Planet, People and Prosperity: these are the three pillars shaping the world Hera seeks to help build. They are not just abstract concepts, but the foundation of our purpose and long-term strategy.
Inspired by the “three Ps” framework that defined the G20 Summit under the Italian presidency in 2021, Hera has embraced a fully integrated approach. This vision not only continues to guide our business model and sustainable development strategy, but also reflects a broader cultural shift - one now enshrined in the European Union’s own commitment to achieving carbon neutrality across the continent.
Strategy
In close alignment with the EU, the Hera Group is committed to driving systemic change - one in which success is inseparable from the harmony with which change is pursued. We firmly believe that no progress, especially when driven by disruptive technological innovation, can be truly sustainable or meaningful unless it is widely and deeply shared. This commitment is reflected in the many initiatives detailed across Hera’s various reporting frameworks, through which the Group aims to make a concrete contribution to the European objective of a Just Transition that integrates climate action with social inclusion. This goal was formally incorporated among the guiding principles in the sixth edition of our Code of Ethics, approved by the Board of Directors in February 2023.
In designing and reporting these initiatives, Hera explicitly follows the principles laid out in its Code of Ethics, and operationally aligns with the framework developed by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the London School of Economics and Political Science. This document offers guidance to companies and investors on how to navigate all key dimensions of a transition that genuinely places people at its core.
Employees
In this context, the role of Hera’s people, its employees across the Group, is absolutely central. Unsurprisingly, they are placed at the heart of our Code of Ethics, a document that itself originated through internal consultation and listening across the organisation. This commitment to people is also reflected in regular employee engagement surveys, which involve the entire workforce and provide the basis for continuous improvement actions.
Without resorting to redundancy schemes, Hera has consistently maintained a high level of employment stability: 96.5% of its workforce is employed on permanent contracts, and our flexible corporate welfare system is tailored to individual needs and personal choices. Our commitment goes further: since the transition is, first and foremost, a human process, Hera has linked incentive schemes to sustainability goals since 2006, and to shared value creation since 2016. We continue to invest in developing new skills and improving workplace safety, while also promoting gender balance, protecting diversity, and advancing inclusion policies. This commitment was reaffirmed in 2024 when the Group’s 11 largest companies maintained certification UNI/PdR 125:2022 for gender equality.
At the heart of these efforts is reskilling - a strategic priority for Hera. We recognise that the many professions within our diverse business areas are evolving and must be proactively guided and supported. In this regard, we are committed to leveraging the strengths and perspectives of both older and newer generations within the company.
See the following chapters of the report “Creating Shared Value 2024”:
- Enabling resilience and innovating – Developing jobs and new skills
- People
See also the “Own workforce” chapter of the 2024 Sustainability Report:
- People engagement tools
- Development of new skills
- Promotion of diversity and inclusion
- Incentive systems
- Hextra: Hera Group’s welfare system
- The safety culture project
- Prevention and protection projects
- Employees
Suppliers
In line with its Code of Ethics, Hera is committed to ensuring that its suppliers operate within a framework of full legal compliance, with absolute respect for human rights and the environment, and in support of a strategy focused on the sustainable development of the communities served. Not by chance, 66% of the total economic value generated by the Group is transferred to these communities. The multi-utility also positions itself as a growth partner, enabling its suppliers by providing access to knowledge and technologies that can enhance their performance and strengthen their future prospects. Also in procurement processes, Hera pursues stable working conditions, with employment safeguard clauses that protect the incomes of the families involved. Monitored through a dedicated process designed to assess, encourage, and reward performance in terms of corporate social responsibility, suppliers represent a crucial link in the value chain, along which Hera aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote a circular economy.
With the goal of supporting and fostering the sustainable growth of its value chain and promoting the mutual exchange of values, skills and information, in 2024 the Hera Group launched Hera_Pro_Empower, a capacity-building programme aimed at improving not only technical and qualitative capabilities but also the ESG maturity of suppliers, as well as the Supplier Sustainability School, which organises seminars.
