The EDF group has a long-standing commitment to minimising the impact of its activities on biodiversity through a dedicated policy. Today, this ambition is reflected in its commitment to two mechanisms (see section 3.2.1.1 “EDF group commitment and policy”).
| Biodiversity commitments 2020-2022 |
In France: Entreprises Engagées pour la Nature (EEN) initiative led by the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB). |
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Internationally: act4nature International initiative started by the French Association of Companies for the Environment (EpE). |
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These commitments cover all of the Group’s business lines, in all geographical areas and within the scope of operational activities that present biodiversity challenges.
Most pressures on biodiversity are strictly regulated. Most of these pressures are strictly regulated. The IPBES report in 2019 identifies five major pressure factors: change of land and sea use, overexploitation of resources, climate change, pollution and invasive alien species. EDF has developed its action programme to limit its impact on each of these factors (see section 3.2.1.3 “Group action”):
The Group attaches great importance to land sobriety and wants to act responsibly with regard to the land it holds or uses under concession. In this context, the Group’s entities are working to limit the artificialisation and sealing of soil, and to optimise and enhance the value of land in compliance with regulations, in particular by implementing innovative solutions to promote the multi-purpose use of land. The Group entities are committed to preventing the risks of pollution (see section 3.2.2 “Responsible land management”).
As a manager of dams and reservoirs, and a major user of water resources, the EDF group works towards integrated and responsible water management. Water reservoirs held by EDF’s large dams in mainland France enable the storage of over 7 billion cubic metres of water, representing 70% of all water artificially stored in France. The Group is committed to protecting and managing water in an integrated and sustainable manner, both in terms of quantity (see section 3.2.3.1 “Sustainability of water use”) and quality, as well as sharing water within the territories in which it operates by fully taking into account the local water situation (multi-use) under climate constraints (see section 3.2.3.2 “Integrated and shared water management”).
Regarding the impact on air quality, see section 3.3.1.5.2 “Improving air quality by supporting public initiatives in this area”.
Optimising the use of the natural resources consumed by the Group’ s value chain is an essential component of the Group’s corporate responsibility. The Group is committed to promoting a circular economy approach; avoiding the production of conventional waste (1) and promoting the re-use, recycling and recovery of products/materials throughout the value chain; using this waste by reallocating uses internally within the Company during new developments, or in approved recovery channels; and assuming its responsibilities with regard to radioactive waste (see section 3.2.4 “Waste and the circular economy”).
The mapping of risks to the health and safety of employees and service providers is carried out by the Health and Safety Division, which is responsible for health and safety management, on the basis of risk analyses carried out by the Group’s various entities and subsidiaries, in line with the Group’s risk mapping system (see section 2.2.4 - 4C “Health and safety risks in the workplace (employees and service providers)”).
The salient risks are:
Salient risks are related to the operation of industrial facilities (see section 2.2.4 – Risk 4C – “Occupational health or safety violations (employees and service providers)”).
The risks concerning consumers and local residents are linked to the operation of the industrial facilities (see sections 2.2.4 - 4E “Hydraulic safety violations”, 2.2.4 - 4G “Industrial safety violations and impact on environmental assets and biodiversity”, 2.2.5 - 5C “Nuclear safety violations during operation resulting from nuclear civil liability”). Those risks mainly concern:
To prevent and mitigate risks of serious harm to the health and safety of its employees and subcontractors working on its sites, the Group relies on a Health and Safety policy adopted in 2018 and updated in 2021. This Group policy applies to all the companies controlled by the EDF group, in all the countries in which EDF operates, and concerns both its employees and its subcontractors.
The priorities of the policy are primarily to eradicate serious and fatal accidents, and secondarily to reduce the number of accidents and to fight against absenteeism. The policy aims to anchor throughout the Group the foundation formed by the Group’s 10 key rules and the BEST (“Building Excellence in Safety Together”) health and safety management reference framework, enhanced with new practices that have proved their worth in several entities. This policy is accompanied by a roadmap that mobilises the Group’s entities to achieve the objectives set. The Executive Committee reviews health and safety figures and monitors action plans regularly (see section 3.3.1.3.1 “Health and safety policy”).
10 key rules were identified following an analysis of fatal accidents in the EDF group over the last 30 years. The review organised in February 2021 by the Health and
(1) With regard to food waste, EDF does not consider this information as being material. With respect to its materiality analysis, EDF does not consider information related to the amendments to Article L. 225-102-01 of the French Commercial Code on food shortages, respect for animal welfare and a responsible, fair and sustainable food supply as being material.
