Enel and GRI: 15 years working together for transparency

For any organization that places sustainability at the center of its business strategy, using the utmost transparency to communicate results and how they were achieved is fundamental. Enel has long been involved in this particular area, as is demonstrated by the publication in 2003 of the first Sustainability Report and by the constant work of fine-tuning the standards used to certify and assess the Group’s impacts on the environment, climate and society.

Benchmarks for sustainability

This year, in fact, sees the fifteenth anniversary of the partnership between Enel and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). GRI, which was founded in 1997, has thousands of members in more than 90 countries. By working with them, it has developed the standards used to measure and report economic, environmental and social performance (the GRI standards), and these parameters are used by organizations and companies all over the world to document their impacts on the planet in full transparency.

A key role

Enel joined GRI in 2006 and over the years has played an active role in promoting the integration of sustainability into the Group’s strategy, taking part in drafting standards and, since 2015, committing to measuring and reporting the activities it has implemented to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Milestones on a long journey

This productive and intense collaboration has passed numerous milestones. In 2015 the Group threw its full weight behind the project 2025 Report, which was launched by GRI to promote an international debate on the future of sustainability reporting and to draft new shared standards at global level.

In 2018 and 2019 Enel was involved in the Corporate Leadership Group on Digital Reporting, making its own contribution to promoting the digitalization of information. In the same period the Group took part in the Task Force to Tackle Modern Slavery Through Transparency, which was created to trial new innovative solutions that use sustainability reporting to make supply chains more transparent. This is a key step towards the just transition that will ensure access to energy for all and respect for people’s rights at all points along the supply chain.

A tangible contribution

Enel has made its technological and managerial expertise available to the organization, often performing prestigious roles within it. For example, between 2016 and 2019 Enel served on the GRI Stakeholder Council, the advisory body that supports the Board of Directors in pinpointing strategic issues to develop. Since 2020 the Group has sat on the GRI Global Sustainability Standards Board which works to define globally shared standards for sustainability reporting.

Putting theory into practice

The collaboration with GRI also has tangible implications on the Group’s activities. For instance, Integrated Reporting 2020, the digital version of which is freely available for consultation on our website, was created thanks to the adoption of new standards outlined by GRI. It was also a result of the guidelines published by the World Economic Forum’s International Business Council and the indicators identified for Enel’s sector of activities by SASB, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board. SASB, in fact, together with the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), recently set up the Value Reporting Foundation, a global organization that provides businesses and investors with a complete framework for corporate reporting that references the entire range of sustainability standards.

A new way of communicating

“Integrated Reporting 2020 is the new way Enel communicates its capacity to generate sustainable value for all its stakeholders in the short, medium and long term,” explains Alberto De Paoli, the Group’s CFO. Chief Innovability® Officer Ernesto Ciorra, on the other hand, emphasizes how “through shared storytelling, we want to use an innovative approach to communicate Enel’s strategy and its sustainable and integrated business model.”

Integrated Reporting 2020 exemplifies the “Core & More” approach that Enel has adopted for its own reporting system, in which the integrated annual report represents the “core” document that is flanked by “more” documents, including the Sustainability Report and the various Corporate Governance Reports.

An important commitment to the planet

In particular, the Sustainability Report presents all of the actions and initiatives undertaken by the Group to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and in particular SDG 13 (Climate action). Other objectives outlined in the report concern the commitment to accelerate the processes of decarbonization and electrification, in line with SDG 7 (Affordable and clean energy), SDG 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure) and SDG 11 (Sustainable cities and communities).

All of which goes to demonstrate Enel’s responsibility and commitment to promoting sustainable development, in full transparency.