Case study: How Atlantica creates economic value for its stakeholders
Atlantica is a sustainable infrastructure company that manages renewable energy and other power and water assets, complementing its portfolio of renewable assets with storage, efficient natural gas and transmission infrastructure assets. Atlantica’s purpose is to support the transition towards a more sustainable world by investing in and managing sustainable infrastructure, while creating long-term value for its investors and the rest of its stakeholders.
This case study is based on the 2020 ESG Report by Atlantica, prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards, that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
Managing its assets sustainably to create long-term, sustainable value to its stakeholders, is a top priority for Atlantica. Tweet This! In order to create economic value for its stakeholders Atlantica took action to:
- create economic value for employees and the local economy
- create economic value for providers of capital
- create economic value for the government
- create economic value for communities
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Atlantica has identified;
- How Atlantica proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Atlantica to create economic value for its stakeholders
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2020 ESG Report Atlantica identified a range of material issues, such as climate change,
occupational health and safety, asset management, ethics and integrity. Among these, creating economic value for its stakeholders stands out as a key material issue for Atlantica.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups Atlantica engages with:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Shareholders | · Face-to-face meetings, video or phone calls · ESG Report · Social Media · Materiality Assessment Survey · Press Releases · Website Content · Whistleblower Channel · Annual General Meeting (AGM) · Earnings Presentations · Roadshows |
| Employees | · Face-to-face meetings, video or phone calls · ESG Report · Social Media · Materiality Assessment Survey · Press Releases · Website Content · Whistleblower Channel · Intranet · Employee Climate Survey · Training |
| Suppliers | · Face-to-face meetings, video or phone calls · ESG Report · Social Media · Materiality Assessment Survey · Press Releases · Website Content · Whistleblower Channel · Training |
| Customers | · Face-to-face meetings, video or phone calls · ESG Report · Social Media · Materiality Assessment Survey · Press Releases · Website Content · Whistleblower Channel |
| Business Partners | · Face-to-face meetings, video or phone calls · ESG Report · Social Media · Materiality Assessment Survey · Press Releases · Website Content · Whistleblower Channel |
| Local Communities
| · Face-to-face meetings, video or phone calls · ESG Report · Social Media · Press Releases · Website Content · Whistleblower Channel |
| Debt Investors
| · Face-to-face meetings, video or phone calls · ESG Report · Social Media · Materiality Assessment Survey · Press Releases · Website Content · Whistleblower Channel · Earnings Presentations · Roadshows |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics Atlantica engaged with its stakeholders through a survey sent to 50 internal and external stakeholders, as well as through the two-way stakeholder engagement channel described above.
What actions were taken by Atlantica to create economic value for its stakeholders?
In its 2020 ESG Report Atlantica reports that it took the following actions for creating economic value for its stakeholders:
- Creating economic value for employees and the local economy
- In 2020, Atlantica spent $331 million in operating costs, including employee wages and benefits.
- Creating economic value for providers of capital
- In 2020, Atlantica paid $445 million to providers of capital.
- Creating economic value for the government
- In 2020, Atlantica paid $16 million to the government (income tax paid).
- Creating economic value for communities
- In 2020, Atlantica spent $1 million in community investments in Peru, Spain, South Africa and Algeria.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standard addressed in this case is: Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed
Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.1, 8.2
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Targets: 9.1, 9.4, 9.5
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References:
This case study is based on published information by Atlantica, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:
https://www.atlantica.com/wp-content/uploads/documents/2020_ESG_Report.pdf
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