Also, through its investments in new activities EDF is an actor in the energy transition. The Innovation and Pulse Programmes Division (DIPP) was set up in 2021 to bring out and develop new growth levers for the EDF group. It pursues that objective by investing in startups and venture capital funds dedicated to innovation (the EDF Pulse Ventures programme), and by developing intrapreneurial projects (the EDF Pulse Incubation programme). These programmes already existed in different forms and in the last ten years several subsidiaries have been opened by the Group, such as Hynamics in 2019, a company that produces and sells low-carbon hydrogen produced by water electrolysis to meet the needs of the heavy-duty transport industry.
The Group’s raison d’être is also expressed in the management policy for its portfolio of dedicated assets held to finance long-term nuclear expenses in France (€37.5 billion at 31 December 2021), and the introduction of a responsible investor’s charter with three focal points (compliance with the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment; respect of the major international agreements on human rights; and annual reporting on responsible investments). This charter is applicable both to assets managed directly and assets managed by specialist companies under delegated management arrangements.
The Group is continuing its commitments to address environmental issues, for example through the following actions.
Given the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, and the fact that electricity is a major lever in action to decarbonise the French economy, R&D has a crucial role to play in the electricity, climate, digital and societal transition.
In 2021, the EDF group’s total R&D budget amounted to €661 million, 99% of EDF’s R&D budget is dedicated to achieving the net zero goal, and the energy system transition.
The R&D budget is particularly channelled into research into energy efficiency, uses of electricity as a substitute for fossil fuel-based energies, renewable energies and their insertion into the grid, energy storage and production, carbon-free hydrogen and its applications for decarbonising the economy, sustainable cities, the local impacts of climate change and other environmental issues such as biodiversity, water quality, and the mitigation of all forms of pollution.
Research concerning electricity storage, enhancement of energy performance diagnosis methods, improvement of techniques for urban heating and cooling networks, platforms for sharing studies relevant to the ecological transition, and increasing safety at nuclear power plants is supported by public subsidies, notably from the European Union.
Accounting principles and methods for R&D are presented in note 10.2.
Other expenses for protection of the environment and climate are identifiable expenses incurred to prevent, reduce or repair damage that has been or may be caused by the Group as a result of its activities. These expenses are treated as follows:
All of the Group’s functions, employees, activities and projects are mobilised to fulfil EDF’s objective of being an environmentally responsible company. Some of the actions concerned are presented below.
The EDF group has been committed to action for biodiversity since 2006 with a dedicated policy, and today its biodiversity ambitions are reflected in formal commitments made through two initiatives, Entreprises engagées pour la nature (Committed companies for nature) and “Act4nature international”. These voluntary commitments cover some twenty actions to reduce contributions to major pressure points on biodiversity (as identified by IPBES, the biodiversity equivalent of the IPCC), recreate biodiversity-friendly spaces and conditions, further improve and share knowledge, strengthen biodiversity governance and raise employee awareness.
In addition to these commitments, between 2013 and 2021, the Group undertook more than 55 operations (through EDF hydro and its hydropower activities) to facilitate fish migration at ecologically sensitive sites in mainland France (“list 2” sites for the purposes of the national law on water and aquatic environments), installing fish passes and fish ladders and removing river weirs.
Consistent with its ambitions for the environment and the climate, the Group works to raise awareness among its employees and educate them about environmental
and sustainable development issues. In 2021 its “Environment and sustainable development” training offering comprising courses on environmental management, standards and regulations, and environmental analysis, provided 3,593 employees with 24,683 hours of training.
In addition, the rollout at Group level of the “Climate Collage” collaborative workshop, led in person or online by volunteer employees after internal training, gave 22,000 employees greater awareness of the issues of climate disruption.
As the first French Group to sign the EV100 initiative, EDF made a commitment to have a fully-electric light vehicle fleet by 2030. By the end of 2021 the worldwide fleet numbered close to 45,000 light vehicles (especially in Europe) and more than 17.3% were already electric (over 7,750 electric vehicles, an increase of more than 2,100 from 2020). Joining the EV100 initiative is also an encouragement for Group employees to control their energy consumption and reduce their carbon footprint, as it gives them access to competitive offers from car suppliers and offers for recharging services sold by EDF group subsidiaries.
For 2021, the vehicle fleet electrification indicator accounts for 20% of EDF SA’s profit-sharing criteria and 10% of Enedis’ profit-sharing criteria for their respective fleets.
