Beyond renewable energy: Boralex issues report on corporate social responsibility, outlines ambitions, celebrates recent achievements
February 23 2022 - 7:30AM
Boralex Inc. (“Boralex” or the “Company”) (TSX: BLX) issued its
2021 corporate social responsibility (CSR) report describing its
performance on environmental, societal and governance (ESG) issues
over the past year.
Going beyond renewable
energy
When the Company published its first CSR report
in 2020, Boralex adopted a strategy built around 10 ESG priorities.
Boralex then immediately integrated that strategy and its inherent
ESG criteria into the overall Strategic Plan, signaling the
importance of CSR in achieving its objectives.
“Our corporate social responsibility and our
strategic directions are what guide our business decisions,” said
Patrick Decostre, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boralex.
“To truly deal with the climate crisis, it is no longer enough to
simply produce electricity from renewable sources. Producing that
energy sustainably, while limiting our impact and creating value
for all our stakeholders is just as important.”
2021 highlights
- Reported a decline in Scope 1 and 2
emissions since 2019 in first carbon footprint assessment;
- Prevented release of 352,666 tons
of CO2 in 2021 through renewable energy generation, up 24% from
2020;
- Hired a CSR Director as a CEO
direct report and created a CSR committee;
- Updated our sustainable procurement
charter to clarify CSR expectations for suppliers and signed Solar
Industry Forced Labor Prevention Pledge, a formal, collective
commitment to help keep the solar supply chain free of forced
labour;
- Updated senior executives’ variable
compensation to add occupational health and safety performance
target on top of employee engagement target introduced in
2018;
- Maintained 36% representation of
women on the Board of Directors;
- Renewed and extended $525 million
corporate credit facility and letter of credit facility for
remaining term of five years, with sustainable financing features
(ESG criteria) and $150 million under an accordion clause.
Engagement, a key factor in our
ambitions
Boralex has committed to ambitious CSR
objectives. As strong corporate governance is fundamental to a
successful CSR strategy, the Company put an internal framework in
place in 2021, hiring a director reporting to the President and
Chief Executive Officer and establishing a CSR Committee.
“Management at Boralex is fully committed to our
CSR approach,” said Mihaela Stefanov, Director, Corporate Social
Responsibility. “That commitment can be seen every day in our
business decisions, our culture and how we go about doing our work.
It is why we know that we have the means to achieve our ambition,
which is to be the leading CSR reference in our industry.”
In 2021, Boralex set itself ambitious targets,
including:
- Achieve a level of 27.5% for women in management positions by
2025;
- Maintain a level of at least 30% women on the Board of
Directors;
- Place women in 35% of open positions in 2022;
- Reach 781,773 tons of CO2 avoided through its renewable energy
production in 2025.
The Company plans to set additional targets for
its CSR priorities in 2022. Earlier this year, Boralex also began
an analysis of the physical risks related to climate change, in
line with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related
Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
The 2021 corporate social responsibility
report is available on Boralex’s website.
Boralex’s 2021 CSR report is aligned with the
TCFD recommendations and the Sustainability Accounting Standards
Board (SASB) framework. As Boralex has a strong presence in France,
the report also takes into account the extra-financial performance
framework in that country (Déclaration de performance
extra-financière, or DPEF). Finally, it indicates the links to the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and indicators of the Global
Reporting Initiative.
Boralex participates directly and voluntarily in
several external disclosure platforms, including EcoVadis, the ESG
Corporate Rating of the Institutional Shareholder Services group of
companies (ISS), CDP and the S&P Global Corporate
Sustainability Assessment.
About Boralex
At Boralex, we have been providing affordable
renewable energy accessible to everyone for over 30 years. As a
leader in the Canadian market and France’s largest independent
producer of onshore wind power, we also have facilities in the
United States and development projects in the United Kingdom. Over
the past five years, our installed capacity has more than doubled
to 2.5 GW. We are developing a portfolio of more than 3 GW in
wind and solar projects and nearly 200 MW in storage projects,
guided by our values and our corporate social responsibility (CSR)
approach. Through profitable and sustainable growth, Boralex is
actively participating in the fight against global warming. Thanks
to our fearlessness, our discipline, our expertise and
our diversity, we continue to be an industry
leader. Boralex’s shares are listed on the Toronto Stock
Exchange under the ticker symbol BLX.
For more information, visit www.boralex.com or
www.sedar.com. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
For more information:
Media |
Investors |
Isabelle Fontaine |
Stéphane Milot |
Director, Public Affairs and Communications |
Senior Director – Investor
Relations |
Boralex Inc. |
Boralex Inc. |
819-363-6338 |
514-213-1045 |
isabelle.fontaine@boralex.com |
stephane.milot@boralex.com |
Source: Boralex Inc.
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