Living Our Purpose: Cognizant 2020 ESG Report

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Living Our Purpose

Cognizant 2020 ESG Report

Welcome to Cognizant’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) report, which outlines our approach to integrating ESG considerations into our business strategy while navigating an ever‑changing world.


It takes a purpose‑driven company to deliver on ESG.


This report shares how our purpose ties to our ESG focus areas, who oversees those areas and how, and the daily work of delivering on our ESG commitments. For each of Cognizant’s priorities – environment with a focus on climate, social with a focus on talent and diversity and inclusion, and governance with a focus on data privacy and security – we walk through what actions we have taken and why, and share future plans where we see room to grow.


Within each focus area, we have clear priorities. We have carefully chosen these priorities to deliver on a specific outcome: integrate ESG into our business thinking through strong leadership to deliver longterm value creation. Starting with the tone at the top, we open with our CEO’s view of stakeholder capitalism, a summary of our Board of Directors’ oversight of ESG, and a description of management’s engagement with the topic. Our environmental section reflects our increasing focus on carbon emissions and climate change risk and opportunity. We have obtained external assurance on select reported metrics. This includes scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption, and scope 3 fuel- and energy-related activities, business travel, and employee commuting.  More information can be found in the Report of Independent Accountants.


Our social section orients around the interconnected nature of our workforce development, plans to improve global diversity, and implementation of technology skilling programs. Our governance section discusses our efforts in ethics and compliance, data security, and data privacy. We also address other areas of ESG and provide specific examples throughout, such as

our response to COVID‑19. Through every section runs the common thread of our increased focus on ESG, building momentum with oversight, programs, and processes.


In this report – and across our many other public platforms – we demonstrate that both commitment to our clients and a strong sense of purpose drive us forward. Our purpose – we engineer modern businesses to improve everyday life – seeks to facilitate

positive transformation for our clients. In doing this, we strive to lead by example: managing, measuring, and communicating our efforts to improve everyday life. This report marks a step in our ongoing ESG disclosure journey and is our first report considering the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Communications “Software & Information Technology (IT) Services” standards and the Task Force on Climate‑related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations. We have also observed the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines.


Read the full report here

October 26th & 27th, 2021

The Legal ESG Summit

Join us online October 26th & 27th for the Legal ESG Summit - as the legal profession comes together for 2 days of in-depth case studies, crucial discussion, debate, and networking to addressing the business critical imperative of Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance in the Legal Profession


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