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23/01/2018Ignacio Galan urges world leaders in Davos to speed up decarbonisation of the global economy The Chairman of Iberdrola participated today in the Strategic Outlook: Energy Systems panel debate at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Galán defended the need to decarbonise the economy in order to fulfill all pledges made by the Paris Agreement which he defined as “a historic milestone requiring changes in production and consumption patterns in all sectors of the economy.” Ignacio Galán explained that so as to meet the rising demand for electricity in a decarbonised energy model, massive electrification of the economy is essential, through more renewables, more storage capacity, more and smarter networks and more electric vehicles. He reminded attendants that the technology is readily available with rapidly declining costs, stating that the electricity industry will have to invest $19 trillion over the next 25 years. Galán indicated that climate change should be seen as an opportunity since decarbonisation and profitability are perfectly compatible. Proof of this is the example of Iberdrola which, having invested $100 billion in renewables, networks and hydro pumped storage technology, has seen its asset base grow five-fold and its earnings and dividends by three times. “We have moved from being the 20th utility by market capitalization to become one of the world’s four largest utilities”, he added. The Chairman of Iberdrola also highlighted the need for action from all parties involved in the fight against climate change. In addition to governments and the private sector, NGOs, cities and consumers are jumping in to create global partnership for sustainable development as established by the UN Sustainable Development Goal 17 for 2030. “Industry and civil society are always ahead of governments”, he explained. To appropriately implement this energy transformation across the economy, however, stable and predictable regulatory frameworks must be defined by public authorities together with a reform of environmental taxation based on the ‘polluter pays’ principle and the removal of non-energy costs from electricity tariffs. In this context, Ignacio Galán revealed that not all countries signatory to the Paris Agreement are implementing policies destined to fulfill their commitments. Despite this situation, very positive steps are being taken by the European Union with the processing of the Clean Energy for All Europeans package. READ MORE
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22/01/2018Iberdrola, the only Spanish energy company included in the ‘2018 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index’ Iberdrola has been included in the ‘2018 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI)’ drawn up by Bloomberg. In this first edition, the company is the only Spanish energy company present in this report, which seeks to recognise those companies that have assumed a firm and solid commitment to gender equality. The GEI includes 104 companies from 24 countries and 10 business sectors with a stock market capitalisation of at least 1 billion dollars, which have securities listed on the US market. The questionnaire is divided into four sectors - internal gender statistics, company policies, participation in and commitment to the community and the product offer - and it was compiled with the help of external experts: Catalyst, Women's World Banking, Working Mother Media, National Women's Law Center and National Partnership for Women & Families. The aim of this report is to provide managers and investors with more information with which to compare companies' gender equality performance. It is therefore intended to respond to market trends, which increasingly require data on environmental, social and corporate governance practices to assess the reputation, value and behaviour of companies. The GEI drawn up by Bloomberg analyses the presence of women in the companies selected for the index: the Boards of Directors of these companies have, on average, a 26.2% female representation, while between 2014 and 2016 the number of women executives increased by 33.5%. Iberdrola has bettered these percentages, as the company has five women on its Board of Directors, out of a total of 14 members, which gives a percentage of 35.7%. Furthermore, the percentage of women in the company has grown by 50% in just over a decade and in the last two financial years alone the number of women members has multiplied by five. This commitment by the group to gender equality has earned it the "Best in Class" qualification in 13 sections of the GEI: * Women on the Board of Directors. * Increase in the percentage of women in relation to the percentage business volume. * Wage gap. * Minimum period paid for maternity leave. * Work re-insertion programme. * Hours. * Percentage of women in development programmes. * Female recruitment strategy. * Funding of education programmes for women. * Funding of health programmes for women * Pressure groups promoting gender equality. * Donations to gender equality organisations. * Products. Women at Iberdrola As stated in its Balance Between