As the world’s leading producer of electricity without direct CO2 emissions, the EDF group is one of the leading non-state actors in international discussions on climate change.
| Race To Zero | In February 2020, EDF group joined the “Business Ambition for 1.5 degrees: our only future” initiative, thereby joining the United Nations Race To Zero (1) movement, the broadest alliance ever created, which seeks to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 at the latest (see section 3.1.1.1.1 “Achieving carbon neutrality by 2050”). |
|---|---|
| Open letter to G20 leaders | The EDF group is part of the coalition (2) of 778 companies led by We Mean Business; on the occasion of the G20 leaders’ summit in Rome in October 2021, the coalition called for them to raise their climate-related ambitions through the following actions: aligning their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) pursuant to the Paris Agreement with the goal of reducing emissions by at least 50% by 2030; ending subsidies to fossil fuels by 2025; supporting the electrification of transportation; aligning stimulus spending with a trajectory of 1.5°C. |
| Promoting the coal phase-out | Since 2017, the EDF group has been engaged in the Powering Past Coal Alliance (3), which promotes the phasing out of coal in EU countries by 2030 and in the rest of the world by 2050 in the wake of the Paris Agreement. In 2021, EDF group lent its support to the Global Coal to Clean Power Transition Statement (4) launched during the UK presidency of the COP26 summit; this statement has already been signed by 23 countries. |
| Promoting fair carbon pricing | EDF supports the Carbon Pricing Leadership Group (CPLG) initiative that brings together businesses, governments, academics, and NGOs to promote carbon pricing as a means of achieving a low-carbon world economy. At the Climate Action Summit organised by the Secretary General of the United Nations in September 2019, the EDF group signed the CPLC’s appeal recommending a price per tonne of carbon of $40-$80 by 2020 and $50-$100 by 2030, in line with the 2017 Stern-Stiglitz report, in order to enable countries to abide by the Paris Agreement. |
| EDF at the COP26 | Held in Glasgow from 1 to 13 November 2021, the COP26 summit was a major event in the international climate calendar; the parties to the Paris Agreement were invited to revise the NDCs they submitted in 2015. The EDF group was able to monitor negotiations on site, and took part in a dozen or so events organised in the accreditation-only Blue Zone, in particular on the contribution of innovations in nuclear power to further complementarity with renewable energies and achieve the Paris Agreement goals, the contribution of companies to achieving global carbon neutrality, the mobilisation of individuals and employees in the ecological transition, electric mobility, and access to energy. |
The EDF group set up specific governance to ensure the consistency of the positions promoted by the Group, and makes sure not to support initiatives promoting positions not in line with its own aims in terms of combatting climate change. EDF ceased to be a member of Business Europe on 1 November 2020.
| Development and validation of Group positions | All EDF group key positions on climate issues are approved by the Public Authorities Relations Management Committee. This Committee, co-chaired by the General Secretary and the Group Senior Executive Vice-President in charge of Innovation, Corporate Social Responsibility and Strategy, meets every week and features, among others, the Public Affairs Division, the European Affairs Division, the Regulation Division, and the Legal Affairs Division. |
|---|
See section 3.5.4.8 “Responsible communication”.
The EDF group implements actions to enable all its employees and corporate officers to adopt the Group’s raison d’être and climate commitments. These actions involve employee training (5), remuneration and collective intelligence.
| Executive officer bonuses for 2021 | The chosen climate criterion is the carbon intensity (6) of the Group’s heat and electricity production, corresponding to 30% of the Group share (7). See section 3.5.4.6 “CSR and remuneration policy for group executives”. |
|---|---|
| Employee profit-sharing agreement | The 2020 profit-sharing agreement signed by EDF’s management and its social partners includes, in addition to business and health & safety criteria, one climate-based criterion relating to electrifying the EDF’s vehicle fleet in accordance with the EV 100 commitment. See section 3.3.3.7 “Remuneration”. |
(2) wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/g20-2021-french/
(3) poweringpastcoal.org/members
(4) ukcop26.org/global-coal-to-clean-power-transition-statement/
(5) See section 3.3.3.6.5 “Skills development in the area of sustainable development”.
(6) See section 3.1.1.2.1 “Carbon performance for the climate”.
(7) Including EDF, Edison, EDF in the UK and Luminus.
