At Phoenix, we are committed to grow in a manner that integrates environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations to have a positive impact. Our efforts were acknowledged with Phoenix being awarded the Sustainable Company of the Year.

All our actions are defined by our social responsibility initiative of Sustainability and Impact

We believe that great changes can be effected through a series of small, well planned and well executed steps, that contribute to the greater good. Hence we coined the term #TheOnePercentChange to percolate the thought through our structure, ensuring each significant step taken by the organization adds to the one percent change

We are also signatories to UN Global Compact and adhere to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and the 10 Principles of UNGC by policies like zero tolerance to corruption, protection of whistleblowers, our fiduciary duty, respect for human rights, labour standards and environment.

Sanjay Sethi
Director Sustainability
Phoenix Group
Email: sanjay.sethi@pclworld.net
Cell: +971 563124677

Stakeholder engagement is the process by which an organization involves people who may be affected by the decisions it makes or can influence the implementation of its decisions

Social license to operate is created and maintained slowly over time as the actions of a company building good relationship with the community it operates in and other stakeholders

We have taken care to operate our business without obstructing the livelihood of the local communities thereby building trust

We have divided the list of stakeholders into two categories i.e. High and Low Priority. We involve them in various decisions which have an impact on them especially High Priority stakeholder

We plan to operate responsibly taking care of not only of our employees but also of local environment and quickly resolving any issues that crop up thereby strengthening our social license to operate

We have set up systems and processes for efficient implementation of the plan and sustainability KPIs have been included in the evaluation forms of the business leaders at the company.

All policies are in place to ensure the rights of the workers and indirect employees.

We have policies for Whistleblowers, Human rights, Code of Conduct, Grievance Handling, Gender Equity, Occupational Health and Safety etc.

We employ women in order to empower them at the village level to implement sustainable practices at the farm level by involving them with the entire supply chain of horticulture crops that shall empower women in the farms and neighboring villages

We are involving women in activities which have always been dominated by men

We are training and supporting women run farms and also training them for pack-house facilities

In the state of Maharashtra, women have age old traditional skill to families for home made food. We plan to provide them with entrepreneurial support

We have a healthy gender inclusion by providing equal representation to women at Project Deccan and Project Himalaya

We have set up systems and processes for efficient implementation of the plan and sustainability KPIs have been included in the evaluation forms of the business leaders at the company.

We have a policy for water stewardship, environmental health and safety, safe use of pesticides and handling of pesticides containers and ensuring good air, water and soil health

Climate Smart Agriculture:

We are implementing Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) in all our businesses which is an approach to develop agricultural strategies to secure sustainable food security under climate change.

We are signatories of CSA 100, launched by WBCSD, a new global initiative designed to accelerate climate-smart agriculture across the food and agriculture sector in order to bring the sector into close alignment with ambitions set out in the Paris Agreement

Soil Health:

Soil health refers to continuous capacity of soil to function as vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals and humans. At Phoenix, we are boosting soil health by treating seeds adding humic acid in the soil and by doing chelation . Chelation is a biochemical process that bonds critical micronutrient metal ions (such as manganese, magnesium, copper, zinc and iron-each are called a chelate) to larger organic molecules (chelating agents such as amino acids, citric acid etc.)

Renewable Energy:

All our orchards and farms will be OFF THE GRID and will be using only solar power to run the operations which would help us to Go Green. We are deploying solar panels at all our locations including Project Himalaya and Project Deccan

Solar power would be deployed for the day-to-day operations by setting up a 10-12 KVA solar power unit for every 1-4 Hectares

All the bore well pump and drip motors in the farms would be running through solar power in Project Himalaya

Many other methods would be deployed to use water distribution using gravity wherever feasible and saving on other ways of energy requirement thereby reducing carbon foot print and beauty of the Kashmir valley

We are deploying solar panels at all our locations including Project Deccan and Project Himalayas

Water Stewardship:

Water Stewardship aims to promote responsible water use, enhancement of water quality and socially equitable water distribution. We have partnered with AWS and have started water stewardship activities in our businesses which are boosting groundwater level. With the use of Drip Irrigation in Project Himalaya and Project Deccan on an average 70 percent of water is saved as compared to conventional methods of irrigation. We will use moisture sensors to automate water usage in the orchards. We plan to construct water harvesting structures around our horticultural farms both in Project Deccan and Project Himalaya in India. We are signatories of the WASH pledge (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene at the Work Place) and are taking pro-active steps to ensure that the employees and workers at horticultural farms have clean facilities to use at the workplace at all our farms across the world

Biodiversity:

Forests also present a vast reser­voir of genetic diversity of plants, animals and micro-organisms, which play significant roles in maintaining the ecosystems

By protecting forests, we believe we will also be able to strengthen natural resource management and increase land productivity

We will encourage and support farmers to set up bee farms in the neighborhoods as it has been proven that bee are the most efficient pollinators as compared to other insects

We shall encourage farmers to plant flower fields near the orchards which in turn increases the chance of pollination

We engage the locals in various afforestation drives to ensure the local flora and fauna is preserved

Lower Inputs Use:

We are implementing various methods under Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to reduce the chemical use in our farming.

By using organic manure and following integrated nutrient management schedule as compared to complete inorganic, we are able to provide sustainability to our yield and help to improve soil organic matter

The contamination of land and water is minimized by using the arial sprays as compared to mist sprays which minimizes wastage

We avoid broad spectrum insecticides and use all the approaches viz cultural, mechanical, biological and physical approaches to control pests in all our farms

We are spraying of micronutrients in horticultural farms at appropriate intervals which shall save from pest infestation and also give higher yield

We have set up systems and processes for efficient implementation of the plan and sustainability KPIs have been included in the evaluation forms of the business leaders at the company.

We have a written policy for Anti-Corruption and have zero tolerance for the violations

As a guiding principle, gifts and complimentaries should be such that no feeling of obligation is created. The Code prohibits employees from accepting lavish gifts or entertainment. Gifts and entertainment for customers, potential customers and suppliers must support the legitimate business interests of the Company and should be reasonable and appropriate under the circumstances. We are always sensitive to the customers and suppliers own rules on receiving gifts and entertainment.

We have set up systems and processes for efficient implementation of the plan and sustainability KPIs have been included in the evaluation forms of the business leaders at the company.