Our approach

ESG is at the core of what we do – YouGov is built on an ethos of transparency and trust, and we embed sustainable, ethical, and responsible practices throughout the business. These efforts are championed from the top-down, and the Board recognises the importance of ESG factors when measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of the Company.

Our ESG approach is defined in our ESG Report, which reflects an understanding of our impact on all our stakeholders including our panel members, employees, community, clients, suppliers and partners, shareholders, the media and the environment. We focus on areas where we can add the most value, and we are guided by stakeholder feedback as we continue to evolve our approach.

In 2024, we received our second MSCI ESG Rating of AA. This reflects our resilience to long-term, financially relevant ESG risks.

Our values

We are driven by shared values that guide the way we interact with all stakeholders and represent the principles in which we drive our business forward. We are proud of our entrepreneurial roots and continue to foster an environment where talented people collaborate to make big things happen.

Our ESG Roadmap

Our ESG approach is formalised in our ESG Roadmap, which defines objectives for the near- and long-term to advance our strategy, with a commitment to publish an annual update. As ESG regulations, standards, and stakeholder expectations are rapidly evolving, we regularly evaluate our ESG approach to ensure we are keeping pace.

UN Global Compact and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

To inform our ESG approach, we focus on areas where YouGov can add the most value. We have identified six SDGs that are materially relevant to our business, and we have integrated the icons throughout this report to highlight initiatives that directly support the goal. In line with this commitment, YouGov signed the UN Global Compact in 2023 and will make our first Communication of Progress disclosure in 2024.

Giving a Voice

It is YouGov’s social mission to make people’s opinions heard for the benefit of our local, national, and international communities. We have defined this purpose as “Giving a Voice,” which is a key theme of our ESG Roadmap. This mission encompasses our public data offering (the data we provide to the world for free), our ongoing efforts to ensure our panel is as representative as possible, and our socially-oriented work with clients, partners, and suppliers.

We are proud to share a selection of case studies of our socially-oriented research:

• Starting in 2019, YouGov has conducted an annual survey on prevention and treatment services for gambling harms. The largest study of its kind, the questions evolve each year to produce the GambleAware Annual GB Treatment & Support Survey.
• European University Institute (EUI): The EUI-YouGov ‘Solidarity in Europe’ survey has been running annually since 2018 to explore attitudes towards European solidarity across issues, instruments, and member states. This data has been used to produce a wide range of insights, most recently by the European Council on Foreign Relations in an article on attitudes towards the war in Ukraine.
• Imperial College London: The YouGov-ICL Covid-19 Behaviour Tracker was created in March 2020 with Imperial College London and is still running. This is a multi-country study of Covid-19 behaviour across 15 countries. We are delighted to announce that this project was the winner of the Best use of data for not-for-profit or non-commercial purposes category at the DataIQ Awards 2022.
• Business in the Community (BITC): Long-running surveys on both race and mental health at work, including the production of the annual Race At Work 2021: The Scorecard Report which identifies key insights into progress made against the recommendations of the McGregor-Smith Review.

We define “socially-oriented” research as both those research projects that create social value through their content or purpose, and those for clients that make a positive impact on society through their direct mission, the projects they undertake, or their general commitment to operating ethically, sustainably, and responsibly.