Our Responsibility. Report 2013 XXXXX U1 Our Responsibility
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Our Responsibility. Report 2013 XXXXX U1 Our Responsibility. Report 2013 KAPITEL HEAD EARNING TRUST. Our Responsibility. Report 2013 CONTENT Interview with Peter Terium 1 About this Report 66 Report Profile 66 Our Greatest Challenges 3 Independent Assurance Report 68 Corporate Challenges 3 Index According to GRI Environmental Challenges 6 (Global Reporting Initiative) 71 Social Challenges 13 GRI Level Check Statement 73 Governance Challenges 16 UN Global Compact Progress Report 2013 74 CR Strategy and Management 20 Group Portrait 20 Key Figures at a Glance 76 Value Chain: activities and challenges 23 Our Regions 26 Contact and Imprint 79 Corporate Responsibility Strategy 33 Materiality Analysis 2013 35 Our Company 80 CR Management 37 Additional Management Systems 38 Stakeholder Dialogue 41 CR Programme 43 Our CR Areas for Action 46 Climate Protection 46 Energy Efficiency 48 Biodiversity/Environmental Protection 50 Community Engagement 52 Customer Trust 54 Employees 56 Supply Chain 58 Occupational Safety and Healthcare Management 60 Security of Supply 62 Innovation 64 Our Responsibility. Report 2013 Interview with Peter Terium 1 INTERVIEW WITH PETER TERIUM CEO of RWE AG Mr Terium, the restructuring of the European energy RWE wants to be a partner for the energy transition. system is moving forward. Like any major process of But do our citizens want RWE to be a partner? change, there will be winners and losers. Which side We have a lot of supporters. More than 23 mil- will RWE be on at the end of the journey? lion people put their trust in RWE’s expertise It would not be good if the energy transition every day: our customers. Our German and split everyone into winners and losers. We need Dutch sales companies are achieving high to take everybody with us: energy companies, scores for customer satisfaction. industry and local citizens – to secure a broad consensus for this huge challenge. In the United Kingdom, on the other hand …. … we need to do better. Even here, though, we Then everything will stay the same? have made good progress. We need to earn No, the market share that RWE will have for trust there, just like everywhere else. Not just electricity generation will fall, even if we with our customers but with all stakeholders. expand renewables. We are therefore develop- ing new lines of business: managing photovol- How is this supposed to succeed? taic plants and wind turbines for our customers, Three things are important. Firstly: We need to building up smart grids and products for saving be better listeners and communicate more energy. We are now the biggest German energy openly. Secondly: We need to keep our prom- services provider with sales of more than 500 ises. Thirdly: We need to develop innovative million euros. We want to build on that. products and services which our customers find useful and which protect the environment. The energy transition is a German project. What is hap- pening in other RWE markets? Where do you gain the conviction that RWE will negoti- A great deal. The European climate policy is ate the transition successfully? The most recent sto- making sure of that. Less CO2 and more energy ryline in the media was that RWE lacks funds and ideas. efficiency are important issues that RWE is However, the saying also goes that necessity is engaging with. Measured by capacities, we are the mother of invention. Yes, our financial the number seven for renewable energies in options are limited, but we are not short of Europe. Government now has to deliver a Euro- good ideas about how to lead on a low budget. pean initiative for integration of renewables. The Innovation Index of the European School of This is important – not least so that costs do not Management and Technology ranks RWE as one spiral out of control. of the three most innovative energy utilities in Europe. Our employees are working on the energy world of tomorrow. Our Responsibility. Report 2013 Interview with Peter Terium 2 “We need to earn trust” Concerning the issue of employees: The wind is blow- like the Global Compact of the United Nations ing colder for the workforce. Job cuts and restructuring in order to be in a position to identify societal lead to uncertainties. Are these the right answers to changes at an early stage and across national the challenges posed by the energy transition? borders. Firstly, they are the answers that are necessary for our financial situation. We are in negative For years, environmental organisations have been criti- territory for the first time in more than 60 years. cising the fact that RWE sets the wrong priorities. Putting our head in the sand is not an option Should the Group have listened to its critical stakehold- and carrying on as before is no good either. We ers at an earlier stage? need to bring down costs. And that means we We have been intensively involved in building need to have a smaller workforce. However, it is gas-fired power stations generating low levels also clear that all the changes need to be agreed of CO2 emissions, we have had the courage to on socially acceptable principles and in close go to sea with offshore wind power and we cooperation with employee representatives. have invested in renewable energies in South- ern Europe. These are all ecologically sustaina- RWE is confronted by massive challenges in its core ble lines of business which are unfortunately business. How much time and scope is there for sus- not reaping economic benefits at present for a tainability? number of reasons. The picture is more complex Sustainability is core business if we want to be than it is sometimes made to appear. a partner of society as a whole. And we are moving forward. Our CO2 emissions have come However, it is correct to say that we recognised down and we have increased our energy effi- the business with photovoltaics too late in Ger- ciency. We have continued to operate at a high many – and it is now all the more important for level in areas where we have been good in the us to embrace this technology wholeheartedly. past – such as security of supply and community Management and marketing are key factors engagement. here. That is where things will be happening in the future. // How will RWE ensure that the company takes appropri- ate account of the concerns and expectations of society? We hold regular dialogues with representatives from different parts of the community in order to find out about their perception of RWE. We want to intensify this dialogue in future and get The interview was conducted by the Executive Board more involved here. We are Dr Matthias Kussin and Daniel Schneiders, also engaging in major international initiatives RWE Corporate Responsibility Our Responsibility. Report 2013 Our Greatest Challenges 3 Corporate Challenges OUR GREATEST CHALLENGES RWE is currently in a very difficult phase in the history of the company. We are earning less and less money with our conventional power stations. This trend will continue in the coming years. We cannot and must not rely on an improvement in this situation solely as a result of changes in framework conditions. It is therefore important that we undergo change within the company. And this also means that as a credible partner of society we need to develop new areas of business that are sustainable and enhance trust in our company. Corporate Challenges The transition begins in the company for expanding renewable energies. Investments in Up to a few years ago, electricity in most parts of offshore or onshore wind farms also give rise to North-western Europe was primarily generated in larger generating units. However, the proportion of large-scale nuclear, coal-fired and gas-fired power smaller units for electricity production is rising at the stations. Over the course of time, new power stations same time, for example with the installation of solar with ever greater capacity were constructed – also panels on the roofs of residential accommodation. with the aim of making the most of the efficiency The driving force is the political policy of producing benefits provided by bigger units. Deregulation in electricity over the long term without generating the European electricity markets at the end of the CO2 emissions and at the same time reducing 1990s provided a further driver for this development. dependence on limited fossil fuels. The biggest and most efficient conventional power stations offered the prospect of the greatest business Society wants to play a role success in the competitive European energy market. The political agendas are supported by a change in RWE pursued this logic by launching the biggest consciousness within society. Apart from efficiency investment programme in its history with the con- and cost awareness, the drive towards decentraliza- struction of large, modern coal- and gas-fired power tion, supplier diversity and self-determination have stations with even greater capacity. also become important benchmarks for issues relating to the supply of energy. Many players are demanding Structural change in energy generation greater involvement in the generation of electricity The economic foundation underpinning the genera- and they are accepting an increase in energy costs as tion of electricity with coal and gas in ever bigger a consequence. At the same time, many energy-inten- units has meanwhile been increasingly dismantled. sive companies have also constructed electricity and A key reason here has been the government subsidies heat-generation plants to meet their own energy needs. Our Responsibility. Report 2013 Our Greatest Challenges 4 Corporate Challenges New products and services for our customers and the energy world of tomorrow world of tomorrow New products and services for our customers and the energy The market share will fall Distribution of value added This entails wide-ranging consequences for RWE.