” that was initiated in 2015 with the purpose of promoting the gender equality and to struggle against all the inequalities resulting from the present inequalities.  

Limak and Limak Foundation continue their journey by establishing sustainability priorities and strategy on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals with the awareness of the role that the private sector, which is one of the important actors, should play in order to achieve sustainable development and to achieve “A Better World “ vision by 2030.

To access the report: http://www.limak.com.tr/files/limak-2015-2019-walkthetalk-report.pdf