2021 was the year in which the global economic and financial system realized it had to step up its commitment to sustainability.
Prysmian has been proactive in this regard, launching two initiatives that consolidate its present and future leadership on ESG matters: the Climate Change Ambition and the Social Ambition.
These ambitions represent our concrete contribution to the targets that the whole planet has set itself and a way for accelerating the integration of ESG factors into our infrastructure, governance and the whole value chain.
“These three ambitions – climate, social and technological – accelerate the integration of ESG factors into our organization and business model. We have already started assessing the impact of the new Taxonomy and expect that a significant portion of Prysmian’s business will be aligned with the sustainability criteria set out by the EU.
This strategic positioning is reflected in the group’s financial soundness, even in a year as complex as 2021, in which the Group generated strong cash flow and boosted production chain resilience to avoid business disruption”.
Furthermore, Prysmian Group reaffirms its engagement towards the Sustainable Development Goals through its adherence to the United Nations Global Compact.
Valerio Battista
CEO Prysmian Group
Prysmian Group’s ambition is to be one of the leading technology players in the transition to the use of renewable energy sources and to a decarbonised and digitalized economy.
To facilitate this journey, Prysmian Group is helping society to meet today’s great challenges:
The ambition to be a technological enabler of digital and energy transition depends on the ability to promote innovative technologies and products. Prysmian supports the development of greener and smarter energy grids with innovative technologies to cover long distances and deep-sea, ensuring high performance, reliability and sustainability:
“We drive the flow of energy and information everywhere to enable and sustain human achievement”.
In order to establish a credible approach to sustainability, it is necessary to set objectives and monitor the progress made towards them.
For this reason, in addition to long-term targets, the Group is also committed to achieving short-term goals, which are defined in the “Sustainability Scorecard”, developed taking into account stakeholders’ feedback and sustainability indices.
The Sustainability Scorecard includes 16 challenging targets to be met by 2022, which flank the two new strategic ambitions: Climate Ambition and Social Ambition.
The entire process is monitored by the Sustainability Steering Committee, which is chaired by the Group Chief Sustainability Officer. Results are also shared and monitored by the Sustainability Committee, a Group’s Board committee established in 2020.
Prysmian's leadership in the cable industry is also evidenced by the Group's inclusion in the most important and strategic trade associations globally. Below are reported some of Prysmian Group membership.
Creating shared value means developing and cultivating an ongoing dialogue with stakeholders to create a relationship based on trust.
The goal is to understand the stakeholders needs, interests and expectations, anticipate changes and emerging trends, enabling the Group to pursue its sustainable development objectives and create shared and constant value in the long term.
The company organizes specific conference calls with institutional investors and financial analysts. During 2021, relations with the financial market were intense, with over 500 conference calls and one-to-one or group meetings, a commitment that reflects the increasing attention of ESG investors on Prysmian Group. In 2021, coverage on Prysmian stock remained very high and geographically diversified. There are 19 independent research offices that regularly follow Prysmian stock.
Go To Page - Sustainability DayAs the result of the Stakeholders Engagement activities, Prysmian updated the materiality analysis and identify the most significant sustainability issues for its business.
Priority topics identified by both the Group and Prysmian’s stakeholders:
For Prysmian Group, innovation and sustainability are two inextricably intertwined elements.
Innovation efforts reinforce the purpose and long-term ambitions of the Group.
The Group's R&D function is responsible for the global innovation strategy, with the aim of ensuring Prysmian plays a leading role in the value chain in support of energy transition processes, digitization and sustainability.
In 2021, the company has also incorporated sustainability into the creation of customer value, making it tangible and visible, thanks to the Eco Cable green label.
Go To Page - Eco Cable green labelIn 2021, we increased investments in order to support our ambition to be an enabler of energy transition, responding to the acceleration in demand for digitalization and electrification solutions. As proof of the commitment to reach the Net Zero emission target, Prysmian has decided to invest 100 million euros over the next ten years.
Furthermore, in 2021 The targets set by Prysmian for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions were presented to the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi). The SBTi assessed these targets against the suitability criteria identified in the Call to Action and, after close examination, confirmed the targets in a validation report and an approval letter.
The Group is actively committed to reduce environmental impact both through production systems and by involving the supply chain.
The targets were approved this year by the Science Based Target Initiative (Sbti) and will drive the group towards Net Zero.
Working together with Carbon Trust, Prysmian has commenced an in-depth analysis which has contributed to the preparation of a decarbonization roadmap for the Prysmian Group, with the definition of a program of priority activities and forecasts of the investment needed and the energy savings that may be obtained over the time period considered.
The majority of the GHG emissions generated by Prysmian are classified as Scope 3, representing more than 99% of the total ecological footprint of the Group.
Total energy consumption by the Group in 2021 was higher than in 2020 due, in part, to expansion of the reporting perimeter on acquisition of the EHC plants and the increase in production after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Greenhouse gas emissions, measured in tons of CO2 equivalent, were calculated considering, for the Scope 1 GHG emissions (direct emissions) and, for the Scope 2 GHG emissions (indirect emissions), which mainly concern the consumption of purchased energy.
Two main methods for accounting for emissions in Scope 2.
Prysmian Group proactively interfaces with its suppliers to development an organizational process focused on the sustainability of the entire production chain.
For this reason, Prysmian Group has incorporated ESG KPIs into our supply chain evaluation and have implemented a new supplier portal for better monitoring of ESG principles.
