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Iberdrola and the Pontificia Comillas University have presented the Iberdrola Financial and Business Ethics Chair of to this academic institution, which has the main aim of encouraging education and fostering the concepts and principles of business and professional ethics in all of its spheres.

The Vice-Chancellor of the Pontificia Comillas University, Julio L. Martínez, S.J., and the Chairman of Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán, met at the Comillas ICADE facilities to sign the agreement, which is initially set to last three academic years starting right away, and which intends to rise as a strong project with a powerful echo in the business and academic world.

The Iberdrola Financial and Business Ethics Chair of the Pontificia Comillas University, which has now fostered 15 years of reflection and research into business ethics and CSR, is the outcome of the commitment towards best practice shown by both institutions. Its goal is to represent a meeting point between the academic and business worlds in this field.

The Chair will continue to be directed by José Luis Fernández, a professor from the Business Management Department in the Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences (Comillas ICADE), along with two senior managers from Iberdrola: Dolores Herrera, Head of Compliance, and Agustín Delgado, Head of Innovation, Sustainability and Quality.

Through this Chair,, Iberdrola and the Pontificia Comillas University will be working on various research lines in this specific field, including:

• Analysing the human side of business activity and promoting more human-focussed business models, bearing in mind every aspect of a person.
• Reflecting on decision-making and analysing the ethical repercussions of the digital era.
• Promoting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on the UN 2030 Agenda.
• The ethical side of corporate governance, responsible management and regulatory compliance.

The agreement between these two institutions also includes activities to disseminate and raise awareness towards the research work and studies carried out, including seminars, meetings, papers and publications.

Iberdrola’s University Programme

The Iberdrola Financial and Business Ethics Chair of the Pontificia Comillas University arose from the Group's University Programme, which was put in place by the company to strengthen its ties with the academic world and attract talent, exchange knowledge and contribute to society.

Within this context, Iberdrola has driven other initiatives with the Pontificia Comillas University, and the following are especially worthy of mention:

• Establishing the Iberdrola Energy Chair in 2012 in order to create and exchange knowledge and to develop research, innovation and training activities.
• The Comillas Emprende initiative (Enterprising Comillas), which gives students the opportunity to present projects related to future energy scenarios (Utility of the Future), such as clean energy innovation processes, initiatives to reduce consumption or other innovative ideas.
• A collaboration with the electric motor racing team, which is a project that has seen 70 students work on designing, manufacturing and assembling an electric open-wheel car and an electric racing bike.

About Iberdrola

Iberdrola is a global energy leader, the biggest producer of wind power and one of the five top power companies in the world in terms of stock market capitalisation. The group is present in numerous countries and supplies energy to over 100 million people mainly in Spain, the United Kingdom (Scottish Power), the USA (AVANGRID), Brazil (Neoenergia) and Mexico. With a workforce of 34,000 and assets in excess of €110 billion, it posted revenues of over €31.26 billion and a net profit of just over €2.8 billion in 2017.

Iberdrola is leading the transition towards a sustainable energy model through investments in renewable energy, smart grids, large-scale energy storage and digital transformation, offering the most advanced products and services to its customers. Thanks to its commitment to clean energy, Iberdrola is one of the companies with the lowest emissions and an international benchmark for its contribution to the fight against climate change and for the sustainability of the planet. Iberdrola forms part of numerous international sustainability indices, among them the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and FTSE 4Good, and is considered one of the most sustainable electricity companies in the world.