What are the material issues the company has identified?  

In its 2020 Integrated Annual Report Capital Power identified a range of material issues, such as climate change and carbon footprint, innovation, sustainable sourcing, water management. Among these, creating economic value for its stakeholders stands out as a key material issue for Capital Power.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

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 Capital Power engages with: 

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement (in 2020)
Industry Associations & Non-Government Organisations	·      Memberships in public-private partnerships in Canada and the United States ·      Participation in consortiums and working groups related to the energy sector ·      Ongoing participation in industry meetings, seminars, thought-leadership panels, academic research and conferences both in person and online
Local Partners and Suppliers	·      Ongoing participation through meetings, conferences and seminars ·      Daily operations, including site visits and inspections ·      Meetings, phone calls and emails for questions, issues and concerns ·      Meetings to review and/or negotiate contracts and/or requirements ·      Initial conversations with suppliers and contractors around sustainable supply chain
Operational/ Development Communities & Indigenous Groups	·      Stakeholder engagement programmes, including proactive communications and engagement through letters, phone calls, town halls, open houses and surveys ·      Meetings, phone calls and correspondence (letters and emails) with landowners as needed ·      Customised community investment programmes based on geographical locations ·      Communication of community investment through external website, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter ·      Meetings, phone calls and correspondence (letters and emails) with Indigenous communities
Employees & Labour Unions	·      Ongoing engagement through organisation-wide town halls with CEO and executive question and answer sessions ·      Business-unit specific vice president town halls ·      Frequent communication through internal website, email and video ·      Training and workshops ·      Recognition, awards and contests ·      Employee pulse surveys related to COVID-19 ·      New employee orientations, as required ·      Summer Work Experience Programme (SWEP) orientation and training programmes ·      Employee engagement sessions on climate change and clean technology, ethics week, mental wellness and sustainability disclosures ·      Meetings and engagement with labour unions related to collective agreements considering impacts related to COVID-19
Government & Regulators	·      Meetings, website, correspondence and/or phone calls related to regulatory compliance ·      Formal submission of regulatory filings and/or responses to requests for information ·      Collaboration on government and/or industry campaigns, conferences and/or seminars ·      Operational site visits on request
Investors	·      Board outreach meetings with institutional investors (Board Chair and Chair of the People, Culture and Governance Committee) ·      Annual and quarterly meetings, phone calls and/or emails for questions, issues and concerns related to ESG and/or financial performance ·      Annual General Meeting ·      Credit rating agency engagement ·      Investor road shows and Investor Day ·      Executive participation at institutional investor conferences ·      Third-party ESG engagement and surveys ·      Reports such as Capital Power’s Integrated Annual Report aligned with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), Climate Change Disclosure Report (TCFD) and CDP

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Capital Power established a cross-functional Sustainability Committee, led by its Chief Sustainability Officer, which engaged directly with 110 individual stakeholders.

What actions were taken by Capital Power to create economic value for its stakeholders?

In its 2020 Integrated Annual Report Capital Power reports that it took the following actions for creating economic value for its stakeholders:

• Creating economic value for employees
• In 2020, Capital Power spent $171 million in staff costs and employee benefits.

• Creating economic value for providers of capital
• In 2020, Capital Power spent $137 million in interest paid, $242 million in dividends paid and $63 million in income taxes paid.

• Creating economic value for communities
• In 2020, Capital Power spent $5 million in community investments.

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

See upcoming training dates.
References:

This case study is based on published information by Capital Power, 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.capitalpower.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2020-Capital-Power-Integrated-Annual-Report.pdf

Note to Capital Power: 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.