Australia 
Brazil 
Canada 
Chile 
China 
Columbia 
Denmark 
France 
India 
Indonesia 
Italy 
Malaysia 
New Zealand 
Norway 
Panama 
Peru 
Poland 
Portugal 
Saudi Arabia 
Singapore 
South Korea 
Spain 
Sweden 
Taiwan 
Thailand 
United Kingdom 
United States 
Vietnam 
Riona Ainge, Sustainability Lead, explores SYSTRA’s commitments to sustainability in everything it does, and gives her thoughts on why we no longer have the luxury of choice when it comes to acting on climate change, social mobility, and resource management.
It is clear that we can no longer opt out of tackling greenhouse gas emissions or ignore the impact our actions have on the communities we belong to.
I’ve always believed that every one of us has a role to play in making the world a better place. Since the earliest stages of my education, I have focused on environmental and sustainability subjects, knowing that I wanted to make a positive change.
Every step of the way, from studying geology and environmental management, to roles in environmental advisory and planning and consents; I have been determined that my career, and the companies I work for, would shape the world around us in a greener, more sustainable way.
That’s why I’m so proud to be Sustainability Lead for SYSTRA in the UK and Ireland. This was a role created by the business in 2024 as part of its ongoing commitment to sustainable projects and practices. It ensures we now have a company-wide approach that goes beyond the work we deliver or the way we run our offices and systems – it brings our people and our purpose to the fore.
This week we launched our updated Sustainability Mission, a document that sets out how we are shaping and supporting a better future for all, with three strategic pillars:
- People: A focus on community engagement and equality, diversity and inclusivity, with targets including an increase in science, technology, engineering and maths activities and the use of volunteering days among all colleagues.
- Planet: A focus on climate change and environmental enhancement, with targets to reduce emissions in all areas of project delivery and business operations.
- Purpose: A focus on being a responsible business and supply chain integrity, with targets including climate training for all colleagues, energy-efficient offices, and lower carbon emissions for business travel.
The people pillar is particularly important to me, because being more sustainable impacts us in so many ways. We all know about reducing commuting emissions with a cycle to work scheme, or renewable energy tariffs. But sustainability is also about wider societal impacts and how we give back to the communities we live and work in, which is an area SYSTRA are actively involved in.
SYSTRA offers every colleague two days of volunteering leave each year. In 2025, we’ve seen people planting trees, painting playgrounds, maintaining heritage railways, supporting Scout trips, cleaning beaches, and so much more. We also have colleagues regularly engaging with schools and colleges to deliver science, technology, engineering and maths activities and encourage children and young adults into careers that can change their lives, and improve life for the people and planet around them too.
This all adds up to masses of what’s known as social value – benefits for people and communities that are long-lasting and transformational, and that go beyond the direct impacts of a project we’ve delivered or a change we’ve made to where we get our energy from.
Launching our Sustainability Mission this week is only one step in a much longer journey. We have chosen to change the way we do business, to ramp-up our efforts to reduce emissions, and to do better at enabling our colleagues to play their part. The commitment goes beyond that, to being transparent, to holding ourselves accountable, and to creating a better future for us all.
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