Integrated strategy overview

Acea’s strategic planning seizes the opportunities offered by the evolution of the reference framework and the new economic, social and environmental challenges, reconciling the industrial dimension and the sustainability aspects with the business objectives. The Business Plan and the Sustainability Plan for 2020-2024 were approved in 2020 by the Board of Directors and will be subject to further revision in 2022.
Business management towards the pursuit of “sustainable success” is also subject to further research by Acea through discussion with the institutional world, experts and other companies, of which the Company itself is a promoter, creating opportunities for dialogue and exchange of experiences, such as the Sustainability Day, which reached its third edition in 2021 (see box).
Acea’s commitment is appreciated by external observers, analysts specialised in ESG and the market. In this sense, Acea’s good positioning in the Integrated Governance Index (see the chapter Corporate governance and management systems) is demonstrated by the improving trend in the Group’s rating by the Gender Equality Index of Bloomberg (see the chapter Personnel), the “innovation” awards received (see the chapter Institutions and business), the positioning in the ratings of the CDP - Carbon Disclosure Project (see box below), the further improvement in the rating given by Standard Ethics, as well as the feedback that the market wanted to give to the first Green Bond issued by the Company and the assessments issued by ESG analysts (see the chapter Shareholders and investors).
In 2021, Acea once again took part in the Top Utility Award, the initiative established by the Althesys research centre with the intention of promoting excellence among the 100 biggest companies that manage public services, for their contribution to the economic and industrial development and collective well-being of the country. The rewards given as part of the initiative involved the following 8 categories: Absolute, Sustainability, Communication, Research & Innovation, Consumers & Territory, Operating Performance, Diversity, South. Acea was in the top five best in class for the Sustainability and Research and Innovation categories; The Acea Group company GORI was awarded the price for the South category.

The 2020-2024 Business Plan, which guides the Group, was defined by taking into consideration 5 mega trends which mark the evolution of utilities: sustainability and circular economy; customer focus; energy transition; innovation and digitisation; increased competitiveness on the market.

Chart no. 11 – – The 5 mega trends for utilities

In particular, the Business Plan has divided the Group’s growth guidelines into 5 strategic pillars summarised by the acronym GRIDS:

• Growth: growth driven by the regulated market;
• Renewables: investment in renewables;
• Innovation: investment in new innovative services;
• Delivery: results exceeded targets;
• Sustainability: increasing focus on the environmental impact and circular economy.

The total business investments envisaged in the Plan amount to € 4.3 billion.

In line with the industrial development guidelines, the 2020-2024 Sustainability Plan, divided into a governance level, intended to consolidate the integration of sustainability into the Company’s governance, and into five operating macro-objectives, split into 127 targets by 2024 and their KPIs, shows the unique traits assumed by sustainability for the Group, in the practical management of production and organisational processes and in relations with stakeholders (see dedicated boxes and charts 12 and 13).
The update to the 2020-2024 Plan, carried out with the involvement of the organisational structures (Parent Company Functions and Operating Companies) and taking into account the material issues defined by listening to stakeholders, maintaining consistency with the objectives of the European Green Deal and the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals that are relevant to Acea’s businesses, brought about the definition of 125 targets and their related KPIs. In 2021 a number of Group companies proposed integrations to the targets defined with the latest sustainability planning leading to the upgrade/reformulation of 4 targets already present in the Plan (aspects pertaining to energy efficiency, the remote control of infrastructure, etc.) and the insertion of 2 new targets (the installation of drinking water supply infrastructure in the territory and an important restoration project for the Sarno river’s ecosystem)³⁵. Therefore, following the integrations, the 2020-2024 Sustainability Plan is structured, at operating level, into 127 targets.
The investments envisaged in the 2020-2024 Business Plan related to sustainability targets totalling € 2.1 billion. In 2021, the progress of the targets, illustrated in detail in the following section, as well as the amount of investments made in the year was monitored, which, as at 31/12/2021, was around € 408 million; on a whole, in the 2020-2021 two-year period, the Business Plan investments related to sustainability targets totalled around € 740 million.

Chart no. 12 – The 2020-2024 Sustainability Plan in numbers

Chart no. 13 – The sustainability strategy guidelines

The Management and Sustainability Systems Policy³⁶ adopted by Acea also sets out the principles, values and commitments made by the Group, and is an integral part of the Management Systems in accordance with ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and ISO 50001 (see also the section Management Systems). The Policy sees the following values as fundamental elements for sustainability:

• promotion of a culture of quality;
• respect for the environment and preservation of ecosystems;
• fighting climate change:
• the development of people and safety at workplace;
• the efficient management of resources;
• the assessment of the risk and the economic, social and environmental impacts;
• participation in the well-being of the community and the development of an ongoing dialogue with stakeholders;
• the promotion of creativity and technological and organisational innovation.

The 2021 edition of the Global Risk Report, albeit centred around the social effects caused by the pandemic, continues to indicate climate change and the failure to take action to counter it as some of the most probable and highest impact risks. Acea monitors this area and the initiatives undertaken have once again received the positive assessment of the CDP (see box); furthermore, in order to expand on the analysis of the risk factors generated by climate change and their impacts on the businesses managed, the Group has concluded an initial process of alignment with the Recommendations defined by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures – TCFD, which will also continue in 2022 (for more details see The relations with the environment, section Environmental and climate risks: analyses and disclosure).

³⁵ In particular, this includes the upgrade to 2 AdF targets pertaining to energy efficiency and the reduction of energy consumption and the insertion of 1 new target on the installation of drinking water supply infrastructure (Water Kiosks); the upgrade to 1 Areti target on the remote control of the MV/LV lines and 1 Acea Innovation target relative to the installation of electric charging points in which the development of an electric mobility platform has been integrated by Acea Energia, and the insertion of 1 new GORI target on the interventions required to remove pollution from the hydrographic basin of the Sarno river, through the completion of the sewerage water system.
³⁶The Policy, updated in November 2020, can be found on the institutional website, www.gruppo.acea.it.