Frequently Asked Questions about SRI

Here are answers to some of the questions about Socially Responsible Investment that we encounter most frequently. If you can't find what you are looking for here, please contact our Investor Relations department.

Corporate Governance Questions

1. Could you please explain your SD commitments?
2. Could you please explain the 'sustainable role' of the seismic sector?
3. How are your Board of Directors and related Committees organized? 
4. How is your SD policy built?
5. Which indicators have you chosen for your public reporting?
6. Have you clearly identified your ESG issues?
7. How do you manage your exposure to corruption risks?
8. Do you have a whistleblowing system?

Environment Questions

1. Could you please explain the means allocated to environmental issues?
2. Please explain the environmental performance assessment system.
3. Which energies are used?
4. Which operations are the most energy-consuming?
5. Please explain your waste and water management for onshore and offshore operations.
6. Have you identified you operating activities’ impact on biodiversity?
7. How do you manage to reduce your footprint?
8. Is climate change integrated into your business strategy?
9. Have you developed or planned SD initiatives?

Social Questions

1. Could you please explain your HR strategy?
2. Could you please explain your career management system?
3. You favor local employment. How do you address local and economic development issues?
4. Is the respect of ESG issues required in the subcontractors’ contracts?
5. Please explain your commitments to Human Rights.
6. How do you manage piracy?

HSE Questions

1. Which HSE issues have you identified?
2. How do you track your subcontractors compliancy with your commitments?
3. Which operating activities are audited?
4. Do HSE audits include SD issues?

Stakeholder Questions

1. To what extent your company interacts with external stakeholders? 
       

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Corporate Governance Questions

1. Could you please explain your Sustainable Development (SD)  commitments?

• CGG is committed to SD through a balanced approach to economic development, social progress and environmental management. We believe that it involves all internal and external stakeholders. We recognized the 10 principles (which are derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labor Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and the United Nations Convention against Corruption). We respect the indigenous people and their rights as declared in the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. 
• We strive to continually improve SD performance through periodic review. To achieve this goal, the HSE, SD&SR division is supported by a network of local SD correspondents. 

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2. Could you please explain the 'sustainable role' of the seismic sector?

• Accurate seismic data allows a better exploration of new or existing oil and gas fields. 
• Through specialized capabilities to operate in remote, hostile and environmentally sensitive areas, with acquisition and equipment designed to the specific geological needs, and with improved imaging accuracy, CGG provides a sustainable alternative to drilling-only as it helps to decrease the risk of drilling non-producing wells. 
• Seismic for production can help increase the recovery rate and  seismic in  the exploration process can help reduce the environmental footprint through reducing the number of wells needed to be drilled and significantly reducing the number of dry holes drilled. 
• Seismic imaging allows our clients to assess the possibilities of CO2 sequestration in subsurface. 

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3. How are your Board of Directors and related Committees organized?

• The Board lays down the guidelines governing the Company's activity and sees to their application. Subject to the powers explicitly assigned to the shareholders' meetings and within the limits of the business purpose, it considers any question affecting the proper operation of the company and it settles the matters concerning it. In 2014, the Board of Directors of the Company met twelve times. The average attendance rate of directors at these meetings was 83.80 %.
• The Company complies with the AFEP-MEDEF code of corporate governance for listed companies (the "AFEP-MEDEF Code"). This code is available on the website of the MEDEF (www.medef.fr). Main indicators are the following:
  • seven out of the twelve directors who were sitting on the Board qualified as independent 
  • four women on the board out of twelve directors, the number of women in the Board is exceeding 30%
• The Internal rules and regulations of the Board of Directors define the composition, duties and operating procedures of the four Board committees:
  • Appointment-Remuneration Committee
  • Audit Committee
  • HSE/Sustainable Development Committee
  • Technology/Strategy Committee
• More specifically, the HSE/SD Committee missions are: 
  • To determine the main improvement axis of the HSE performance and to compare it to our peers 
  • To review High Potential Impact and their operating consequences 
  • To follow any major HSE crisis and to find the required solutions 
  • To keep the Board informed of any HSE action taken by the Group 

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4. How is your SD policy built?

• The SD policy is built by the Executive Committee and released in three main policies:
  • « Sustainable Development Policy » 
  • « HSE Policy  »
  • « Environment Policy».
• This policies give focus to the economic, social and environmental issues; as well as our own specific issues, as an oil service provider: promotion of new technologies reducing our footprint, a better HSE risk management, a long-term dialogue with our stakeholders. We took into account our stakeholders’ expectations when we build this policy (employees, subcontractors, public authorities, etc.) 

