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Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions totaled 202,490 tonnes of CO2. In comparable terms – excluding Nordex – they represented a 37% decrease over the baseline year (2017), in line with the decarbonization path set by the company, which foresees a 60% cut by 2030.
ACCIONA has completed the full integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk analysis into the evaluation processes for business opportunities, tender bids and investment decisions, as well as into the procurement processes, as reflected in the company's 2023 Sustainability Report, the first one elaborated according to the European Union’s new sustainability reporting standards (CSRD).
The evaluation of business opportunities is based on the criteria dictated by the European taxonomy of sustainable activities. A 99% share of ACCIONA's eligible investments, as a group, were aligned with the taxonomy, a percentage higher than the 90% ratio set as a target in the company’s Sustainability Master Plan 2025.
The business opportunities and investment analysis process now established facilitates the introduction of corrective and mitigation measures in advance, when necessary.
Regarding the supply chain, ACCIONA already has an ESG evaluation system for 87% of its suppliers, which represent 91% of its total procurement. 92.5% of the companies or means of distribution contracted by the group's various business divisions are local, wherever each project is being deployed.
ACCIONA's total procurement volume on a like-for-like basis – excluding Nordex, which is consolidated within the group for the first time this year – exceeded €7.7 billion (+5.4%) from a total of 27,344 suppliers (+7.1%). Including Nordex, the volume of purchases in 2023 amounted to more than €12.3 billion.
DECARBONIZATION PATH
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions totaled 202,490 tonnes of CO2. In comparable terms – excluding Nordex – they represented a 37% decrease over the baseline year (2017), in line with the decarbonization path set by the company, which foresees a 60% cut by 2030.
Operational efficiency, in terms of tonnes of CO2 emitted per €1 million of turnover, improved by 7%. The group addressed emissions that are hard to reduce by using clean fuels (green hydrogen, hydrotreated vegetable oil, etc.) and improving energy efficiency in operations.
ACCIONA produced 24,894GWh of renewable electricity last year (+4%), which avoided the emission of 13.6 million tonnes of CO2. It also generated 1,190hm3 of quality treated water (+3.5%) and carried out the restoration, cleaning and environmental maintenance of more than 1,400 hectares of land linked to its projects.
As part of its goal of restoring nature, ACCIONA planted more than 700,000 trees and plants last year, in addition to 130,000 trees planted on a voluntary basis.
As for the company's circular economy strategy, the share of recovered waste increased from 77% to 83% in 2023; last year, ACCIONA consumed 25% of recycled or renewable materials, compared to 9% in 2022.
ACCIONA also allocated €287.5 million to innovation during the year (+9.4%) for a total of 192 projects. Through the I'MNOVATION open innovation program, the group's companies developed eleven projects with startups to reduce the deterioration of photovoltaic plants, develop a sensor that detects dirt in the membranes of desalination plants and reduce the use of salt as antifreeze on roads, among other things.
SOCIAL IMPACT
Social investment in the communities where ACCIONA operates exceeded €17.6 million and benefited close to two million people in 32 countries. The implemented initiatives, aligned with the Social Impact Management (SIM) of ACCIONA's projects, were mainly aimed at expanding access to education and training; promoting the conservation of heritage, the environment and biodiversity; improving community infrastructure and creating jobs. The company applied its SIM methodology in a total of 272 projects.
ACCIONA's total workforce at the end of the year totaled 57,853 people, of which 7,323 are linked to the consolidation of Nordex. On a like-for-like basis, the workforce increased by 10% as a result of the growth in the company's activity around the world. This year, the number of different nationalities exceeded 150. A 22.6% share of ACCIONA's managers are women.
A total of 6,467 ACCIONA volunteers dedicated 32,239 hours to community work, benefiting more than 96,200 people, with a wide variety of goals: access to energy, water and sanitation, support for young university students, workplace integration of vulnerable and underrepresented groups, training, beach cleaning, recycling, reforestation, donations and charitable collections.