ACCIONA

Sustainability strategy and accountability
ACCIONA has group-wide targets on key sustainability topics for the most material parts of its value chain. The company provides evidence that its highest governance body has expertise regarding it’s most material nature-related topics, and it applies a mitigation hierarchy approach to its biodiversity targets. In addition, ACCIONA discloses its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability impacts as well as the outcome of this process, in relation to its sustainability strategy. The company reports consistently on progress against all its targets.

Stakeholder engagement
ACCIONA discloses how often and through which channels it engages with various stakeholder groups, and it discloses how its stakeholder engagement activities impact its sustainability strategy. ACCIONA’s stakeholder engagement covers nature, including biodiversity, and social issues.

Impact and dependencies assessment
ACCIONA assesses its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, within its own operations. In 2021, the most significant impacts were identified in the fauna (59%) and water (27%), and, to a lesser extent, the habitat, vegetation and landscape. This assessment considered the species affected, the surface area of the facility within the protected area, the duration of the impacts, and whether they were reversible or irreversible.

Key areas and species
The company has a management plan for locations within its own operations adjacent to areas important for biodiversity, and it discloses the percentage of land, fresh water and sea use in such locations.

Resource exploitation and circularity
ACCIONA discloses its inputs, including its material footprint. In 2021, 8,882,855 tonnes were consumed, a figure slightly lower than the previous year. Furthermore, the percentage of materials from a renewable source increased significantly, from 11% in 2020 to 27% in 2021.

Water
The company has a commitment to respect the right to water and discloses its processes for implementing preventive and corrective action plans for specially identified risks to the right to water and sanitation in its own operations. In addition, ACCIONA requires access to water and sanitation, including refraining from negatively affecting access to safe water, to be included in contractual arrangements with its business relationships.

Solid and air pollution
ACCIONA discloses the proportion of hazardous waste treated to reduce pollution compared to total waste, the hazardous waste diverted from disposal and the waste directed to disposal. The company reports some activities to reduce plastic use and waste in its own operations.

GHG emissions
The company has made a public commitment to reduce its scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions under the 1.5-degree scenario. Its targets are approved by the Science Based Targets initiative.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
While ACCIONA demonstrates that its human rights risks and impacts identification process includes a focus on the health of local communities, it is not committed to zero tolerance for acts of violence, threats, intimidation or judicial harassment committed against land and environmental rights defenders.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
ACCIONA does not disclose its processes for identifying and recognising the rights of Indigenous Peoples when activities in its own operations may impact their rights, nor does it describe how it obtains Indigenous Peoples’ free, prior and informed consent. In addition, the company does not disclose a commitment to respect ownership and use of land and natural resources and related legitimate tenure rights, as set out in the relevant part(s) of the VGGTs or the IFC Performance Standards. Furthermore, ACCIONA does not require its business relationships to have a process to identify legitimate tenure rightsholders, paying particular attention to vulnerable or marginalised tenure rightsholders, and to negotiate with them to provide adequate compensation.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
While the company discloses that its sustainability objectives accounted for 8% of the company’s remuneration weightings, it has an opportunity to disclose whether the objectives cover nature and social issues.

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities.

Lobbying
Although ACCIONA discloses a list of trade associations of which it is a member wherever it operates, it does not disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with nature-positive policies. The company does not report (potential) misalignment between the lobbying activities of its trade associations and nature-positive policies.

Impact and dependencies assessment
ACCIONA does not disclose any assessment of its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, in its supply chain. Additionally, the company does not disclose any assessment of its dependencies on nature within its own operations or its upstream business relationships.

Key areas and species
ACCIONA does not disclose the locations that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity within its own operations or those of its suppliers. The company does not disclose species populations existing in or adjacent to its own locations or the locations of its suppliers. The company discloses the status according to national and international conservation lists of species identified in its own locations.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
The company does not have a commitment to ensure zero conversion. Although it discloses some activities to achieve conversion-free supply chains, it does not have related time-bound targets. ACCIONA is not committed to restoring ecosystems and therefore does not disclose details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or by its suppliers.

Resource exploitation and circularity
ACCIONA does not report quantitatively on its group-wide circularity performance. In addition, the company does not disclose efforts to improve soil health.

Water
No quantitative evidence was found of reductions in water withdrawal across the company’s own operations. The company does not engage with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal either. Although the company reports a decrease in water pollution, it does not disclose targets in place to reduce water pollution. Additionally, ACCIONA does not disclose its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality.

Solid and air pollution
ACCIONA is not reducing the production of hazardous substances or hazardous waste. Furthermore, the company does not commit to avoid developing or marketing new chemicals or products with SVHC (substance of very high concern) properties. Moreover, the company is not reducing plastic use and waste in its own operations and does not report on the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal. Although it regularly reports on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants, ACCIONA does not report time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across the most material parts of its value chain.

GHG emissions
While the company has made a public commitment to reduce its scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions under the 1.5-degree scenario, it shows no evidence of reducing these emissions.

Invasive species
The company has not identified any activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive species in its own operations.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
While ACCIONA demonstrates that its human rights risks and impacts identification process includes a focus on the health of local communities, it is not committed to zero tolerance for acts of violence, threats, intimidation or judicial harassment committed against land and environmental rights defenders.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
ACCIONA does not disclose its processes for identifying and recognising the rights of Indigenous Peoples when activities in its own operations may impact their rights, nor does it describe how it obtains Indigenous Peoples’ free, prior and informed consent. In addition, the company does not disclose a commitment to respect ownership and use of land and natural resources and related legitimate tenure rights, as set out in the relevant part(s) of the VGGTs or the IFC Performance Standards. Furthermore, ACCIONA does not require its business relationships to have a process to identify legitimate tenure rightsholders, paying particular attention to vulnerable or marginalised tenure rightsholders, and to negotiate with them to provide adequate compensation. 

The company describes the process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations. The company also describes the process for identifying human rights risks and impacts in its business relationships. The company describes its process(es) for assessing its human rights risks and discloses what it considers to be its salient human rights issues. In addition, the company describes its global system to take action to prevent, mitigate or remediate salient human rights issues, and this includes a description of how its global system applies to its supply chain. There is no evidence that the company provides an example of the conclusions reached and actions taken or to be taken on at least one of its salient human rights issues as a result of assessment processes. While the company discloses the categories of stakeholders it engages with generally on sustainability issues, it is not clear if these stakeholders are those whose human rights have been or may be affected by the company’s activities. There is no evidence that the company engages with stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities.

The company has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect the health and safety of its own workers and expecting its suppliers to do the same. The company discloses that it has achieved paying all workers a living wage. There is no evidence that the company describes how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates. While the company states that it expects its suppliers to pay wages that are sufficient for workers and their families to fulfil their basic needs, it has an opportunity to disclose how it works to support the payment of a living wage by its suppliers. The company discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements. However, there is no evidence that the company works to support the practices of its suppliers in relation to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

The company discloses a global tax strategy. There is no evidence that the company describes the process for identifying its bribery and corruption risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations. The company includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with direct business relationships. The company does not disclose its approach to lobbying and political engagement in a public policy document.