Private Life and Work Policy, which has been approved by the board of directors, Iberdrola considers equality between men and women to be one of the company’s basic values. The company seeks to promote equality of opportunity in all the countries it does business in. The group is carrying out various activities in the United Kingdom and the United States to increase the female presence in the energy and technology sectors. This is the case, for example, with Women in Renewable Energy Scotland. Also at forums like the European Roundtable of Industrialists, which brings together the 50 biggest industrial companies in Europe, Iberdrola is behind various actions to increase the number of women in leadership positions in companies and in their governing bodies. Iberdrola also has a firm commitment to balancing personal and work life. In 2007 the company became the first on the Ibex 35 index to implement the continuous working day all year round. The company also has a Handbook of Work-life Balance Policies listing over 70 practices. Some of the main ones are: * Flexible reduction of work day to five hours per day until the employee’s children reach the age of 1 year, without this affecting the worker’s fixed basic salary. * 100% salary paid during maternity/paternity leave. * One fortnight paid leave before the expected date of childbirth. * The possibility to shorten working hours by an additional 45 minutes due to breastfeeding. * The possibility of keeping a job for four years in case of leave of absence to look after children or a relative up to the second-degree, with the possibility of completing professional training. * A survey is conducted to find out how well-known the aforementioned work-life balance measures are and the degree of satisfaction with them. * Setting up of a committee for equality of work-life balance measures and equality of opportunity. * Training Plan, including an on-line course on work-life balance and specific training for managers. Iberdrola is thus contributing to the fulfilment of the UN's 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which it has integrated into its strategy. Although it is focused on goals 7 and 13 -affordable and clean energy and climate action-, this type of practices allows it to also make progress towards number 5: gender equality. READ MORE
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19/01/2018Iberdrola inspects 65,000 kilometres of power lines in Spain to ensure security of supply Iberdrola Distribución inspected over 65,000 km of power lines in Spain in 2017 to ensure supply security, with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of the service it offers. The company inspected very high, high and medium voltage power lines to guarantee their reliability and optimum functioning even under adverse weather conditions. Iberdrola inspected some 42,500 kilometres of overhead power lines and an additional 11,300 kilometres of underground power lines. In addition, 7,800 kilometres of cables were inspected using thermography. Vegetation was cut back and maintenance undertaken along over 3,400 kilometres of power line corridors. These inspections are designed to detect potential problems in the components of its installations, e.g. insulators, conductors, iron fittings, pylons, etc., caused by lightning, fallen trees, construction work or buildings close to the lines, etc. The company also performed infra-red or thermographic tests on some 7,800 km of overhead power lines. This kind of inspection of electricity infrastructure is performed with special thermographic cameras transported by helicopter or by a team of workers on the ground. It allows the temperature of the installations to be measured, to detect any points where temperatures are too high (“hot spots”) so that they can be corrected and the supply guaranteed in the event of peak demand. Project LIDAR in the Basque Country and Valencian Autonomous Region Iberdrola Distribución has also completed a pilot project involving the exhaustive analysis of 1,000 km of overhead power lines in the Basque country and Valencian Autonomous Region. The lines are surveyed by helicopter using a camera equipped with the latest LIDAR (Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) technology. This camera uses a laser to sweep the land, this data along with images taken during the flight, gives precise information on the installations -geo-referenced data and images- as well as the distances to any nearby object or to the ground and details of the surrounding vegetation. This provides an inventory of the vegetation in the electrical corridors, estimating its growth in order to optimise pruning and felling work. Iberdrola also carried out cleaning operations last year in the corridors through which its lines pass, pruning the trees that posed the greatest risk of coming into contact with about 3,400 km of power lines. The inspection campaign forms part of the company’s endeavours to improve its electricity installations in order to enhance the quality and security of supply. The future is moving towards ever smarter, safer and more reliable networks, challenges which Iberdrola Distribución takes head on as a company which leads in innovation so as to offer a better service each day to its customers and society in general. READ MORE
