Eutelsat

Eutelsat contributes to universal and affordable digital access by bringing broadband connectivity to more than 400 rural communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It also supports the digital inclusivity of women and girls through a partnership with CGénial Foundation that aims to advance science-related entrepreneurial skills among girls in Mexico, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Moreover, the company follows best practice by reporting the number of people with disabilities it employs and the number of employees in each of its main countries of operation.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eutelsat is working with partners to provide schools with high-speed internet connectivity, giving them access to a digital platform with educational content.

Eutelsat demonstrates high-level accountability for cybersecurity.

Eutelsat supports initiatives in sustainable innovation. It aims to reduce the environmental footprint of its operations through virtualisation technology, which reduces the number of servers on which its operations depend.

Eutelsat has an opportunity to disclose its financial and in-kind contributions to its programmes for advancing universal and affordable access to the internet and for addressing the gender digital divide. It can also report the impact of these programmes as well as how many people are benefitting. Additionally, the company could disclose how it distributes the direct economic value it generates among its stakeholders.

Eutelsat can consider supporting additional digital skills development initiatives. The company can also disclose how much it contributes to its existing programmes, how many people have benefitted from its support and what impact the programmes have.

Eutelsat can disclose its approach to information security management at the group level, as there is evidence that some of its information management systems are certified to meet international standards. Moreover, the company could publish a group privacy policy that is applicable uniformly across all its countries of operation.

There is little evidence of Eutelsat’s support for open, sustainable, inclusive and ethical innovation. The company can support research on technology and sustainability carried out by universities or non-profit organisations. It can also support the start-up community through accelerators and incubators. In addition, Eutelsat can report the number of women it employs in research and development (R&D) roles as well as how it applies ethics in its R&D activities.

Eutelsat commits to respecting human rights and the ILO core labour rights. The company has a grievance mechanism accessible to both workers and external stakeholders to raise human rights concerns and complaints. However, it is unclear if complainants can choose to remain anonymous. Eutelsat does not disclose a process to identify, assess and act on the salient human rights risks associated with its own operations and with its business relationships. Moreover, the company does not engage with stakeholders whose human rights could be impacted by its operations.

Eutelsat publicly commits to respecting worker health and safety, but it does not place the same requirements on its business relationships. The company has no policy commitment stating that it does not require workers to work more than the regular and overtime hours. It is also not explicit that the company requires its business relationships to make this commitment. Further, Eutelsat publicly commits to promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment and has time-bound targets on the subject. In relation to workforce diversity, the company provides a breakdown of employees in different employee categories by gender. However, it does not disclose employee breakdowns for any other indicators of diversity per employee category, such as age group.

Eutelsat has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption, and it includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its business relationship contracts. The company does not disclose any relevant information in relation to tax, such as a global tax strategy or its income tax payments in individual tax jurisdictions. Eutelsat discloses its approach to lobbying and political engagement in a public policy statement, where it specifies that it does not make political contributions. However, the company does not disclose its expenditures on lobbying activities.