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1.1 MAIRE TECNIMONT GROUP’S NEW SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY
Starting from this year, Maire Tecnimont’s sustainability path is developing with a medium-long term vision and strategy, in line with the Group’s values and areas of excellence and with a particular drive and commitment to the energy transition. Several lines of action and a joint effort on several fronts – organizational, technological and cultural – will contribute to this challenging goal.
Our organization counts 9,000 people spread across several continents. It has a valuable asset, and one that is indispensable to enable the energy transition: knowledge of the extraordinarily multi-layered potential of chemistry. Green chemistry can be used to recreate the molecules we have become used to producing with traditional fossil-based chemistry. We have figured out how to do this and are now very quickly developing a portfolio of enabling technologies together with our subsidiary NextChem. We are combining knowledge and skills within the Group to enrich our know-how even further, also in order to mitigate the climatic impact of traditional technologies and identify solutions that can help reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. We are working intensively on disseminating our knowledge and technological offer in the parts of the world where we are present. The effect of this is one that we see increasing day by day: the creation of demand for green chemistry and the energy transition.
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At organizational level, the Sustainability office has been strengthened, a technical CO2 task force is being set up, and project groups have been created for the various lines of action of the sustainability plan, which we are launching as these pages go to press. We have initiated significant internal stakeholder engagement, and are now implementing this externally.
On the technological level, there is a great deal of activity in the research and development of our proprietary solutions, and those of which we are licensees. We are working on green platforms that symbiotically integrate diverse technologies such as those that define the “new” chemistry and integrated waste chemistry, which we will describe later in our Circular Green District Model. We are also launching projects aimed at improving the GHG emissions performance of traditional technologies. We are capitalizing on the efforts made in the area of digitalization in order to reap all its benefits, also in terms of reducing the carbon footprint of our activities.
At a cultural and educational level, our work on research, open innovation and partnerships with universities are all geared towards providing know-how, tools, new minds and new ideas for the energy transition. Similarly, we are investing a lot of energy in promoting multi-stakeholder working groups, which are essential for pooling knowledge in order to create the basis on which to build a new sector and new skills. These think-tanks and cross-sector projects are GREEN CHEMISTRY CAN BE USED TO RECREATE THE MOLECULES WE HAVE BECOME USED TO PRODUCING WITH TRADITIONAL FOSSIL-BASED CHEMISTRY.
strategically important in bringing together diverse sectors and supply chains so we can all share the same visions and languages.
This sustainability journey includes our commitment to the social arena: the well-being, health and professional growth of our people, the value we bring to the communities we operate in, and the promotion of multiculturalism as an asset. The challenge of diversity and inclusion is even more important in our sector than in others. Ours is a multinational company that needs to consider how the world is evolving with a modern, unbiased outlook. We need to understand which skills and talents will be most needed to face the challenges of the future, which skill mix will be the winning one to face the great changes that are now underway, and which to some extent have been accelerated by the pandemic. We must create the conditions in which everyone has equal access to any role within the company, and we believe that this is a factor of success.
The social footprint of our business and of our Group will be strongly influenced by the future path towards the creation of a truly multicultural, inclusive community within our organization. It will also be increasingly determined by the future impact – in terms of economic, employment-related and social value, and improved quality of life and education – on regions and local communities. We must work together with our suppliers in a process of shared steps to continue to improve this positive impact as it will become a common success factor for us, for them and also for our clients.
RESPONDING TO THE PANDEMIC WITH AN EVEN MORE AMBITIOUS SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY
The pandemic that is still gripping the world in 2021 has widened social inequality everywhere, and will continue to do so. Our task is to ensure that through our activities we can contribute, as far as we are able to, to improving the living conditions of the people who live in the countries where we operate, working together with our suppliers on the projects we complete for our clients. Over the coming years, as our sustainability strategy evolves, we will have to continue to take into account the strong impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially on a social level, and the effects it will continue to have on the quality of life of the world’s population.
Our social responsibility projects will also be aimed at providing aid – particularly in the geographical areas where we are most present – for specific public health situations, and at addressing the issue of educational poverty as this is a discriminating factor in the cultural growth and socio-economic well-being of large sections of the population. The pandemic found some of us better prepared than others. We were able to tackle it thanks to a worldwide smart working platform that was already operational, and also thanks to the digitization of engineering processes. We are now perfectly capable of managing complex projects with international teams in an innovative way. We are fully capable of tackling global problems such as the energy transition by using a global approach and drawing on a portfolio of partnerships with an international reach but attention to the local aspect, thanks to teams who have been working digitally on international projects for a year now.