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18/01/2018El Karate nacional se une al 'Universo Mujer' El Consejo Superior de Deportes ha acogido el acto de presentación de la inclusión del Karate dentro del “Universo Mujer” del CSD e Iberdrola. Entre los asistentes, el Director General de Deportes del CSD, D. Jaime Gonzalez Castaño, Dª Carmen Cabrera (responsable de patrocinios de Iberdrola), D Antonio Moreno Marqueño (Presidente de la RFEK) y D Jose Maria de Dios (Director Técnico de la RFEK) han señalado la importancia del deporte femenino en la sociedad, donde gracias al sector privado y a instituciones públicas como el CSD, pueden llevar a todas las mujeres la posibilidad de disfrutar del deporte y poder formarse específicamente en las diversas especialidades deportivas al más alto nivel. Además la Embajadora por parte de Iberdrola, y karateka número 1 del ranking mundial, Sandra Sánchez ha remarcado a las deportistas becadas asistentes, la importancia de estas becas, donde además de las diversas ayudas recibidas para sus entrenamientos y desplazamientos a las competiciones internacionales, están colaborando con su aportación deportiva en la historia del deporte femenino en España. Entre las deportistas becadas se encuentras las actuales Campeonas del Mundo en Tenerife 2017, Lidia Rodriguez Encabo y Nadia Gomez Morales entre otras grandes campeonas internacionales como Marina Cáceres Quiñonero, Maria Torres Garcia, Marta Garcia Lozano, Nidia Garcia Moya, Maria Espinosa, Raquel Roy Rubio, Naiara Moreno Monfort y Carlota Fernandez Osorio. IBERDROLA IMPULSORA DEL “UNIVERSO MUJER” Iberdrola se ha convertido en el impulsor principal del programa ‘Universo Mujer’ del CSD, siendo la primera empresa que realiza una apuesta global por fomentar la participación de las mujeres en todos los ámbitos del deporte. En virtud de este acuerdo, alcanzado el año pasado con el CSD y renovado recientemente, la empresa apoya a varias federaciones deportivas, entre las que se encuentran gimnasia, natación, fútbol, triatlón, bádminton, piragüismo, rugby, balonmano, voleibol y hockey, a las que han sumado en las últimas semanas cinco nuevas federaciones femeninas: atletismo, karate, boxeo, tenis de mesa y deportes de hielo. Estas disciplinas se han seleccionado por su extraordinario palmarés, el alto nivel de participación, la existencia de programas de fomento del deporte desde la base y otros proyectos sociales. Con esta iniciativa, Iberdrola se sitúa a la vanguardia del apoyo al deporte femenino y contribuye a impulsar una fuente de valores positivos para una sociedad más saludable, igualitaria y justa. READ MORE
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17/01/2018Iberdrola and the Complutense University of Madrid analysed the role of women in public life, business and elite sport This morning, Iberdrola and the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) held the Commitment to equality symposium in which academics, athletes and business leaders analysed the role of women in the areas of public life, business and elite sport with the aim of delving into the measures needed to achieve gender equality. The event, which was held at Madrid's Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, was inaugurated by the Constitutional Law professor, magistrate emeritus of the Constitutional Court and its director, Manuel Aragón; Iberdrola’s Director of Compliance, María Dolores Herrera; the general deputy director of Women and Sports of the Superior Council of Sports (CSD in its Spanish acronym), Susana Pérez-Amor; and the dean of the Faculty of Law of the UCM, Ricardo Alonso. Olympic water polo medallist Jennifer Pareja, world karate champion Sandra Sanchez and sports journalist Gemma Herrero took part in the first round table, in which the role of women in sport was examined. These speakers spoke about the extra effort women have to make to have a sports career, as well as about their social image, equality among athletes and the non-discrimination for reasons of sex and age that should prevail in sporting activity. The second panel analysed the participation of women in public life, and the employment and business worlds. In this round table, in which the professor of Administrative Law of the University of Castilla-La Mancha, Carmen Plaza, and the professor of Employment Law of the UCM, Nuria García took part, investigated the reconciliation of work and personal life, which affects men and women, from the point of view of employment law. To focus this issue in the field of private enterprise, Iberdrola's Director of European Affairs, Eva Chamizo, detailed the role of women in the company. The group has maintained a firm commitment to reconciliation since 2007, when it became the first Ibex 35 company to implement the continuous work day throughout the year. This initiative is in addition to 70 other measures included in the Equal Opportunities and Reconciliation Policy, approved by the company's Board of Directors. At the close of the session, the Vice Chancellor of Institutional Relations of the Complutense