Carol Doughty, a former senior UK government official and a consultant at VFS Global, shares her experience and insights on purposeful ESG with PA Life…
For me, purpose has always been inseparable from ethics and sustainability when it comes to the Environment and Social Good (ESG) agenda. I enjoyed a long career at the Home Office, and later in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office a decade ago, working in UK Visas and Immigration matters across the world. I then joined VFS Global, the outsourcing specialist which manages the non-judgmental and administrative tasks related to applications for visa, passport, and consular services for 68 governments, including the UK.
Beyond facilitating safe and efficient global mobility by supporting the front end of millions of visa applications, the company also delivers other citizen services.ย We have built a culture driven by a genuine desire to use its resources and global reach to do good. That responsibility extends to people, to communities, and to the environment, and is far from abstract. Instead, it is measured and visible.
In 2024, VFS Global reduced its overall carbon footprint by 45% compared with its 2019 baseline, cutting Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 79% and switching 78% of electricity use to green energy. Half a million trees were planted to support reforestation efforts. These are not token gestures; they are structural changes in how we operate.
But sustainability goes far beyond carbon. It extends to people and communities. Last year alone, more than 67,000 people benefited from community programmes in 41 countries, supported by over 7,800 hours of employee volunteering. Initiatives included future skills scholarships in India, hospitality training in Indonesia, football-based life skills coaching in South Africa, and digital inclusion projects across Asia and Africa. As colleagues, we were encouraged and given time to participate through VFS Globalโs volunteering policy. That spirit of service connects our day jobs to the wider good.
Purposeful ESG includes empowering women too
Inside the organisation, diversity and inclusion are not just aspirations but realities: in 2024, women accounted for 59% of new hires and 30% of management roles, with 153 nationalities represented across the workforce. The company has signed the UN Womenโs Empowerment Principles and partnered with the UAE Gender Balance Council to accelerate female representation at leadership levels. Personally, one of the most fulfilling aspects in my career has been mentoring other women into leadership roles. To see them thrive and grow has been one of my proudest contributions.
For someone who began her career in public service, this ethos matters. It reassures me that I am part of an organisation that takes social responsibility as seriously as operational performance โ and does so with authenticity. When I joined, what convinced me to stay was that VFS Globalโs ESG agenda was not about publicity, but about tangible, ethical action that I could see making a difference.
Of course, todayโs business environment offers no shortage of scepticism. ESG and Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives increasingly face criticism. Sometimes it’s all labelled as greenwashing, sometimes questioned for their accuracy, or challenged under political and financial pressures. These views deserve attention, but they do not represent the whole picture. Many organisations continue to see environmental and social progress as central to their long-term success, even if the way they talk about it is changing.
This is where multinational businesses have a distinctive role. While governments face many competing priorities and fiscal constraints, global companies have the scale, resources, and responsibility to help sustain progress in ways that benefit communities, people, and the environment.
Why does this matter for employees like me? Because purpose is not abstract โ it is deeply personal. People stay with organisations whose values resonate with their own. I stayed because I saw commitments lived out in practice โ sustainability embedded in our operations and inclusion fostered in our culture.
That, to me, is the quiet power of ethical leadership. In a time when ESG headlines are a battleground and scepticism is real, those who remain inspired by sustainable and inclusive practices see not politics, but integrity โ a coherence between what is said and what is done.
After nearly two decades of working alongside and within VFS Global, I know this: purpose retains its power. You donโt stay loyal to companies that posture; you stay loyal to ones that act. And that, I believe, is a lesson for organisations everywhere.
