Case study: How ATCO creates economic value for its stakeholders
ATCO is a diversified corporation with investments all over the globe. With more than 7,100 employees and assets totalling over $24 billion, ATCO has been “Always there. Anywhere” for 75 years. ATCO embraces a long-range outlook that builds future prosperity and value for its customers, employees, share owners, and Indigenous and community partners.
This case study is based on the 2022 Sustainability Report by ATCO, 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
Generating, through its operations, sustainable value for employees, suppliers, lenders and all its stakeholders, is a top priority for ATCO. Tweet This! In order to create economic value for its stakeholders ATCO took action to:
- create economic value for employees
- create economic value for suppliers
- create economic value for lenders
- create economic value for shareholders
- create economic value for governments
- create economic value for communities
Subscribe for free and read the rest of this case study
Please subscribe to the SustainCase Newsletter to keep up to date with the latest sustainability news and gain access to over 2000 case studies. These case studies demonstrate how companies are dealing responsibly with their most important impacts, building trust with their stakeholders (Identify > Measure > Manage > Change).
With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) ATCO has identified;
- How ATCO proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by ATCO to create economic value for its stakeholders
Already Subscribed? Type your email below and click submit
What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2022 Sustainability Report ATCO identified a range of material issues, such as energy transition and innovation, public health and safety, climate change and GHG emissions, indigenous engagement, economic opportunity and reconciliation, emergency preparedness and response. Among these, creating economic value for its stakeholders stands out as a key material issue for ATCO.
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 ATCO engages with:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Community Residents and Landowners | · Open houses · Landowner and community meetings/emails · ATCO EPIC (Employees Participating in Communities) · Community investment partnerships and programmes |
| Customers and Potential Customers
| · Face-to-face meetings · Website, social media · Customer satisfaction surveys · Customer service centres · Apps (e.g. ICWHATUC) · Online outage maps and notifications |
| Indigenous Communities
| · Face-to-face meetings · Project consultation · Relationship agreements, MOUs, JVs and other partnerships · Employment and training opportunities · Community investment opportunities · Community and cultural event participation and attendance |
| Governments and Regulators
| · Meetings with all levels of government, in all regions ATCO operates · Regulatory compliance · Active involvement in multi-stakeholder discussions |
| Special Interest Groups
| · Industry memberships and associations (e.g. CGA etc.) · Conferences and events · Committees |
| Investors and Potential Investors | · Annual General Meetings · Quarterly and annual regulatory filings · Analyst meetings · Investor conferences · Investor days |
| Employees and Potential Employees
| · Townhalls and leadership communications · Employee engagement surveys (e.g. Pulse Surveys) · Career development and performance reviews · Employee groups, such as diversity equity and inclusion committees · Employee intranet · OneATCO Conference |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics ATCO engaged with its stakeholders through surveys and interviews.
What actions were taken by ATCO to create economic value for its stakeholders?
In its 2022 Sustainability Report ATCO reports that it took the following actions for creating economic value for its stakeholders:
- Creating economic value for employees
- In 2022, ATCO paid $ 599 million for employee wages and benefits.
- Creating economic value for suppliers
- In 2022, ATCO paid $ 2,035 million to suppliers.
- Creating economic value for lenders
- In 2022, ATCO paid $ 426 million to lenders.
- Creating economic value for shareholders
- In 2022, ATCO paid $ 519 million to shareholders.
- Creating economic value for governments
- In 2022, ATCO paid $ 444 million in taxes.
- Creating economic value for communities
- In 2022, ATCO spent $ 8 million in donations, in-kind contributions and sponsorships.
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
78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards
SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.
Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.
7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started
Any size business can start taking sustainability action
GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom (venue: London School of Economics)
- Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
- Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
- Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP.
- Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement
References:
This case study is based on published information by ATCO, 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:
Note to ATCO: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.