Exolum’s ESG Master Plan brings its climate neutrality objective forward to 2040
The main purpose of the ESG Master Plan is to advance towards the promotion of a sustainable energy transition, while maintaining operational excellence and a corporate governance aligned with best practices
The strategy focuses on five main lines of action, which include clear and specific objectives for each field
Exolum’s new ESG Master Plan establishes the roadmap for the company in this area until 2026 by responding to internal ambition levels, the expectations of its stakeholders and the current energy context. The plan is closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals established by the UN and the principles of the Global Compact of which Exolum is a signatory, and its main purpose is to gradually reduce CO2 emissions, with an intermediate goal consisting of reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 53% compared to the baseline year 2018 by 2030, and to become a Net Zero company by 2040, which is 10 years earlier than originally planned.
Cristina Jaraba, Exolum’s Global People Lead, has highlighted that “the new ESG Master Plan confirms Exolum’s clear commitment to promoting the energy transition and reinforcing the values it shares with society as a whole and its employees. Our ambition has made us take a major step by bringing forward to 2040 our objective of achieving net zero emissions. Also, we continue fostering the diversification of our business towards new energy vectors that allow the decarbonisation of the economy.”
Five main lines of action
Exolum has defined its ESG Master Plan based on five main pillars which reflect the company’s commitments to its stakeholders. The first pillar focuses on Diversification, through the promotion of new businesses aligned with the energy transition. The company is currently implementing a diversification process for its business with the aim of identifying and investing in new businesses aligned with the energy transition by developing a robust platform to support the company’s long-term growth.
In order to do so, Exolum is fostering new business opportunities in sectors linked to decarbonisation and the circular economy, including projects relating to green hydrogen and its derivatives, such as ammonia or green methanol, focused on their use in industry and in mobility, advanced biofuels, which represent a great opportunity to support the decarbonisation of heavy transport, or CO2 capture for the purpose of transforming it into other products.
The Group also continues to adapt to market and customer needs by digitalising its activities and adapting its infrastructures to the strictest quality, safety and environmental requirements, aiming to provide integrated solutions to the challenges of the sector by allowing for new developments to continue growing and creating value for society.
Innovation is another focus area at Exolum to support this first pillar of the Master Plan. The company participates in consortia with other entities to promote innovation and technological development, such as the Regenera and GreenH2pipes projects, with Exolum leading the lines of work on liquid organic hydrogen carriers. It also invests in technology start-ups such as H2Vector with the aim of developing new energy solutions linked to decarbonisation and new energy vectors.
Team and culture transformation at Exolum
Transformation of the company’s organisational culture is the second pillar of the ESG Master Plan. In this area, Exolum aims to transform the company by promoting an agile global culture, in addition to reinforcing the company’s purpose and fostering a sense of pride in belonging.
This transformation has been channelled by the creation of the Diversity Committee to oversee ideas based on gender-related, multicultural, generational, functional, sexual orientation, religious and other dimensions. The purpose of this Committee is to approve the annual diversity and inclusion plan and ensure its implementation, to guarantee that Exolum’s policies take into account a Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DE&I) perspective, to align and support DE&I networks created within the organisation, as well as to continue the promotion of internal and external awareness by collaborating with organisations with similar ambitions and objectives.
In this regard, the company also aims to achieve the target of 27% of women in management positions by 2027 and to increase the incorporation of diverse profiles (gender, age, nationality, etc.) in all countries where it is present.
Likewise, the company has renewed its commitment to the Diversity Charter, of which it has been a signatory since 2014. This renewal consolidates the pillars relating to the diversity strategy and it reinforces the company’s commitment to equality, non-discrimination and respect for individual diversity.
Aiming for excellence and zero damage to the environment
Exolum aims to continue to provide the best service based on its solid expertise in its traditional business, to evolve its management to reduce environmental impact and achieve carbon neutrality, while focusing on the safety of its facilities, people and surrounding areas.
Operational excellence is a historic value for the Group. Currently, this continued search for excellence takes on a new dimension with the addition of a differential element: ensuring a safe energy transition by evolving the traditional business, while maintaining the focus on the safety of facilities, people and surrounding areas. With this in mind, Exolum is implementing an ambitious strategy to reduce its carbon footprint through different actions aimed at achieving the decarbonisation of its operations by 2040.
Therefore, in order to implement this third pillar of the Master Plan, the company is carrying out actions such as the construction and commissioning of self-consumption power plants at its facilities or the purchase of renewable energy through long-term PPAs.
Value creation for stakeholders
As its fourth line of action, Exolum is focusing on the creation of value for its different stakeholders, cooperating with them to generate sustainable value. In this way, Exolum aims to meet customer expectations, offering services adapted to their needs or improving existing ones, as well as continuing to improve their satisfaction level.
The company also aims to foster a positive impact on the local communities where it is present. In order to do so, it is developing a Social Action Plan through which it supports projects relating to the integration of people with different abilities or at risk of social exclusion, the environment, culture, entrepreneurship, and economic and social development.
This pillar also includes the promotion, within its supply chain, of the implementation of ESG policies aligned with this strategy.
Governance and compliance
The fifth pillar, the line of governance and compliance, which is cross-sectional in nature, focuses on a corporate governance system aligned with the company’s purpose, mission, vision and values, as well as with best practices, in addition to fostering a culture of transparency, compliance and zero tolerance for breaches of current regulations, internal policies and procedures and the strictest ethical principles and standards.