University of Madrid, Isabel Fernández, and the senior advisor of the Iberdrola Presidency, Luis Gómez, also took part. Iberdrola’s support for women Within the framework of this commitment to gender equality and the empowerment of women, Iberdrola has also become the main driver of the CSD Women's Universe programme, which seeks to promote and foster women's sport with the ultimate goal of making it an instrument for acknowledging the important role of women in sports, in particular, and in society in general. This event was also held within the framework of Iberdrola's commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the UN agenda for 2030. The company has incorporated compliance with the SDGs into its strategy and focuses, fundamentally, on two of them: affordable and non-polluting energy (objective 7) and climate action (objective 13). It also contributes to achieving other objectives: gender equality (objective 5), health and well-being (objective 3), and promotion of alliances (objective 17). READ MORE
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13/01/2018The University of Salamanca and Iberdrola sign an agreement for the celebration of the Iberoamerican Conference on Sustainable Development Goals The University of Salamanca (USAL) and Iberdrola today signed an agreement to hold the Ibero-American Conference on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thus strengthening their collaboration in the field of sustainability, training and research. Both institutions, involved in the fulfilment of the UN SDGs, are organising this conference that will take place on June 28 and 29 in the city of Salamanca and which aims to become a meeting of international reference in the study and dissemination of these objectives. The agreement was signed this morning in the Portrait Hall of the Rectorate by the Rector of the University of Salamanca, Ricardo Rivero, and Iberdrola's Chairman, Ignacio Galán, in the presence of the Special Ambassador for the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, Juan Francisco Montalbán; the vice chancellor for Academic Policy and Social Participation, Enrique Cabero, and the deputy director of the Department of Applied Economics, Victoria Muriel, among other academic authorities. This conference, which also has the collaboration of the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM), will have a wide institutional presence and will be a meeting point for prestigious national and international representatives of all the sectors involved. It will be structured in four work areas: education, innovation, environment and public-private partnerships, on which it is expected that round tables will be organised prior to the central days of next June. Sustainable Development Goals are a unique opportunity, both to better respond to the changing expectations and aspirations of the society in which we live and to develop strategies and innovative business models adapted to a world undergoing profound changes. It is everyone’s responsibility to provide the momentum for a profound social transformation, from citizens to public administrations, via companies, universities and third sector entities, so that we can face challenges such as fighting against poverty and inequality, mitigating and adapting to climate change, conserving biodiversity, as well as the energy transition, improving governance and achieving universal access to health, education and energy which, to a large extent are brought together by the UN’s SDGs. Iberdrola supports USAL’s eighth centenary The organisation of the Ibero-American Conference on Sustainable Development Goals is part of the commemorative events of USAL's Eighth Centenary, for which Iberdrola will allocate up to €1.5 million in order to promote university-business collaboration and the transfer of knowledge between the academic and business world. Within the actions that Iberdrola is promoting in support of the celebration of this event, there is also the VIII Centennial Iberdrola Chair, whose main objective is to promote research in the energy and sustainability area through a system of public-private collaboration, creating research, teaching and, where appropriate, transference units, destined to bring prestigious researchers into the academic institution. In this way, Iberdrola has wanted to be a pioneer in fostering collaboration with USAL in order to promote excellence in research and the internationalisation of the university, as well as serving as a model, which encourages other companies to promote similar collaboration schemes. On the other hand, it has supported the Startup Olé event, oriented and designed to boost talent, create jobs and promote the culture of entrepreneurship among students and entrepreneurs. Likewise, the company promotes the creation of a platform for the generation of a studies database aimed at estimating the economic value of the environmental effects of human activities, with pilot applications in the field of energy production. University of Salamanca, cradle of humanism The humanist tradition of the University of Salamanca dates back to the 16th century. In 1526 the Dominican Francisco de Vitoria obtained