Why has sustainability become such a central part of the culture at Enel?
Sustainability is an essential element of our business strategy because we believe that being sustainable today means staying competitive now, and in the future. People are also much more aware of the importance of companies being socially responsible and this is redefining corporate strategies worldwide.
We have integrated sustainability into the fabric of the way we do business; as an energy company we simply won’t survive in the long term if we don’t consider issues such as climate change, the needs of communities and the safety of our employees.
Do you think this differs from the way in which other companies have embraced sustainability?
When it comes to sustainability, we want to be leaders within our sector. We use all the processes and procedures that you would expect of a business our size, but the novelty of our approach is how we include sustainability in the decision-making processes – we’ve integrated market competitiveness with a responsible towards communities and the environment.
For us, sustainability means being an integral part of a community, and developing products and services that respond to real needs. To achieve this we’ve adopted a dual approach to sustainable development. On the one hand we’re innovating to guide energy transition, with ideas such as smart grids and electric mobility, and on the other we’re promoting projects and initiatives based on a more traditional sustainability model, such as supporting local entrepreneurs and links to education.
Enel is now listed by all the key sustainability indices such as the Dow Jones and FTSE4Good, and your sustainability reports are award winning. How important is it for the business to receive external recognition of its commitment to sustainability?
It’s certainly not just an excuse for us to pat ourselves on the back. I really believe that it shows that we “walk the talk” when it comes to sustainability. We’re open about what we do – it’s there in black and white for everyone to see.
For instance, this is the fifth consecutive year that our sustainability report has achieved “GC Advanced” level for Communication on Progress from the UN Global Compact.
It is also the ninth year in a row that we’ve received an A+, the highest rating, from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which highlights our commitment to transparent and accurate sustainability reporting.
We’ve also been named in the top five of Fortune magazine’s Change the World list, the only utility to achieve this. The judges actually praised us for “charging the barricades when it comes to clean power”, which was great.
So it’s more than just a feel good factor then?
Definitely. The fact that Enel is at the top of so many sustainability indices is also recognised by investors who can see the value of a business that puts such an emphasis on using sustainability to drive growth and innovation.
An increasing number of our shareholders are socially responsible investors who now control nearly 6% of our share capital; many are long-term investors too. And this is the best possible confirmation that we’re developing the business along the right lines.
If you could pick one key achievement of the company’s sustainability strategy, what would it be?
I’m proud of all the work we do but especially our ENabling ELectricity programme, which is driving electrification in remote rural and poor urban areas in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It’s already benefitted 2.5 million people by removing economic barriers and building infrastructure and new renewable energy capacity.
It’s also our way of contributing to the United Nations’ Sustainable Energy for All initiative because it’s aimed at fighting energy poverty and providing isolated communities and disadvantaged people with sustainable access to electricity.
Electricity is a key driver for economic growth and social progress. It’s crucial for jobs, for education, for health – all those factors that are so important to quality of life.
But you can’t bring electricity to all of these people without the innovation that creates smart grids, better storage and renewable generation, so the project also supports our vision that technological innovation is the factor that enables sustainable change and development.
You mentioned the United Nations – what other ways are you working with them?
Enel has been a member of the UN Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, since 2004, and last May our CEO Francesco Starace was appointed to the board of directors.
We’ve also committed to contributing to four of the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals. As well as our ENabling ELectricity initiative, we’re working towards becoming carbon neutral by 2050, as a way of fighting climate change.
To support inclusive education we’ve launched activities such as Powering Education in Kenya, and a number of scholarship programmes in Latin America, that will help 400,000 people by 2020.
We’re also committed to promoting sustainable economic growth, and are supporting entrepreneurs and offering employment opportunities to 500,000 people through initiatives like coffee cultivation in Peru and greenhouse farming in Chile.
Where does diversity fit in at Enel?
Enel is a multinational business, operating in over 30 countries; as such it’s a melting pot of different cultures, languages and cultures, which we value as a resource and a driver for continuous improvement, creativity and innovation. That’s why diversity, and promoting equal opportunities, are important parts of our sustainability agenda.
In particular, to promote and support actions on diversity and inclusion, we have recently launched a global project, that investigated the perception of different dimensions of diversity (nationality, gender, age and disability). The outcomes of the project highlighted specific global areas of improvement that allowed us to define and launch a Global Diversity & Inclusion Policy. A policy that aims at tackling the critical areas and that will allow the definition of actions to spread a culture that pays attention to diversity and that increases its value.
However, there are also other initiatives. For example, setting up working groups, made up of staff of different ages, to look at the impact people of different generations can have on corporate processes or our work with Valore D, an association of large companies established to support the leadership of women in business.
The most competitive companies are those that celebrate and protect diversity, whether it’s age, culture, language, ethnicity or gender. Supporting diversity is also the best way to create a fresh outlook on things, and that leads to innovative new ideas and processes.
What’s the most pressing challenge facing the energy sector in terms of sustainability?
More than 1.1 billion people still lack access to energy, yet in other areas of the world there is huge overcapacity. It’s something that we believe can be solved though innovation – smart grids, storage, renewables and electric mobility are all part of this, and all areas in which Enel will continue to lead.
Content on this page is paid for and produced to a brief agreed with Enel, sponsor of the energy access hub on the Guardian Global Development Professionals Network.