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5. Which indicators have you chosen for your public reporting?

• Our indicators are compliant with the Global Reporting Initiative 
  • Example for the environmental indicators: direct energy consumption, residual hydrocarbon spills; 
  • Example for the labor practices: total workforce by employment type, total number and rate of new employee hires and employee turnover by age group, gender and region; average of hours of training per year per employee. 
• CGG's HSE and Sustainable Development performance indicators are audited in accordance with the French Grenelle 2 regulation. Corporate, social, and environmental information to be published was selected by the HSE, Sustainable Development, and HR Departments and audited by the Environment and Sustainable Development Department of Ernst & Young, one of the Group's Auditors.

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6. Have you clearly identified your ESG issues?

• Yes, we have clearly identified them and they are classified as risks. Once risks have been identified and assessed, they are classified by risk family: operational risks, technology risks, financial and strategic risks, HR risks and communication risks. 
• In 2012, CGG ranked its sustainable development issues in a materiality analysis based on extensive consultation involving the management, a panel of employees from different divisions, and external stakeholders (clients, investors, NGOs, and the International Association of Geophysical Contractors). This analysis highlighted themes pertinent to CGG and allowed CGG to focus its Sustainable Development improvement efforts between 2013 and 2015. 

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7. How do you manage your exposure to corruption risks?

• We recognize that we are operating in some countries that present corruption risks. We formalized a policy to reduce the risk of non conformity and to prevent any act that will go against the OCDE, Foreign Corrupt Pratices Act of 1977 and US Office of Foreign Assets Control. We displayed several systems to communicate on this risk: 
  • A steering committee: assesses the risks which are not compliant with the Business Code of Conduct 
  • EthicsAlert: answer questions and respond to concerns about compliance, ethics and the requirements described in the Business Code of Conduct 
  • Specific Risk Corruption & Financial Safety Training for senior managers and a specific training 'Governance and Performance' 
  • 100% of employees participated in the Ethics e-learning
  • Internal Audit Control system 
• In 2013 and 2014, to obtain formal recognition of the significant progress made in strengthening CGG’s Anti-Corruption Program, to benchmark our Program, and to identify areas for further improvement, CGG had its Anti-Corruption Program reviewed by ADIT - Mazars. The Anti-Corruption Program review provided CGG with a solid benchmark for its Program. Specific areas of organization, procedures, standards, and documentation were identified to further strengthen the Program. Work to improve all of these areas has been substantially completed. 
• In May 2014, CGG received the sought-after limited assurance report, “the Anti-Corruption Certificate”, in which no major discrepancies were noted between the CGG Anti-Corruption Program and the Mazars-ADIT Anti-Corruption Framework®. 

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8. Do you have a whistleblowing system?

• Yes, the EthicsAlert hotline operated by an independent company that helps businesses respond to questions and concerns about compliance and ethics.

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Environment Questions

1. Could you please explain the means allocated to environmental issues?

• We are committed to optimize the environmental performances based on the principle of ongoing improvement and to reduce our operatings’ impact on the environment.
• A dedicated person is in charge of the environmental strategy and is supported by local correspondents. The Environment is included in the HSE department and HSE correspondents are displayed in every division. 
• We have allocated resources to environment management including: Environment training (reviewed each year by the management), onsite environmental awareness and training (the environmental manager and specialized environmental advisors support local HSE), monitoring (PRISM).  In 2014, CGG provided over 140,000 hours of HSE training.
• We have 25 people dedicated to HSE & SD located in our offices and 120 HSE local correspondents (19 part time in the Processing centers)

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2. Please explain the environmental performance assessment system.

• Audits are driven regularly by specialized audit teams to determine if the onsite assessment is in line with the Group’s standards and if actions are settled to improve the environmental performance.

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3. Which energies are used?

• We use fossil energies (Marine fuel-MDO, oil-HFO, kerosene) for the vessels. We have made the choice to mainly use the MDO (88% of emissions). The significant advantage of using MDO over HFO is the higher heat value of diesel oil, which means lower fuel consumption and less polluting (a reduction in fuel consumption of 5%). But it is more expensive. 
• CGG established a program specifically for its chartered fleet of support vessels in 2011 in parallel with the policy to modernize and streamline the fleet.  In 2014, the last three of the six vessels ordered were chartered with Bourbon. In the interests of environmental protection and cost control they are equipped with hybrid propulsion for optimized fuel consumption management. Diesel-electric propulsion is favored during escort while mechanical propulsion is favored for transit or operation ensuring maximum power. This technical choice saved about 20% fuel and close to two million dollars in 2014.
• CGG permanent office locations do consider the use of renewable energy where available on a case by case basis. For example, all British CGG sites are supplied with electricity produced from a mix of wind, wave, solar, biomass, and hydro power.