See the following chapters of the report "Creating Shared Value 2024”:
- Enabling resilience and innovating – Developing jobs and new skills
- Suppliers
See also the following chapters of the 2024 Sustainability Report:
- Resource use and circular economy
- Input flows
- Workers in the value chain
- Actions for social responsibility in procurement
- Corporate conduct – Supplier management
- Supplier relations
- The vendor management system
- The vendor rating, assessment and monitoring system for suppliers
Local communities
A spirit of teamwork also shapes Hera’s broader relationship with local communities, whose transition the Group supports through its services and continued investment in upgrading infrastructure assets that will become increasingly critical in tackling the challenges of the coming years, particularly those related to climate. The Group also engages a wide range of local stakeholders in numerous projects focused on the environment, social inclusion and digitalisation, thereby reinforcing - true to the spirit of the UN’s 17th Sustainable Development Goal on partnerships - the overall resilience of its socio-economic system. These projects complement the HeraLabs, genuine platforms for dialogue designed to involve community stakeholders in shaping new improvement initiatives.
See the following chapters of the report “Creating Shared Value 2024”:
- Pursuing carbon neutrality – Energy transition and renewables
- Regenerating resources and closing the circle – Sustainable water resource management
- Regenerating resources and closing the circle – Protecting air, soil and biodiversity
- Enabling resilience and innovating
- Stakeholder governance and values – Dialogue with stakeholders
- Customers
See also the following chapters of the 2024 Sustainability Report:
- Climate change
- Physical risks and management methods
- The development of smart grids
- Group asset flooding risk assessment from an insurance perspective
- The resilience of power grids
- Interventions on gas and electricity networks to address hydrogeological instability
- The resilience of the sewerage and purification system
- Pollution
- Expansion and improvement of purification
- Reduction of emissions from waste-to-energy plants
- Development of district heating systems
- Reclamation activities to protect
- Water and marine resources
- Drought risk assessment and mitigation activities
- Affected communities
- Engagement tools for affected communities
- Partnering with communities to reduce waste
- Hera Educational for vocational training placement and agreements with universities, business schools and research centres
- Environmental education
- Consumers and end users
- Installation of electronic meters
- Safety and continuity of the gas distribution service
- Continuity of water service
Customers
Hera is committed to ensuring that its services remain accessible even to society’s most vulnerable groups, going beyond legal requirements by implementing additional safeguards and specific protocols developed in cooperation with local authorities. These measures aim to prevent defaults and service disconnections, particularly in response to the recent surge in energy prices. At the same time, Hera works to empower all its customers to become active participants in the transition, promoting responsible and informed consumption habits and enabling both households and businesses to embrace energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and the circular economy.
See the following chapters of the report “Creating Shared Value 2024”:
- Pursuing carbon neutrality - Promoting energy efficiency
- Pursuing carbon neutrality – Energy transition and renewables
- Regenerating resources and closing the circle - Transitioning towards a circular economy
- Regenerating resources and closing the circle - Protecting air, soil and biodiversity
- Enabling resilience and innovating - Innovation and digitalisation
- Enabling resilience and innovating - Economic development and social inclusion
- Customers
See also the following chapters of the 2024 Sustainability Report:
- Climate change
- Energy efficiency for households
- Renewable energy for our customers and the development of energy communities
- Flood emergency management in Emilia-Romagna
- Pollution
- Development of district heating systems
- Development of district heating systems
- Water and marine resources
- Reduction of customer water consumption
- Reduction of customer water consumption
- Resource use and circular economy
- Increased separate waste collection, recycling rate and reduced use of landfill for municipal waste
- Circular economy development for industrial customers
- Consumers and end users
- Customer engagement tools
- Payment of bills in instalments
- Preventing the suspension of supplies
- Social bonuses
- Per capita rate in water service
- Leakage protection fund for water customers
Policies and partnerships
Working alongside its industry association Utilitalia, as well as with academic institutions, Hera is committed to raising the quality of public debate on themes relating to the transition. It contributes by sharing concrete experiences and scientific evidence, and by making its expertise available to policymakers, thereby helping shape regulatory frameworks that are not only environmentally effective but also coherent, inclusive and fair.
Transparency and accountability
While implicitly present in previous editions of its sustainability report, disclosure on the dimensions of the Just Transition has, since 2021, been highlighted and explicitly addressed. In particular, this report covers the entire section “With the actors of change” as well as key impact areas under the Shared Value driver “Enabling resilience and innovation”, particularly those relating to employment, skills development and social inclusion. What emerges is a narrative that runs - sometimes visibly, sometimes beneath the surface - throughout much of the report, not as an additional theme, but as a cross-cutting lens through which the Group’s overall commitment to the transition is to be understood.
How the Just Transition is reflected in Hera’s strategy
