FCC Construcción has taken part in the United Nations Think Lab on Business Integrity, held in Vienna, making it the first company in the sector in Spain to join the initiative.

Principle Ten of the United Nations Global Compact was adopted in 2004 and commits participating companies not only to avoid bribery and other forms of corruption, but also to proactively develop specific policies and measures to address this issue internally throughout the organisation and the entire value chain.

Over the years, rising expectations from consumers, governments, investors and employees alike, along with the now widely adopted corporate sustainability directives, have raised the bar for companies to not only be more responsible, ethical, transparent and inclusive, but also to address their impact on the environment and societies, while contributing to the public institutions, laws and systems in which they operate.

Recognising these priorities, the UN Global Compact launched the Business Call to Action to Governments on the 20th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), signed by FCC Construction, and delivered at the tenth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the UNCAC (CoSP10) in December 2023 in Atlanta, United States. The Call to Action focused on governance and anti-corruption to promote a new social contract based on the principles of integrity, transparency and accountability, in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 of the 2030 Agenda.

These recent milestones, together with the 20th anniversary of Principle Ten, have created a propitious momentum to re-examine the notions of business integrity, ethics and anti-corruption compliance in the current context. To this end, the United Nations Global Compact launched the Think Lab for Business Integrity as the next step in private sector thought leadership.

FCC Construcción participates in the revision of the Anti-Corruption Ethics and Compliance Programme for Business: A Practical Guide, published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) ten years ago. While the standards set by the practical guide remain relevant, the business environment has changed, creating new priorities and complexities for companies. Issues related to corporate sustainability reporting and regulations; gender and inclusion; talent attraction and retention; evolving technology and artificial intelligence; stakeholder capitalism and corporate purpose; emerging risks from geopolitical issues and converging crises; increasing interdependence of the global supply chain; to name a few come to the fore.

FCC Construcción thus becomes the first construction company in the world to support transformational governance, constituting a principles-based approach that urges companies to drive responsible business conduct by doing not only what is legal, but what is right.