Reviews the environmental and social standards practices of the utility, and their adherence to local legislation and international best practices. Reviews also utility’s contribution to the Sustainable Development goals.
This activity reviews the environmental and social policies, standards, and operational practices of the utility, and their adherence to local and national legislation and international best practices. Reviews also utility’s contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
Utilities seek to integrate environmental and social concerns into the company management, so that a business can become more effective in reducing its impacts on the environment, workers, and communities. The impacts that utilities can cause are diverse and can have several perspectives. Therefore, for companies in different sectors, a good reference has been to seek as a guide the Sustainable Development Goals defined by the United Nations or even the social and environmental standards/frameworks defined by international financiers such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.
For utilities, it is important to apply high social and environmental standards, as it may have a high impact on the environment in which they operate. Far beyond the environmental and social obligations that local legislation may impose, the adoption of good practices in this area can contribute to increasing non-discrimination, transparency and socio-environmental responsibility, social participation of the community in which they operate and improving their governance, in addition to being able to encourage a virtuous cycle of sustainable development in the projects they carry out.
In many regions, the utility may be the only agent with the technical and economic capacity to promote social and sustainable development in the region. Thus, it is important that the utility include in its scope of action policies to promote equality and non-discrimination, improving access for all people, including the poor and disadvantaged, to services and benefits such as education, health, social protection, infrastructure, affordable energy, employment, finance, services, and productive assets. This can also encompass actions to remove barriers against those who are often excluded from the development process, such as women, children, people with disabilities, youth, and minorities.
This activity of environmental, social aspects, and safeguards in the utilities is currently under development and will be incorporated soon.