Corporate governance system
We formalise our firm commitment to the SDGs and the social dividend
Society Business Corporate social responsibility
On 23 October 2018, the Board of Directors of Iberdrola, S.A. approved a revision of the Corporate Governance System with the purpose of formalising the commitment of the Iberdrola group to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) approved by the United Nations (UN), highlighting the group's contribution to their fulfilment through the social dividend generated by its business activity.
As a result of this amendment, the content of the General Corporate Social Responsibility Policy — which was renamed as General Sustainable Development Policy —, as well as the content of the corporate policies and of other rules that belong to the Corporate Governance System, were revised. Likewise, the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee was renamed as Sustainable Development Committee.
The abovementioned General Sustainable Development Policy lays down the general principles and structures the foundations that must govern the sustainable development strategy of the group to ensure that all its corporate activities and businesses are carried out while fostering the sustainable creation of value for society, citizens, customers, shareholders and the communities in which the group is present, equitably compensating all groups that contribute to the success of its business enterprise, with a long-term vision that achieves a better future without compromising present results, favouring the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and rejecting actions that contravene or hinder them.
In order to support the promotion of the group's commitment to the SDGs, Iberdrola acknowledges that these are represented in its By-Laws, in the Mission, Vision and Values of the Iberdrola group, in the Code of Ethics, as well as in the corporate policies, and has recently has developed the 'driving ideas' of the Corporate Governance System.
It should be noted that this revision of the Corporate Governance System has not changed the company's strategy in any way. As explained by Ainara Elejoste, Head of Corporate Affairs and Social Documentation of Iberdrola, "the group has for years been carrying out its activity while being committed to sustainable development, social welfare and the progress of society". Conforming to the evolution of corporate social responsibility, this revision "seeks to better explain our contribution to the SDGs and formalise our commitment to them and to the social dividend".
Alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals
As highlighted by Ainara Elejoste, Iberdrola was a pioneer in associating the SDGs with its long-term business strategy. In particular, the group contributes actively and significantly to the fulfilment of Goals 7 and 13, relating to the supply of affordable and clean energy and climate action, respectively.
Likewise, Iberdrola also helps towards achieving the following goals:
- Goal 6, relating to clean water and sanitation: through efforts to make water use reasonable and sustainable, and to face up to the risks associated with its scarcity.
- Goal 9, relating to industry, innovation and infrastructure: through the promotion of its business activity and the development thereof.
- Goal 15, which focuses on the life of land: through the promotion and development of different programs for the protection of biodiversity in all those countries where it operates.
- Goal 17, which promotes the development of partnerships for the Goals: through adherence to and/or participation in numerous projects, both globally and locally, in order to strengthen and revitalise the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development (Agenda 2030).
Committed to the social dividend
Obeying the statutory mandate imposed by the shareholders of Iberdrola, its Board of Directors has set up a sustainable development strategy aligned with the implementation by the group of a business project aimed at creating value in a sustainable manner for all its stakeholders, providing a quality service through the use of environmentally friendly energy sources.
The group contributes to the social dividend generated through its activities by promoting the business communities in which it participates. It does this from an economic point of view and from the perspective of business ethics, the promotion of gender equality and justice, the promotion of innovation, caring for the environment and regarding its commitment to the fight against climate change. Moreover, it contributes through the taxes paid by the different companies in the countries and territories where they operate, by generating quality employment and, in general, when carrying out its corporate purpose in accordance with the principles established in its sustainable development policies.
In the words of Ainara Elejoste, "at Iberdrola, we have long since moved on from mitigating or nullifying the impacts that our activity generates, to worrying about taking into account in our business model the broader expectations of our stakeholders".
SEE INFOGRAPHIC: Value creation for our Stakeholders [PDF] External link, opens in new window.
Targets for sustainable development strategy
The sustainable development strategy ensures the achievement of the following goals, taking as a reference the principles included in the SDGs:
- To make all Stakeholders participants in the success of the Iberdrola business project, through the social dividend generated by the group.
- To promote the attainment of the group's strategic goals in order to provide a safe, reliable, quality energy supply that respects the environment.
- To improve the competitiveness of the group through the adoption of management practices based on innovation, equal opportunities, productivity, profitability and sustainability.
- To responsibly manage the risks and opportunities arising from the evolution of the environment, whilst maximising the positive impacts of its activity in the different territories where it operates and minimising, as far as possible, the negative impacts; shunning short-term approaches or ones that do not adequately take into account the interests of all the Stakeholders.
- To foster a culture of ethical behaviour and increase corporate transparency to generate credibility and trust within stakeholder groups, as well as within society as a whole.
- To promote relationships of trust and create value for all its stakeholders, giving a balanced and comprehensive response to all of them, paying special attention to involving local communities in order to find out what they expect with regard to potentially important issues, and thus be able to take them into consideration.
- To contribute to the recognition of the group and to the improvement of its reputation.
