Iberdrola Group non-financial information preparation policy
Transparency is a crucial for keeping stakeholders informed of the social dividend generated by the group and its contribution to the SDG
Iberdrola Group Non-Financial Information Preparation Policy
20 June 2023
The Board of Directors of IBERDROLA, S.A. (the "Company") has the power to design, assess and continuously revise the Governance and Sustainability System, and specifically to approve and update the corporate policies, which contain the guidelines governing the conduct of the Company and of the companies belonging to the group of which the Company is the controlling entity, within the meaning established by law (the "Group").
The transparency of the consolidated non-financial information that the Company regularly publishes is a key element of its strategy to allow its Stakeholders to be aware of the social dividend generated by the companies of the Group and their contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) approved by the United Nations (UN), in accordance with the commitments made by the Company.
In fulfilling these responsibilities, and within the framework of the law and the By-Laws and its sustainable development strategy, the Board of Directors hereby approves this Iberdrola Group Non-Financial Information Preparation Policy (the "Policy").
1. Purpose
This Policy is intended to define an orderly process for preparing the consolidated non-financial information applicable to all companies of the Group, one that is consistent with the principles of subsidiarity and decentralised management that govern the corporate and governance structure thereof, that ensures that the consolidated non-financial information of the Company has been prepared based on information provided by the various companies of the Group and that clearly describes the responsibility of its management decision-making bodies in such process.
The main objective of the process is to ensure that the consolidated non-financial information that the Company publishes through the channels required by applicable legal provisions or through such other channels that it deems appropriate reflects in all material respects, in a reasonable and balanced manner, the environmental, social and corporate governance performance of the consolidated group, with the scope defined by law and in accordance with international standards.
2. Scope
This Policy applies to all companies of the Group and affects the process of preparing the statement of non-financial information that the Board of Directors prepares on an annual basis and submits for the approval of the shareholders at the General Shareholders' Meeting.
3. Main Principles of Conduct
The main principles of conduct on which this Policy is based are described below:
a) on an annual basis, the Company's Board of Directors prepares and submits for the approval of the shareholders at the General Shareholders' Meeting the consolidated statement of non-financial information of the Company and its subsidiaries, which document also includes the individual non-financial information of the Company (the "Consolidated SNFI");
b) prior to its publication for purposes of the call to the General Shareholders' Meeting, the Consolidated SNFI shall be subject to assurance by an independent provider of assurance services appointed by the Board of Directors upon a proposal of the Audit and Risk Supervision Committee;
c) the Sustainable Development Committee: (i) shall determine the general standards, guidelines and principles that must govern the preparation of the Consolidated SNFI, which shall be further developed and specified by the ESG Division of the Company (or by such division as assumes the duties thereof at any time) in a Guide for the Preparation of the Consolidated Statement of Non-Financial Information (the “Guide”); (ii) shall verify that the content of the Consolidated SNFI conforms to the Company’s sustainable development strategy and that it includes a reference to the level of achievement of the climate action plan approved by the Board of Directors; and (iii) shall submit its report to the Board of Directors, prior to the preparation thereby of the Consolidated SNFI, taking into account the report prepared by the Audit and Risk Supervision Committee referred to in the next paragraph;
d) the Audit and Risk Supervision Committee: (i) shall supervise the process of preparation and presentation of the Consolidated SNFI; (ii) shall verify the clarity and integrity of the content thereof; (iii) shall report to the Sustainable Development Committee on the two foregoing items prior to the issuance thereby of its report and the preparation by the Board of Directors of the Consolidated SNFI; and (iv) shall propose to the Board of Directors the appointment of and shall maintain communications with the independent assurance provider responsible for assurance of the information included in the Consolidated SNFI;
e) the Company’s ESG Division (or such division as assumes the duties thereof at any time) shall prepare the Consolidated SNFI in accordance with the provisions of the general standards, guidelines and principles defined by the Sustainable Development Committee and the Guide;
f) the management decision-making bodies of the country subholding companies (and of the head of business companies that are not subordinate to a country subholding company) shall be responsible for the preparation and approval of the non-financial information of the consolidated subgroup made up of the corresponding country subholding company and its subsidiaries that is required to prepare the Consolidated SNFI in accordance with the models, scopes and procedures defined by the Company’s ESG Division (or such division as may assume the duties thereof at any time) pursuant to the provisions of the Guide, which shall include, among other things, the preparation of information segmented by geographical area and by business in line with the standards used to prepare the Consolidated SNFI;
g) the audit and compliance committees of the country subholding companies shall issue the reports that are required regarding the process of preparation and presentation and the clarity and integrity of the non-financial information corresponding to the respective company;
h) without prejudice to the foregoing principles, the organisations responsible for preparing the non-financial information for the consolidation of each of the companies of the Group shall coordinate with the Company’s ESG Division (or with such division as assumes the duties thereof at any time) to approve the interpretive criteria for the standards applied in the preparation of the Consolidated SNFI pursuant to the standards, guidelines and general principles defined by the Sustainable Development Committee and pursuant to the provisions of the Guide; and
i) the companies whose non-financial information is required to prepare the Consolidated SNFI shall provide the Company with all support necessary for the preparation thereof as well as in the process of assurance thereof by the independent assurance provider.
4. Process of Preparing the Non-Financial Information of the Group’s Companies
Before the beginning of each financial year, the Office of the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Company shall inform the ESG Division (or such division as assumes the duties thereof at any time) of the date expected for the adoption of the resolution to formulate the Consolidated SNFI.
The Company's ESG Division (or such division as assumes the duties thereof at any time) shall communicate to the management decision-making bodies of the country subholding companies (and of the head of business companies that are not subordinate to a country subholding company) the deadlines for submitting the non-financial information for the preparation of the Consolidated SNFI corresponding to their respective subgroups.
Said notice shall be coordinated with the requests for financial information made by the Company's Administration and Control Division (or such division as assumes the duties thereof at any time) within the framework of the Iberdrola Group Financial Information Preparation Policy, as well as the requests for information made by the chair of the Company's Audit and Risk Supervision Committee and the chairs of the audit committees of the country subholding companies pursuant to the provisions of the General Framework for Relations of Coordination and Information among the Audit Committees of Iberdrola, S.A. and those of the Companies of its Group, in order to issue the required reports, and particularly in order for said Audit and Risk Supervision Committee to report on the process of preparation and presentation and the clarity and integrity of the Consolidated SNFI.
Based on the information received from the organisation responsible for preparing the non-financial information for consolidation, the management bodies of the country subholding companies (following a report from their respective audit and compliance committees in the case of the country subholding companies) and of the head of business companies that are not subordinate to a country subholding company, shall prepare and approve the non-financial information for consolidation corresponding to the subgroup thereof and shall send it to the Company’s ESG Division (or to such division as assumes the duties thereof at any time) in accordance with the provisions of the Guide, prior to the date indicated thereby, in order to prepare the Consolidated SNFI.
The Company’s Board of Directors shall prepare the Consolidated SNFI for submission to the shareholders for approval at the General Shareholders’ Meeting following a report from the Sustainable Development Committee, which in turn shall have received from the Audit and Risk Supervision Committee a report on the process of preparation and presentation thereof, as well as on the clarity thereof and on the integrity of the content thereof.
This Policy was initially approved by the Board of Directors on 21 July 2020 and was last amended on 20 June 2023.
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