We have seen how, in the paradigm shift of the energy transition and in the one caused by the pandemic, a different way of looking at a global economy is emerging: one that is sustainable and based on the three pillars of environment, economy and society. We will be
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moving towards an economy that considers the impact of distance on the climate and that recognizes the value of local resources. An economy that designs its infrastructure projects in a way that minimizes transport emissions and optimizes the exploitation of second-generation resources that by their nature are fragmented and never found in large quantities in the same place. In this paradigm shift, other types of intelligence will also be needed, in addition to those which are indispensable to the linear economy: more holistic skills will be required (think of the huge problem of supplying the world with second-generation biogenic feedstocks for energy, and the many sectors affected by this, such as food and agriculture). Skills will need to be more practical than theoretical (think of the difference between waste as feedstock, in terms of homogeneity and consistency of characteristics compared to fossil feedstock). Networking, engagement and open innovation will become more important (just think of what transitioning to a hydrogen economy will mean for large industries). Solutions to energy problems in the renewables sector and in the bioeconomy have very different dynamics from country to country: the fact that the Maire Tecnimont Group is multinational and has a multicultural base will take on even more value and meaning from this perspective.
The climate crisis and the pandemic will push the world along a more sustainable path. At different speeds, the whole world is moving in this direction. The business world, industry and even finance, are well aware of this. The serious, concrete commitments made in this direction by businesses are now being rewarded. Conversely, the effects of underestimating the risks caused by not taking this path are now beginning to be felt. E
OUR STRATEGY HAS DEVELOPED IN LINE WITH OUR STRATEGIC INDUSTRIAL PLAN, WHICH HAS FOUR CLUSTERS AND AN IMPORTANT ROLE G O V RNANCE GOVERN A N C E FOR GOVERNANCE, ACROSS ALL AREAS OF THE BUSINESS. CLIMATE, CIRCULAR ECONOMY, ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
OUR PEOPLE AND THE VALUE OF H&S AND DIVERSITY VALUE FOR TERRITORIES AND COMMUNITIES
E C
GOVERN A N CREATION OF INNOVATION THAT BRINGS WELL-BEING G O V E RNANCE
We must therefore invest in actions that will create value in the medium and long term. Maire Tecnimont signed several pacts and manifestos during 2020 with international bodies – such as the European Alliance for a Green Recovery promoted by the President of the Environment Commission of the European Parliament, which unites many international companies, governments, universities and experts – and Italian organizations such as the Foundation for Sustainable Development (of which we are members) and the Symbola Foundation. We have embarked on a journey that we are passionate about, that we believe in and that we trust we can derive great benefits from, in terms of resilience and growth.
Our priority goals towards 2025 are as follows:
BE ENABLER OF THE ENERGY TRANSITION
BE ENABLER OF A SUSTAINABLE SOCIAL PROGRESS
Contribute to a SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY through a wide range of technological solutions for green, low carbon and bio fuels Enable CIRCULARITY
OF PLASTICS
through recycling technologies that improve quality and address the nonrecyclable fractions Enable the transition to a HYDROGEN ECONOMY through a wide mix of technological solutions
Contribuite to a LOWER CARBON ECONOMY through solutions for a more sustainable use of gas and for lower carbon intensity processes
Promote OPEN INNOVATION AND DIGITALIZATION as a lever for a sustainable progress
Be sector champion for HSE PERFORMANCES
Promote a real MULTI-CULTURAL AND INCLUSIVE company environment
Be a VALUE MULTIPLIER in the countries where we operate
In order to realize this ambitious path, which includes the setting of challenging qualitative and quantitative objectives for the coming years, we are extensively involving all the Maire Tecnimont Group companies.
Our sustainability policy is inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the principles of the Global Compact, which we adopted several years ago.
As a compass for our sustainability journey, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) help us to stay focused on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets. The acceleration of climate change has made the SDGs more real and urgent and the current international debate calls for a faster energy transition.
The 2021–2025 Industrial Plan approved by the Maire Tecnimont Board of Directors includes ESG (environmental, social and governance) indicators linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. As of this year, the Plan sets out and prioritizes the main topics on the basis of the various business lines and the relevant SDGs. The plan matches the economic and financial goals to the sustainability ones, allowing for integrated strategic planning.
A sound sustainability vision is not only a powerful risk management trigger for the Maire Tecnimont Group, but it also helps us to be increasingly resilient to the ever-changing energy scenario in which we operate. It also shapes our approach as we seek to generate shared value for our stakeholders over the long term.
