SUEZ unveils its new sustainability goals
SUEZ has unveiled its new sustainable development goals for 2027 and beyond, through 24 commitments revolving around three pillars: climate, biodiversity and social responsibility.
In terms of climate commitments, the Group is developing a global approach across three levers:
1.Contributing to decarbonising energy: reaching electrical self-sufficiency in Europe in 2023 and throughout the duration of the plan; between now and 2030, raising the proportion of renewable energy as a share of the Group’s total electricity consumption to 70% worldwide and 100% in Europe, compared to the current average of 24%.
- Reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as those of its value chain: reduction of emissions from its water activities by almost 40% by 2030 and from its waste activities by more than 25% by 2030 (excluding energy from waste).
- Adapting top-priority and vulnerable sites operated by the Group to the effects of climate change.
On the social front, the Group wishes to contribute to a responsible economy through employment and local development within communities, as well as encourage the development and engagement of its people through employee share ownership.
Alongside the climate and social responsibility pillars, the Group is stepping up its initiatives in the field of biodiversity, with 10 specific commitments.
A solid governance framework has been created through 43 performance indicators dedicated to monitoring the implementation of these commitments. All the indicators will be shared once a year to publicly communicate on the progress made by the Group with respect to these commitments.
Sabrina Soussan, Chairman and CEO of SUEZ, says: “With this new roadmap, we are reaffirming the central role of sustainable development in the SUEZ strategy. SUEZ is today setting out its pledges with a fresh new ambition around climate change policy and social responsibility, also including ambitious goals in terms of preservation of biodiversity and natural resources.”
Through its business activities in water cycle management and waste recycling and recovery, SUEZ plays a key role in addressing communities’ sustainability issues.
Under its new corporate strategy presented in September 2022, SUEZ wishes to go even further by setting ambitious goals on each of the three pillars. For the very first time, SUEZ is making equally strong commitments in each of the three areas of climate, biodiversity and the preservation of social responsibility.
The Group consequently makes the following commitments:
- Climate: by contributing to decarbonising energy
- Conservation of biodiversity
- Social responsibility
These commitments will be implemented across all the Group’s activities and in all the geographies in which it operates. It will be supported by a solid governance framework at Group level. The Executive Committee will oversee the delivery of the roadmap, and the Group’s shareholders will monitor its deployment by means of a quarterly CSR committee made up of representatives. Within the framework of the annual non-financial performance statement of the Group, an annual review of the roadmap will be prepared including an audit by an independent third party of the main commitments.