Case study: How Copel creates economic value for its stakeholders
Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel reached its 68th year of operation in 2022 and has its activities integrated with activities in the businesses of generation, transmission, distribution, and trade of energy and natural gas. Copel provides an essential service of electricity distribution and generates regional development, creating sustainable value for all its stakeholders. Tweet This!
This case study is based on the 2022 Integrated Report by Copel, 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
In 2022, Copel generated BRL 15,221.9 million in total added value. In order to create economic value for its stakeholders Copel took action to:
- create economic value for employees
- create economic value for shareholders
- create economic value for the government
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Copel has identified;
- How Copel proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Copel to create economic value for its stakeholders
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2022 Integrated Report Copel identified a range of material issues, such as corporate governance, risk management and cybersecurity, environmental management and actions against climate change, customer satisfaction, social responsibility. Among these, creating economic value for its stakeholders stands out as a key material issue for Copel.
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 Copel engages with:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Shareholders and Investors | · Investor Relations area |
| Customers | · Online and in-person channels |
| Society
| · For each new enterprise, studies of the socioeconomic environment are conducted as part of the licensing process, with a frequency that varies according to the complexity of the projects |
| Regulatory Bodies and Sector Entities | · Areas dedicated to the relationship with regulatory agencies and sector entities |
| Employees
| · People Portal on intranet and periodic emails · Organisational climate survey Great Place to Work (GPTW) · Negotiations of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) coordinated by the company’s human resources area |
| Partners and Suppliers
| · Supply management areas · Dedicated channels such as: Website for suppliers and partners, Confidential Communication Channel and the Sustainability Portal |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics Copel engaged with its stakeholders through a survey.
What actions were taken by Copel to create economic value for its stakeholders?
In its 2022 Integrated Report Copel reports that it took the following actions for creating economic value for its stakeholders:
- Creating economic value for employees
- In 2022, 8.5% and 19.1% of BRL 15,221.9 million of total added value generated by Copel went to staff and outsourced workers respectively.
- Creating economic value for shareholders
- In 2022, 6.4% of BRL 15,221.9 million of total added value generated by Copel went to shareholders.
- Creating economic value for the government
- In 2022, 64.8% of BRL 15,221.9 million of total added value generated by Copel went to the government.
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 Copel, 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:
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