Hey guys, in this blog post Im not going to talk about irrelevant social media families such as the Kardashians. Im going to talk about a company that helped restore my faith in business. Some time ago, my father talked to me about a Spanish company, with their revenues in the billions of euros, that wanted to buy his company. Anyways, after he told me the name of the company, I started looking into it and it seemed amazing. Just recently, in my Innovation and Sustainability class, we were asked to research a company and basically critique their business practices through a sustainability lens. This company is so great that I want to tell you about it.
Acciona is a Spanish company that has several business divisions: Infrastructure, Energy, Water, and Other Businesses. They build roads and bridges, to harvesting and providing clean energy from those wind things and solar panels, desalinate and basically clean water and provide it to millions of people, and even has a fund management and investing business. They basically are so diverse that they can do anything and everything. However I thought that a construction company needs to “bad” and pollute or have an environmental footprint, and I was right… until a certain point.
Several of Acciona´s business practices do pollute and release GHG emissions, however, through their other businesses they mitigate that impact. In 2016, the company became carbon neutral. Acciona also works on mitigating their social impact and their environmental impact. This is the first time I have seen this but the company has a Social Impact Methodology, where they asses the negative and positive consequences of their business practices. Through their sustainable business model, they strive for sustainability.
The company discloses their sustainability reports for years now. They form part and signed onto the Paris Agreement. Acciona also helps achieve several of the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals. Basically, the company does everything that EVERY SINGLE COMPANY needs to do. Even their instagram is on point. Thank you and hope your faith is restored in business like mine is.
(Photo from Acciona.com)
References:
Acciona Media. (2019). Social Impact Management. Retrieved March 10, 2019 from <https://www.acciona.com/sustainability/society/social-impact/>
Hi Federico! Thanks for sharing this company with us. I’m glad that you know this company, even though you are not from Spain. I could be influenced by my roots, but I also think that Acciona is a great company. Moreover, I have one friend who is working in a project of Acciona here in Vancouver and I talked with him about the company. Did you know that ACCIONA’s commitment to sustainability it is reflected in its contribution toward meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), that we’ve seen in class? That friend of mine explained it to me and I also found a space in their webpage where they go in depth about it.
https://www.acciona.com/sustainability/sustainable-development-goals/
Hi Fede,
Great post and a great example of a company to promote as sustainable. The Spanish energy sector is somehow difficult to understand, being like a monopoly. A small number of companies control the sector (ENDESA). The thing is that the infrastructure is owned by Red Eléctrica which is supposed to be a public company that rents the facilities to the electric companies. From this, you could extrapolate the great barriers to entry in the sector as big companies are established as partners of Red Eléctrica. What Acciona is doing is investing in new sources of energy and has done a great job with the renewable energies creating and promoting these clean energies. They have been successful in centering sustainability as a core value and are a great example of how sustainability promotes business.