The company is Industry Leader of Electric Utilities in the DJ Sustainability Index and has confirmed its position in the Gold Class for the fourth time. Terna is a world leader in sustainability: thanks to the results achieved in its environmental and social responsibility activities, the company chaired by Catia Bastioli and led by Matteo Del Fante has received recognition as Industry Leader in the Electric Utilities sector of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, and is the only Italian company in the Gold Class of the Sustainability Yearbook 2016 just published by RobecoSAM, the international rating agency which assesses the sustainability performance of the 2,000 biggest companies in the world.
Terna, in the Gold Class for the fourth time, totalled 89 points, the highest score in its history and the highest in the Electric Utilities sector, which recorded an average of 52.
“This result confirms once again that we're also on the right track as regards sustainability. It was in fact over ten years ago that Terna chose to combine its industrial goals with forward-thinking management in terms of the company's social responsibility" declared Matteo del Fante, Terna's Chief Executive Officer. “The company has chosen to put the public, its business and relationship and dialogue with local communities on a plane where respect for the environment, technology and profit coexist. These characteristics are also appreciated by investors, increasingly aware of ethical-environmental factors”. This award is even more significant than before, as RobecoSAM assessed a record number of international companies, over 2,000 from 42 countries, divided into 59 sectors. Investors choosing Terna for its sustainability performance account for 10% of the shares held by institutional investors.
Terna's ten-year grid Development Plan with which the company annually plans for the construction of new lines and electrical substations, will lead to a reduction of CO2 emissions estimated at a total of around 15.5 million tons per year. In addition, as regards landscape and local territory, over the past 5 years Terna has demolished over 500 km of old high- and very-high-voltage lines, freeing up about 2,200 hectares of land.
RobecoSAM screens companies and assesses whether they should be included in, kept in or excluded from the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices based on very strict economic, environmental and social performance criteria, as well as on a review of any important disputes. The areas covered include risk management, corporate governance, environmental impacts, the relationship with local communities, human resource management, stakeholder engagement, respect for human rights and oversight of the supply chain. These are all aspects whose quality and stewardship are to be proven in the course of time.
Continual improvement of its ESG performance - Environmental, Social and Governance - has also earned Terna constant growth over time in sustainability ratings, the appreciation of socially responsible investors and inclusion in the most important international sustainability indices such as Dow Jones Sustainability, STOXX Global ESG, FTSE4Good, ECPI, FTSE ECPI, MSCI, ESI, Ethibel, Vigeo Euronext and the Italian indices FTSE ECPI Italia SRI Benchmark and Italia SRI Leaders drawn up for companies listed on the Italian Stock Exchange.
The “Chignolo Po-Maleo” power line built by Terna between the provinces of Pavia and Lodi received a special mention in the “Sustainable Works Award” part of the national trade event Inertia, precisely because of its attention to the local territory and respect for the environment. The power line, 24 km long and built with innovative, reduced-impact single-stem pylons for 70% of its extension, has been designed to marry the need for a secure and efficient electricity grid with that of environmental sustainability, with particular focus on the relations between territorial aspects, the construction of the works and mitigation measures. An infrastructure of national importance, this power line has enabled the demolition of 64 km of obsolete power lines.