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4. Which operations are the most energy-consuming?

• Marine operations (88% of 2014 CO2 emissions) are the most energy-consuming through the use of oil for the vessels. For the Land operations (5% of 2014 CO2 emissions), the transport represents the most important energy consuming room. For the Equipment and Processing businesses, we use mainly electricity and gas. 

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5. Please explain your waste and water management for onshore and offshore operations.

• We apply a waste management system worldwide. The waste management is organized in the following hierarchy: waste reduction, reuse, recycling, treatment or collection for certified plants. 
• For Land operations, black and grey waters are treated onsite by specialized sub-contractors. In Marine, the majority of these waters are treated on board as the vessels are equipped by permanent water treatment units. 

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6. Have you identified you operating activities’ impact on biodiversity?

• Yes, we recognized that our land and marine operations can lead to the loss of Biodiversity through extensive use of land or the disruption of marine ecosystems. 
• The Group is particularly committed to reducing the environmental impact on biodiversity of its activity; for example in 2014 for  Marine Acquisition :
• marine mammals and sea turtles, individually or in groups, were spotted about 4200 times during our surveys, in 76% of cases outside the exclusion zone; and,
• 242 delayed soft starts and production stops were observed, totaling 254 hours of production downtime. 

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7. How do you manage to reduce your footprint?

• We systematically carry out preliminary impact surveys before every land or marine project. We have settled an observation and monitoring program of the protected species during our marine acquisition operations: dedicated persons to the observation of the marine fauna are on board and to ensure that the Group respects the regulations. We use also the Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) in order to give enough time for the mammals to leave the area where we are operating. We are currently upgrading our fleet with two new vessels which meet the “clean design” requirements of Det Norske Veritas (DNV). 
• For land operations, we are committed to replant trees or in case of fields, to indemnify land owners and farmers. 
• We are members of the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association Biodiversity Working Group. We collaborate with our clients to develop tools to better assess and manage Biodiversity. 

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8. Is climate change integrated into your business strategy?

• No, it has not been yet integrated but certain consequences of such change may be already anticipated and are already integrated in our projects and activities. 

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9. Have you developed or planned SD initiatives?

• According to the recommendations of ISO 14062, the Equipment division (Sercel) takes into account SD issues in its development product guidelines. This enables us to determine environmental targets for products and to define improvement axis. 
• Sercel developed a recycling service for its clients concerning its end of life products. 
• Sercel developed solid streamers which prevail the use of Isopar M, a hydrocarbon contained in the liquid streamers with the use of FOAM . Our fleet is fully equipped with solid streamers. 
• We upgraded our fleet with two new vessels which meet the “clean design” of DNV and our fleet meets the Marine International Pollution convention (MARPOL) 
• As part of our SD objectives, we launched work groups to study the ways to reduce our flight travels and the energy consumption in our main premises (develop visio-conferencing, improve behaviors and the energy efficiency of our facilities; for instance, CGG moved in Massy in a new building ‘HDE’, green building standard, in 2011). 

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Social Questions

  
1. Could you please explain your HR strategy?

• Our commitments are disclosed in two codes: "Prism Policy - Health and Wellness" and "Prism Policy - Sustainable Development". The HR priorities are the following ones: talent attraction and retention. To do so, we have developed a network with universities (Nancy Geology School, IFP, University of Calgary, University of Stanford and Colorado School of Mines ) where we can find the potential talent we need. 
• In terms of software donation, we have a valuable history of cooperation with many Universities and their feedback on our tools is an important part of our quest to improve and grow what we offer. For instance, one in every three universities granted a CGG GeoSoftware software donation is located in a developing country. In most emerging countries, software donations are accompanied by logistical support, equipment donation and, whenever possible, mentoring by CGG. 
  • In Angola, for example, CGG initiated a partnership with the Faculty of Sciences of the University Agostinho Neto (UAN) and, as well as a software donation, helped with training and IT equipment. 
  • Another recent example was in January 2015, when CGG GeoSoftware has donated its Hampson-Russell geophysical software suite, covering all aspects of seismic exploration and reservoir characterization, to the University of Oxford in the UK.
• In the long-term environment in which we work, it is essential that we seek to build on our industry-leading reputation in every way we can; donating our software in a controlled way to tomorrow’s customers is a powerful way to achieve this.

