Universal Registration Document 2020

3.2.1.5.2 Employee training and awareness raising

The EDF group is setting up an awareness and training programme for its employees to improve its business practices in light of biodiversity issues Each company manages its own internal training and awareness-raising activities, which are often carried out with the help of nature association partners. Eight business guides have been published, written in a manner which very closely addresses the biodiversity issues. and challenges specific to each operational activity.

Based on a concept similar to that of the “Climate Collage” (see section 3.1.3.5.2“ Innovation and collective intelligence”), the “Biodiversity Fresco” raises awareness of the causes of biodiversity erosion. To date, 20 employees having been trained to run them.

3.2.1.5.3 Raising awareness among the general public

Beyond the nature festival⁽¹⁾, the Group supports philanthropic actions related to biodiversity:

• the “red list” of endangered species in France prepared by UICN FrenchCommittee and the French Natural History Museum;
• the preservation of a rainforest in Brazil, EDF Norte Fluminense is continuing its work which has been underway for ten years with the Mico Leao Dourado non-profit organisation to preserve an Atlantic rainforest: reforestation of the watershed, Leontopithecus rosali habitat (golden lion tamarin). In 2019, the Company extended its partnership to take action on agroforestry. Since the start of the project, nearly 10 hectares of forest and agroforestry systems have been reforested with the direct support of EDF;
• in China, the Franco-Chinese Month of the Environment consisting of a series of cultural, scientific and artistic events in 2020 dedicated to biodiversity;
• in 2020, the EDF Foundation supported 22 actions and projects in favour of biodiversity for 50,250 people who received awareness or training and more than1.7 million beneficiaries.

3.2.2 Responsible land management

The Group wants to act responsibly with regard to the land it holds or uses under concession. In this context, the Group is committed to giving the utmost importance to the land sobriety and energy density of its projects⁽²⁾, preventing the risks of pollution, reducing waterproofing, limiting soil artificialisation⁽³⁾, and developing the value of the land in compliance with regulations (concessions).

3.2.2.1 Energy density of projects

Depending on the mode of generation, the nominal installed power of the industrial tools is more or less concentrated on a given surface. Land use intensity by type of power generation was evaluated with the following results⁽⁴⁾ :

In order to limit the impact on new land, new industrial developments are preferentially positioned on existing man-made sites. Appraisal and site restoration operations are carried out by EDF’s internal engineering entities specialising in the field with the assistance of external service providers.

A mapping and zoning of land areas for industrial use is systematically carried out for centralised generation systems. Diagnostics are performed out in partnership with environmental associations in order to enhance the value of existing ecosystems. This approach was carried out, for example, in 2020 on the Saint-Alban nuclear power plant.

When it comes to new renewable energies, the plants prioritise brownfield sites and the Group’s properties, starting with sites in operation. For example, the installation of photovoltaic panels on new buildings of power plants, roofs or the installation of shades with 14,402 photovoltaic modules with a capacity of 6.2MW⁽⁵⁾ in Blayais, Cruas or Saint-Alban.

With regard to the development of ground-based photovoltaic projects involving agricultural land within the territories, EDF Renewables, the French Chambers ofAgriculture and the FNSEA signed a charter of best practices on 19 January 2021, focusing on responsible and coordinated land use. Following two years of analysis and consultation, this charter reconciles land preservation, the sustainability of agricultural activity and the rational development of photovoltaic solar energy, an essential component of energy transition⁽⁶⁾.