Corporate Responsibility at Arcadis

A strong and responsible Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategy is central to our sustainability reporting at Arcadis. Guided by our Sustainability Policy, we ensure clear oversight, accountability, and continuous improvement in all we do. Our governance framework sets out how we manage our ESG reporting, ensuring we are transparent and responsive about our ESG commitments to our clients, partners, investors, and communities. 

Our Net Zero Commitment

Arcadis is committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across our value chain by 2035, supporting the Paris Agreement and global climate goals. Our targets, approved by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi), include:

• Reduce absolute scope 1 and market-based scope 2 GHG emissions by 70% by 2026 (from a 2019 baseline)
• Reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions by 45% by 2029 (from a 2019 baseline)
• Transition our company fleet to electric vehicles by 2030
• Source 100% renewable electricity for our offices
• Reduce emissions from air and business travel by 50% and 35% respectively by 2025

We work closely with our suppliers to improve measurement and reduce upstream emissions, and we continuously refine our operations and project delivery to achieve maximum carbon reduction to align with a low-carbon future.

Our progress is transparent, and our Climate Transition Plan details the steps we’re taking including renewable energy procurement, sustainable travel policies, and data-driven reporting.

Our Biodiversity Commitment

rcadis is committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across our value chain by 2035, supporting the Paris Agreement and global climate goals. Our targets, approved by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi), include: 

• Reduce absolute scope 1 and market-based scope 2 GHG emissions by 70% by 2026 (from a 2019 baseline) 
• Reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions by 45% by 2029 (from a 2019 baseline) 
• Transition our company fleet to electric vehicles by 2030 
• Source 100% renewable electricity for our offices 
• Reduce emissions from air and business travel by 50% and 35% respectively by 2025 

We work closely with our suppliers to improve measurement and reduce upstream emissions, and we continuously refine our operations and project delivery to achieve maximum carbon reduction to align with a low-carbon future. 

Our progress is transparent, and our Climate Transition Plan details the steps we’re taking including renewable energy procurement, sustainable travel policies, and data-driven reporting. 

Our Biodiversity Commitment 

Arcadis is committed to halting and reversing nature loss by 2030, in line with the Global Goal for Nature and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Our biodiversity targets focus on our own operations and are guided by our Biodiversity and Ecosystems Policy: 

• No net biodiversity loss for all sites by 2030
• 10% net biodiversity gain by 2030 at sites with significant green space
• Compensate for cumulative land-use biodiversity impact by 2050 

We apply the full mitigation hierarchy—avoid, minimize, restore, and offset—with priority on avoiding and minimizing impacts. Our actions are informed by annual biodiversity footprint assessments. Learn more about our biodiversity strategy in our 2025 Annual Report  here 

Commitment to Respect Human Rights

Arcadis recognizes the role corporations play in society, and we understand our responsibility to respect human rights in our operations and through our business relationships.  

We align our company’s operations to the international standard that guides how companies should act - known as UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). Our long-term human rights objective is to embed purposeful actions and behaviours within and around Arcadis that create a positive impact for people, communities, and our planet. We understand respect for human rights is the key to unlocking a sustainable present and future and tackling significant societal challenges. 

Our progress

Some of our key milestones include:

2021-2022

• Worked with external consultant to understand high-level human rights risks; published our human rights policy; develop internal human rights roadmap; and conduct our first human rights impact assessment (HRIA) of our operations in the Philippines.
• Opened our Integrity Line to third parties, and assessed it against the UNGP effectiveness criteria.
• Integrated human rights content into our General Business Principles, Supplier Code of Conduct and onboarding materials, and Risk and Control Framework
• Joined WBCSD’s Business Commission for Tackling Inequality.

2023-2025

• Launched UNGPs and Modern Slavery trainings.
• Added human rights into our Clients Survey
• Participated in the UN Global Compact Business and Human Rights accelerator program.
• Conducted internal HRIA in Chile • Refreshed our human rights policy.
• Better formalized governance for human rights at Arcadis.
• Joined BSR’s Human Rights Working Group; worked with Shift to start developing a KPI Measurement Framework.
• Developed a Human Rights Risk Mapping internal tool based on a risk-based analysis of market sectors and geographies.

Our priority areas.

We have identified key salient human rights issues and are working to address them (and others as identified), noting that it is a work in progress and some of our activities are more established and mature than others.

Due Diligence

We are continuously working to build out human rights due diligence across our value chain. We have started conducting HRIAs at the country level for our own operations and are closing identified gaps. In our supply chain, we have put in place human rights requirements, targeted clauses and procedures and are working to fully embed these across our supply base. And we are looking at ways to strengthen our approach to client and project selection with a human rights lens.

Grievances and Remedy

Arcadis’ Seek Advice and Speak Up Policy indicates how employees and third parties can raise concerns about actual or potential negative impacts, including those related to human rights. 

Memberships in Collaborative Initiatives

We recognize that many human rights challenges are systemic and cannot be solved by any single actor, and thus require collaboration with multiple stakeholders, both to learn from them and when appropriate, share best practices.  

To read more about our approach, please refer to additional materials that can be found below in our Resources & Downloads section. 

Governance

Recognitions & Ratings

Our Sustainability Policy guides every aspect of how we do business from project decisions to community impact. It sets clear standards for how we manage and report on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) topics, in line with the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

We are committed to tracking and improving our progress against leading ESG benchmarks, including Sustainalytics, CDP, MSCI, ISS, and EcoVadis. By openly sharing our actions and results, we invite feedback and drive continuous improvement across Arcadis.

Our work is recognised by the following industry leading organisations:

Resources & Downloads

The UN Global Compact

As part of our commitment to the UN Global Compact, each year Arcadis releases a Communication on Progress, which outlines our efforts to operate responsibly and in accordance with the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact. Our annual UN Global Compact Communications on Progress are available here.

Arcadis Annual Integrated Reports

Other non-financial and sustainability reporting can be found in our Annual Integrated Reports, please click   here  to download the latest report.

CDP

Formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project, CDP is an international organization that collects data and produces guidance, for investors, companies, and cities, on climate change, water and forestry. CDP’s mission is to see thriving economies that works for people and the planet in the long term. Arcadis discloses its performance on Climate Change to CDP.

Human Rights

ISO 14001

ISO 9001

Health & Safety

Certificates