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2. Could you please explain your career management system?

• Our commitment to career management is to: 
  • Ensure training 
  • Anticipate long-term employment needs and skill requirements 
  • Promote career developments 
  • We have set up an internal job opportunity marketplace and have formalized the skill requirements for the various job positions. 
  • Employees have regular performance assessment interviews. 

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3. You favor local employment. How do you address local and economic development issues?

• Our commitment to these issues is disclosed in our SD policy. We have allocated extensive means to address social and economic development including: 
  • Support to social programs on health & education 
  • Local content of operations (the local employees have full access to training) 
  • Hiring/training of local subcontractors (sharing of know-how) 
  • Training (partnerships with universities) 

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4. Is the respect of ESG issues required in the subcontractors’ contracts?

• Yes. The supply chain department is in charge of respecting the Purchasing Code of Conduct and the Selling Code of Sercel. Those documents were sent to all of the Group’s purchasers. The Purchasing Department is trained to some SD issues and to CSR. 
• The Purchasing Code of Conduct is always included in the Group documentation for tender offers.

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5. Please explain your commitments to Human Rights.

• CGG recognizes the ten principles derived from it including the Universal Declaration of human rights and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. In 2014, CGG achieved the GC Advanced level of the Global Compact again, level achieved in 2013, demonstrating its advanced level of implementation and higher degree of engagement concerning these critical issues. HSE management system training for the HSE community and Managers all include a component related to these critical issues. 
• In 2014, the Group conducted 47 HSE audits which included a questionnaire on aspects of human rights and rights at work to check that operations comply with these principles mentioned in our policies.

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6. How do you manage piracy?

• Security might be a concern in certain area of activities. We are committed to provide a secure working environment by protecting our employees. We always privilege dialogue with the authorities especially through our Community Relationship Management. We can use private security providers. Such providers are contracted after an audit of their background, skills, integrity and professionalism. OurSecurity Policy reflects our endeavors to implement the recommendations of: 
• the 'Volprin' of Oil & Mining Industry (“Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights”),
• the “OGP Firearms and Use of force”: clear instructions are given on how firearms and force should be used. Be sure that the national forces should comply with the international ethical standards, 
• the “IMO guidance regarding piracy and armed robbery against ships”: UN International maritime organization. It has promoted the adoption of some 50 conventions and protocols and adopted more than 1000 codes and recommendations concerning maritime safety and security and the prevention of pollution and related matters. 

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HSE Questions

1. Which HSE issues have you identified?

• Our HSE issues are coherent with the risks associated with our operations. The most important one is the transport. We address 4 issues: safety, transportation safety (reducing exposure to road traffic and elimination of vehicles where possible), specific measures for subcontractors (selection driven by Contractor HSE Management) and occupational health. We monitor the following performance indicators: total recordable case frequency, lost time injury frequency rate, severity rate, absenteeism.

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2. How do you track your subcontractors’ compliancy with your commitments?

• Through audits. We audit our employees and sub-contractors on the same basis. The sub-contractors have also to meet SD requirements. We have developed a score-card system in order to identify the critical sub-contractors: for instance, every six months, the ship-managers performance is assessed and ranked on a 4 criteria category basis including HSE issues. 

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3. Which operating activities are audited?

• CGG is committed to managing suppliers and subcontractors in its area of prevailing influence to ensure their compliance with Group policies and standards. 
• HSE audit scope extends to our permanent staff, seasonal employees, and subcontractors operating within our prevailing influence on (such as  shipyards, local airplanes, helicopters and other services that we subcontract). 

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4. Do HSE audits include SD issues?

• Yes, the HSE audits include SD issues (including sub-contractors): Child Labor, Forced Labor, Freedom of association, right to collective bargaining, discrimination, disciplinary practices, working conditions, remuneration, communities relationship, safety and corruption.
• The scope of these audits covers direct and subcontracted employees.

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Stakeholder Questions

1. To what extent your company interacts with external stakeholders?

• We operate worldwide and hire a significant number of local employees. This is why a sustainable relationship with communities is essential. Building long term relationships will enable us to be back into the region and to be appreciated by local communities. Our policies have been reinforced to better highlight our responsibilities (through the Community Relations Management Plan):
  • To respect the Human Rights as proclaimed by the Universal Declarations of the United Nations 
  • To respect the Rights of the Indigenous people as defined by the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People 
  • The use of the recommendations laid down in the “Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights” (‘Volprin’ of Oil & Mining Industry), the “OGP Firearms and Use of Force” and the “IMO guidance regarding piracy and armed robbery against ships”.

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