Robust corporate governance and a strong commitment to the highest ethical standards are essential to the success of our organization. These practices and principles lay the foundation for our operations and the relationships that support our mission. Our governance and ethical frameworks are underpinned by our corporate values of teamwork, respect, accountability, integrity, nimble and safety. This section focuses on our approach to corporate governance, business ethics and compliance, human rights, political engagement and responsible supply chain management.
Governance
- Our responsibility
- Governance
Business ethics and compliance
Compliance with applicable laws and regulations and applying the highest ethical standards underpin all that we do. We regularly evaluate and update our Compliance and Ethics policies so that we are adequately addressing risks and providing appropriate guidance for our employees and business partners.
The Cheniere Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (Code of Conduct) and Anti-Corruption and Economic Sanctions Policy outline our standards with respect to ethical behavior, accurate reporting, compliance with applicable laws and regulations, reporting of violations and accountability. We follow a robust anti-corruption due diligence process and closely monitor compliance with the process, which is independently audited on an annual basis. We require all employees to participate in Code of Conduct and anti-corruption training annually. Employees, suppliers, customers and other third parties can confidentially report concerns or ask questions through our dedicated hotline.
Political engagement
We seek to align our political engagement efforts with our mission to provide clean, secure and affordable energy to the world. We engage in a nonpartisan way, focusing our efforts on safety and environmental responsibility within the energy industry. These efforts include participating in industry associations, lobbying and contributing through the Cheniere Energy, Inc. Political Action Committee or directly as permitted by law. We expect employees to conduct all political engagement activities in compliance with applicable state and federal laws, as well as company policies. For a list of our industry associations, see Cheniere Energy Memberships and Trade Associations.
Responsible business practices represent a key priority for our Board of Directors, particularly with respect to regulatory compliance and the alignment of our business with long-term stakeholder interests. Our management team reports regularly to the Board on financial, ESG and other business matters.
Our Code of Conduct sets out the ethical standards for our company. Our Chief Compliance and Ethics Officer manages and implements our ethics policies, including the Code of Conduct, and provides quarterly updates to the CEO and the Board’s Audit Committee.
Ultimately, we hold each of our employees responsible for their actions and support them in making decisions that uphold our values, including through annual training on our Code of Conduct.
The Cheniere Integrated Management System (CIMS) provides a foundation of standards, procedures and guidelines across functional areas to help us achieve world-class performance in line with our vision to provide clean, secure and affordable energy to the world. CIMS is designed to streamline the way we work, provide consistency in executing our strategy, and establish ownership and accountability by integrating expectations and management systems across our functional groups, including Operations; Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE); Corporate Environmental; Engineering and Construction; and other functions that underpin our business.
CIMS is made up of 12 elements, each serving a defined purpose to meet the company’s vision and mission. Each element is a grouping of key processes, expectations and procedures that the applicable organizations must adhere to in their daily work. CIMS Element 1: Leadership and Element 12: Governance provide overarching guidance for how we work and underpin all the other elements.
We completed full implementation of CIMS across our organization in 2021. In 2022, we focused on advancing training, awareness and integration of CIMS requirements, including by publishing standards, procedures and guidelines across functional areas on an easily accessible intranet system and establishing Communities of Practice to support sharing of best practices and lessons learned across our sites.