the chair of Theology and with it the School of Salamanca began, a pioneer in the commitment to human rights thanks to an inexhaustible critical spirit. Influential thinkers such as Melchor Cano, Pedro de Soto or Gaspar de los Reyes, together with the theologian and jurist, laid the foundations of the Law of Gentes o ius gentium, considered by many academics as one of the forerunners of current International Law. Over the years, the influence of the School of Salamanca in disciplines such as Law, Theology or Economics pervaded Studies of the importance of Oxford, Cambridge or Rome and today, the University of Salamanca, committed to the fulfilment of the UN’s SDGs has opted to host this conference in order to disseminate these objectives internationally. Involvement with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals Iberdrola has incorporated the United Nations 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into its business strategy and Sustainability Policy. In line with its activities, Iberdrola focuses its efforts on the provision of affordable and clean energy (Goal 7) and climate action (Goal 13). In relation to objective 7, Iberdrola is developing, for example, the Electricity for All programme, which is the company’s response to the call of the international community to extend universal access to modern forms of energy, with models that are environmentally sustainable, economically viable and socially inclusive. Its purpose is to ensure access to electricity in emerging and developing countries. This ambitious program already has 2.5 million beneficiaries and the goal is to reach 4 million in 2020. As regards objective 13 - climate action - Iberdrola has assumed the commitment to reduce the intensity of its emissions by 50% by 2030 compared to 2007. “Iberdrola has already invested 100,000 million dollars in wind and hydroelectric energy, as well as in networks necessary to integrate all that renewable energy, and the group will continue to work in this direction.” The company also contributes indirectly to the rest of the SDGs, such as ensuring clean water and sanitation (Goal 6); raising investment in R&D&I to €211 million in 2016 (Goal 9); promoting respect for terrestrial ecosystems (Goal 15); and working to build alliances to meet all the goals (Goal 17). The Iberdrola Corporate Volunteering programme is also aligned with the SDGs, focused on goals number 7, 13, 3, 4 and 10. VIII Centenary of the University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca is celebrating 800 years since gaining its Royal charter, making it the first of the Spanish universities and one of the oldest in the world. For that reason, it is celebrating its eight centuries of history, which are also those of our country's university system. Under the Presidency of Honour of the Kings of Spain, the event, catalogued as a state event, has a programme that is being developed, which will colour the city with events intended to remind us that the origins of Salamanca’s Estudio go back to 1218, when King Alfonso IX of León founded the University of Salamanca, making it the oldest of the Hispanic Universities. Over the next few months, the University of Salamanca will highlight its values as the birthplace of humanism and the intellectual homeland of remembered statesmen, its rich heritage and its status as a pioneer and leader in the teaching of Spanish. All this, without losing sight of the strategic objectives of celebrating its international leadership in Higher Education, the promotion of academic excellence, the enhancement and recovery of heritage and infrastructures, or the promotion as the cradle of Spanish teaching of the academic institution of Salamanca, together with its national and international promotion. READ MORE
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12/01/2018Ignacio Galán: “Things that are done properly, with great care and determination come out well in the end. And society recognises this effort” The Chairman of Iberdrola participated in the "Values that build dreams" campaign, an initiative presented by José Luis Bonet, President of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and of the Leading Spanish Brands Forum, and Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros, High Commissioner for Marca España, with the purpose of raising the awareness about the importance of transmitting solid values to young people, which include effort, curiosity, the desire to improve or humbleness, as required to achieve their personal and professional goals. The event was held at the EspañaDuero Theatre, in which more than 300 students of six primary and secondary level schools of the city and their teachers participated. In addition, Vicente del Bosque, former coach of the Spanish national football team; José Gómez, entrepreneur and Managing Director of Cárnicas Joselito; Ricardo Rivero, Dean of the University of Salamanca, and Benjamín Crespo, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Salamanca, also participated in the event. During his speech, Ignacio Galán encouraged young students to "learn how to become entrepreneurs, to create more wealth and share it with others". READ MORE
