Letter to stakeholders

The figures and detailed analyses contained in this report provide an accurate and transparent portrayal of the commitment made to our stakeholders, thus giving tangible evidence of the role our Company plays for the local areas served and beyond.

For our Group, doing business and contributing to sustainability go hand in hand. They nourish one another, creating a virtuous circle that is fully evident in the creation of shared value, quantified through the portion of Ebitda deriving from business activities that also meet the goals of the UN Agenda 2030. In 2023, shared-value Ebitda rose to 776 million euro, up 16% over 2022, and corresponded to 52% of total Ebitda.

In particular, this report offers specific data on our commitment to the three drivers of shared value, first and foremost all projects aimed at pursuing carbon neutrality, that enabled us to achieve a 14% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (compared to 2019) in 2023, in line with the target set at 37% for 2030, considering both the Group and our customers’ emissions. In the area of regenerating resources and closing the circle, our internal water consumption dropped by more than 21% (compared to 2017), while the municipal waste recycling rate rose to 61%, exceeding the EU 2025 target years ahead of schedule. Significant achievements were also made in resilience and innovation, with over 148 million euro invested in innovation to enable the ecological transition and digital transformation. This is because it is ever more essential to invest preventively in order to enable our plants and networks to withstand the effects of climate change, as became clear during the emergency that struck Emilia-Romagna in May 2023.

These efforts are also confirmed by our Business Plan, which expects shared-value Ebitda to reach 64% of total Ebitda in 2027, amounting to over 1 billion euro and showing a growth coming to 55% in absolute terms, an even higher rate than overall Ebitda.

This drive towards continuous growth has been recognised by S&P Global, which included us for the fourth consecutive year in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index World and Europe, with one of the highest sustainability ratings worldwide in the multi & water utilities sector. This is a source of pride for us and we believe it should be for all our stakeholders as well.

In our Business Plan, we projected 4.4 billion investments in the 2023-2027 five-year period, and more than 70% of these have been earmarked for sustainability projects that benefit the local communities we serve. Almost half goes to increasing the resilience of our infrastructures, to ensure quality and continuity in our services, even in adverse weather conditions such as those we have witnessed in recent years.

Alongside the economic value distributed to local stakeholders (2.3 billion euro in 2023 alone), the results included in this report provide concrete examples of the support our company gives to local areas and communities, moving towards a circular development model and a green transition.