In 2021 Prysmian Group continued its commitment to optimizing the transport of goods. In a year when there were severe issues and supply stress, the Group benefited from a predominantly local supply chain.
Its international reach also proved advantageous, as it allowed the company to anticipate localized issues.
The main issues monitored include the cost of sea transport and transport costs in general and the difficulty in finding extra volumes of metals.
Prysmian opted to continue its existing collaboration with Green Router and to develop a new semi-automated model based on the most detailed transport data available in the Group’s systems, whether SAP or TMS systems. The aim is not only to extend the analysis scope, but also to make the calculation available sooner and more frequently, so that it can be used for improvements.
Combining Social Ambition with environmental objectives is one of the cornerstones of Prysmian Group’s ESG Identity.
Encouraging transition to a fair, more diverse, inclusive and prosperous working environment, and to have a positive impact on development of the communities is one of the Group's key targets.
Salary policies that align and consolidate the long-term interests of employees, management and shareholders, is one of the Group's priorities.
Prysmian Social Ambition 2030 plan comprises objectives relating to diversity, equality and inclusion (DE&I), digital inclusion, the empowerment of communities, employee engagement and upskilling.
The Prysmian workforce at 31 December 2021 is 29,763 FTEs, comprising 7,800 white-collar (WC) staff including executives and 21,963 blue-collar (BC) workers.
Prysmian has identified the promotion of diversity and equal opportunities, through the development of an increasingly inclusive organization, as a strategic objective for the management of human resources.
In light of this commitment, the Prysmian Group has adopted a global “Diversity & Inclusion Policy” and is developing a number of supporting initiatives.
These initiatives form part of the Prysmian Group’s Side by Side program.
This was launched in 2016 and now focuses on diversity in terms of gender, age and culture, as drivers for the creation of value in line with our business objectives.
Prysmian strives with passion to respect and safeguard the human rights of all employees and all those affected by our activities to ensure that the Group is not involved in any way, either directly or indirectly, in activities that violate human rights.
With this objective in mind, the Group Human Rights Policy was introduced in 2017.
This policy is based on various international standards (such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the United Nations Global Compact, etc.) and applied at all locations and in all Prysmian activities.
The focus was placed on establishing targeted paths of development of talent and the related processes in 2021.
Fifteen training sessions for P4 managers on how to manage the “feed-forward meeting P4”.
A new assessment for high-potential middle managers is planned in 2022, for whom a new assessment system functional to any succession plans and targeted development plans will be available.
The Group has a Policy for Health, Safety, the Environment and Energy that guarantees a commitment to compliance with good management procedures to ensure a safe workplace.
Most frequent types of injury affected: Hands - 42.49%; Back - 18.94%; Lower limbs - 9.9% and Feet - 9.47%
One of the drivers of the sustainability strategy consistently adopted by the Prysmian Group over the years is “Community Involvement”, in order to create value for all stakeholders and contribute to the sustainable development of the territories.
The Group has adopted a Corporate Citizenship and Philanthropy policy since 2019, to identify all activities that can contribute to satisfying the needs of the community or communities, in line with the vision, mission, values, Code of Ethics and Policies put in place by the Group.
In 2021, around Euro 1,705,000 was donated to local communities in contributions in cash, in kind and in the form of time.
Promoting guidelines for consideration by the Board that integrate sustainability within the various business processes.
Spreading the culture of sustainability among all stakeholders.
Assessing the environmental, economic and social impacts deriving from business activities.
Providing opinions on the annual and long-term sustainability objectives to be achieved.
Monitoring the company’s position in the main sustainability indices.
Expressing opinions on the initiatives and programmes promoted by the company.
Examining the annual sustainability report.
Advising the board on the key initiatives to tackle climate change.
Promoting a CULTURE OF SUSTAINABILITY within all BUSINESS ACTIVITIES.
Defining projects aimed at IMPROVING THE SUSTAINABILITY AGENDA.
Monitoring the OBJECTIVES OF THE GROUP SUSTAINABILITY POLICY.
Supervising all ongoing initiatives that have an impact, current and potential, on the ESG PERFORMANCES.
Ensuring the EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION of our commitment and results.
Supporting initiatives to PROTECT D&I both internally and externally.
Discussing strategic sustainability priorities, the progress of the action plan and its implementation.
Coordinating all activities related to the Group’s sustainability reporting.
Mapping the stakeholders and monitoring their expectations through stakeholder engagement activities.
Guaranteeing transparent and constant communication with all stakeholders.
The Prysmian Group adopts a system of internal control and risk and opportunity management based on tools and information flows that allow the Board of Directors to take strategic decisions and define the guidelines for the system itself in an informed manner, in light of the context in which it operates and the related risks and opportunities, including those relating to sustainability issues.
The European Taxonomy, introduced by Regulation (EU) 852/2020 and in force from 1 January 2022 (also Taxonomy), is a system of classification used to identify economic activities that are environmentally sustainable.
Taxonomy strives to guarantee the reliability, consistency and comparability of economic activities considered sustainable, thus protecting investors from greenwashing, helping businesses through the sustainable transition, mitigating market fragmentation and bridging the sustainable investment gap.
From 2022, the reporting requirement envisages verification of how well those aligned activities are Taxonomy aligned in terms of turnover, capex and opex.
For the 2021 financial year Prysmian Group is committed to reporting, for each of the indicators required by the regulation, turnover, capex and opex, the percentage of eligible assets out of the company's total assets.
The economic activities of the Prysmian Group were identified in the following categories of Taxonomy-eligible economic activities: