At 31 December 2022, undrawn ESG-indexed renewable credit lines (including syndicated credit facilities) totalled over €10.05 billion, or 72% of the EDF group total undrawn credit lines (see note 18.4). In 2022, the Group respected the required indicators.
In 2022 the Group continued its programme of gross operating investments, which amounted to €19.2 billion and included €18.3 billion of gross investments in intangible assets and property, plant and equipment (see notes 4 and 10.7) and €0.9 billion of gross financial investments.
In 2022, nearly 94% of the Group’s investments were in line with its net-zero trajectory (94% in 2021), with 50% of investments concerning the nuclear sector (50% in 2021). 66% of the Group’s investments were aligned with the current European Taxonomy at 31 December 2022 (compared to 44% in the published figures for 2021 and 63% in proforma figures for 2021 including the effects of the complementary delegated act on nuclear and gas activities). This notably covered investments in nuclear activities in France, networks, renewable energy generation facilities (solar power, wind power), hydropower facilities and certain energy services (see section 3.8.4 of the 2022 Universal Registration Document, “Details on the taxonomy”).
EDF promotes innovation to contribute to achievement of the net zero 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). The Group has formed several subsidiaries for these purposes, such as Hynamics, 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 (realisable value of €33.9 billion at 31 December 2022), and its responsible investor’s charter introduced in 2020, which has 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.
In 2022, a review was conducted of these delegated management companies’ compliance with the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment and the major international agreements, and for climate risks, a carbon emission assessment was established for listed and unlisted assets. The climate scenarios incorporated into risk/return studies of dedicated assets were analysed in accordance with the recommendations of the NGFS (Network for Greening the Financial System), to assess the risk of nuclear provisions being underfunded in the event of a climate stress scenario that could affect the value of dedicated assets, depending on different time horizons.
For unlisted assets, EDF is committed to integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations as effectively as possible into its decisions for investments and management of investments, notably by requiring the companies in its portfolio to carry out a carbon review and monitor their environmental footprint.
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 2022, the EDF group’s total R&D budget amounted to €649 million, comprising €473 million for EDF’s R&D, and separate R&D by certain subsidiaries, principally Framatome, EDF Energy and Edison.
In France, 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.
The CAP 2030 Decarbonised Thermal Project, launched in March 2021, aims to give each of the Group’s thermal fleets a decarbonisation strategy for existing assets and a development strategy for new decarbonised assets, with a roadmap to guarantee the availability of such decarbonised thermal generation facilities at the appropriate time, for good control of the related technologies and skills. All the EDF group’s gas activities thus follow carbon trajectories (covering both direct and indirect emissions) set for each entity in line with the Group’s 2030 objectives.
Accounting principles and methods
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:
