Enel recognized as the first company fully aligned with Climate Action 100+ Net Zero Company Benchmark
We, as institutional investors, (abrdn, National Trust and Robeco), leading the engagement with Enel Spa as part of the Climate Action 100+ initiative, are pleased to acknowledge that Enel Spa has become the first and only company to fully align their corporate disclosures with the Climate Action 100+ Net Zero Company Benchmark.
In March 2021, Climate Action 100+ launched its Net-Zero Company Benchmark1, defining key indicators of success for business alignment with a net zero emissions future and goals of the Paris Agreement. The Benchmark is the foundation for investors engaging with focus companies through Climate Action 100+, as it calls for robust and comparable information on how companies are realigning their business strategies and operations with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Meeting the criteria underlying the Benchmark’s indicators is a meaningful milestone for both Enel and the lead investors, which reflects the value of dialogue between corporates and investors. Enel has committed to decarbonizing in line with a 1.5°C pathway and aims to reach net zero emissions by 2040. The company’s decarbonization strategy consists of shifting towards renewable energy generation and storage; phasing out coal power generation by 2027 and natural gas, in both power generation and sales to clients, by 2040.
“This is a great achievement for Enel and it comes as a recognition of the company’s efforts towards providing climate-related disclosures that are fully aligned with the expectations of our investors,” said Francesco Starace, Enel CEO and General Manager. “It is also the demonstration that a clear climate-related strategy and a constructive dialogue between companies and shareholders can lead to meaningful progress towards reaching Net Zero commitments in line with the Paris Agreement. We look forward to continuing our cooperation with Climate Action 100+ and hope that Enel’s achievement will encourage other companies to increase their efforts in the fight against climate change.”
Carola van Lamoen, Head of Sustainable Investing at Robeco said: “We commend Enel for meeting all of the Net Zero Benchmark criteria and demonstrating leadership through its climate goals and strategy. This is a proud achievement of our long-standing engagement with Enel, which started in 2018 under the Climate Action 100+ initiative. Enel has been very responsive to our concerns and feedback throughout our dialogue. Year on year, we welcomed new steps taken in line with these, including on the acceleration of their coal-phase out timelines, adoption of emissions reduction targets aligned with a 1.5C scenario across all material emissions, reviewing their trade association memberships alignment with the goals of the Paris Agreement, and enhancing climate-related financial disclosures. We encourage Enel to continue aligning its climate action and disclosures in line with evolving investor expectations. We look forward to continuing our dialogue with Enel in the pursuit of a net zero emissions future.”
Alice Bordini Staden, Investment Committee Member, Stewardship Lead at National Trust commented: “This is a very important achievement not just for Enel, but for the National Trust, our fellow investors and Climate Action 100+ as a whole. Aligning to the Net Zero Benchmark and all its underlying strategy, targets, governance and disclosure indicators shows that engagement is a powerful tool to enable real-world decarbonisation. We are proud of Enel and their leadership for the utilities sector. We will continue to engage with Enel to raise the ambition and standards for the entire economic system.”
Kathleen Dewandeleer, Senior Sustainability Manager at abrdn said: “Aligning to 1.5 degrees and committing to a coal phase out by 2027 are important milestones for Enel in the journey to Net Zero by 2040. We see Enel as a leader for energy transition and value their continuous and open engagement with their stakeholders on the energy transition. We are pleased that Enel has chosen to closely align their commitment to decarbonise with the Climate Action100+ Net-Zero Benchmark.”