NATURAL RISKS

Some of the risk that the Group must deal with includes possible impacts deriving from unpredictable natural phenomena (e.g. earthquakes, floods and landslides) and/or from cyclical or permanent climatic changes on the networks and plants managed by Acea Group companies. The first types of risks are addressed through the implementation of structured tools for the governance of assets, specific to each business area (e.g. Water Safety Plan within the IWS; constant monitoring of the reservoirs, also carried out in collaboration with the competent Ministry, in the field of dam management), as well as with projects, some of national scope, aimed at increasing the resilience of the infrastructure in the various regions (e.g. the project to double the Peschiera-Le Capore aqueduct). The residual portion of risks from natural events is covered by the Group’s insurance programme mentioned on the previous pages.
For many years now, the Acea Group has been demonstrating its solid commitment to tackling and mitigating the risks related to climate change, not only through the reporting included in its Sustainability Report, but also by disseminating its strategies and illustrating the actions taken and the initiatives organised through participation in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), confirming its score of A- and inclusion in the Leadership category.
This important result has further stimulated the Acea Group to progressively align with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), not only in its metrics and targets, but also in its governance and risk and opportunity management, as a useful tool for improving its strategy for mitigating and adapting to future scenarios.
In fact, for the Acea Group, due to the nature and location of its business lines, the main issues related to climate change could arise in operational, regulatory and legal areas, with potential effects also on finances. As far as the first aspect is concerned, chronic meteorological events like the reduction of rainfall can have negative impacts on both hydroelectric energy production and the reduction of the availability of drinking water to be distributed, with among other things an increase in energy consumption for the withdrawal of water from less favoured sources. On the other hand, extreme phenomena such as storms can lead to the risk of lightning strikes, blackouts or, for the water network, overflow of drains connected to the wastewater systems and turbidity of the water sources. Moreover, from a regulatory and legal point of view, these climatic effects can have an impact on the consequent provision of the service in accordance with the regulations in force, with consequent financial penalties. The implications of regulatory actions on CO2 emission allowances, renewable sources, taxes and energy efficiency certificates could be very significant, with possible financial impacts.