Vivendi

The United Nations Global Compact

Being a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, Vivendi is committed to comply with and to promote its ten principles, concerning human rights, labor standards, the environment and anti-corruption.
On December 10th, Vivendi communicates towards its headquarters employees about the Human Rights Day. Indeed, the two first principles of the Global Compact are directly inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed on December, 10th 1948.

Each year, Vivendi reports on the implementation of the ten principles in its Communication on Progress, which is published on the Global Compact website.

See Vivendi’s "2010 Communication on Progress"

The UN Global Compact asks companies to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption.

Those ten principles enjoy universal consensus and are derived from:

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• The International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
• The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
• The United Nations Convention Against Corruption

Human Rights
Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and
Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

Labour
Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;
Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and
Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

Environment
Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and
Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.

Anti-Corruption
Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

The European framework

The Treaty on European Union sets down the principle of sustainable development in its preamble. All areas of corporate responsibility are impacted by the orientations or decisions adopted by the European institutions, including governance, the rights of shareholders, social agendas and environmental protection. Vivendi’s specific issues in the area of sustainable development are also core concerns fot the European institutions. These institutions are devoted to the principle of building a particularly innovative information and media society while reaffirming fundamental principles such as the protection of children from unsuitable content, the protection of human dignity in the face of racial hatred, the protection of consumers’ interests, access to the cultural heritage for artists, entrepreneurs and consumers, and the promotion of pluralism in the audiovisual media

The group’s commitments

• The Compliance Program The Compliance program, adopted in 2002 and updated in 2005, formalizes Vivendi’s commitments in the form of rules of conduct regarding
  • employees’ rights,
  • fairness and protection of information,
  • the prevention of conflicts of interest,
  • commercial ethics,
  • the protection of property and resources belonging to the Group,
  • financial ethics and respect for the environment.

Abiding by these rules of conduct is a condition to joining Vivendi. An evaluation report on their implementation within the Group’s entities is drawn up each year by the General Counsel and submitted to the Audit Committee. The eighth edition of this evaluation report was presented to the Audit Committee in February 2011.

• The Charters Vivendi has defined its values and committments regarding its partners in six Charters, all of which are accessible on the group’s Intranet site :
  • Values Charter,
  • Work Safety Charter,
  • Fundamental Social Rights Charter,
  • Supplier Relations Charter,
  • Environmental Charter,
  • Data and Content Protection Charter

• The program of compliance with environmental, health and safety standards The main objectives of this program adopted in 2000 are
  • to give assurances of compliance to the Group’s management,
  • to conduct an audit program,
  • to relay the group’s environmental commitments, and to identify best practices.

The Sustainable Development Department, in liaison with the General Counsel, contributes to the coordination and application of this program.