Sustainability Report 2023
Overview
Planet
People & Society
Responsible Governance
Appendix
Sustainability highlights in 2023
Sustainability highlights in 2023
Foreword
Our report
Our material topics and sustainability strategy
How Uniper contributes to the SDGs
Ratings and rankings
New strategy
In the summer, Uniper announced its new strategic alignment: from the 2024 fiscal year, Uniper will focus on the three segments Green Generation, Flexible Generation, and Greener Commodities.
2040
As part of the new strategy, Uniper now aims to be climate-neutralGroup-wide by 2040 - ten years earlier than previously planned.
-24%
We reduced the direct CO2 emissions from our power plants by 24% (Scope 1).
Pride Champion
Uniper earned the gold Pride Champion seal through its participation in the German Uhlala Pride Index Audit.
6%
The LNG import terminal in Wilhelmshaven met about 6% of Germany's gas needs in 2023.
0
Uniper had no severe accidents in 2023.
Human Rights Officer
Uniper's Human Rights Officer was appointed in 2023 to ensure the effective management of human rights and environmental risks.
5
Uniper had five dialogues with NGOs in 2023 to discuss the issues related to our business.
74%
Uniper purchased a larger percentage of coal (74%) from direct Bettercoal suppliers in 2023, an increase from 56% in 2022.
Uniper | 2 |
Sustainability Report 2023 |
Overview
Planet
People & Society
Responsible Governance
Appendix
Sustainability highlights in 2023
Foreword
Diversified generation portfolio
Our report
Our material topics and
Net capacity by fuel type (GW)1
Hard coal2 6.2
Net capacity by country and fuel type (GW)1
sustainability strategy
How Uniper contributes to the SDGs
Ratings and rankings
Nuclear 1.4 | ||||||
22.4 | 8.5 Gas | |||||
Hydro 3.6 | GW | |||||
Other 2.8 | ||||||
Net electricity generation volumes by technology (TWh)
Hard coal2 12.7 | 52.7 | |||||
Nuclear 9.2 | 18.9 Gas | |||||
Other 0.0 | TWh | |||||
Hydro 12.0
- Accounting view, status as of December 31, 2023.
- FY 2023 hard coal volumes incl. 0.4 TWh co-feed biomass.
Hydro Nuclear
Hard coal2 Natural gas
Other
Sweden
4.2 GW
United Kingdom
6.4 GW
Netherlands
1.6 GW
Germany | Hungary |
0.4 GW | |
9.8 GW | |
Uniper
Sustainability Report 2023
3
Overview
Planet
People & Society
Responsible Governance
Appendix
Foreword
Sustainability highlights in 2023
Foreword
Our report
Our material topics and sustainability strategy
How Uniper contributes to the SDGs
Ratings and rankings
Looking back at 2023
As the CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer, I am pleased to present Uniper's eighth Sustainability Report. It is a testament to our dedication to systematically improving sustainability performance across all facets of our operations and supply chains. I am proud to share the progress we have made.
2023 was an exciting year for Uniper. In August we announced our new strategy:"Accelerating the energy transition: flexible, balanced, bespoke." Europe wants to reduce its greenhouse- gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Germany aims to be climate-neutral by 2045. Uniper wants to achieve this already by 2040. This is a truly mammoth task. But we consider Uniper to be very well positioned for these changes. We are playing a decisive role in transforming the energy system, which you can read about in this report.
Throughout 2023, we made significant strides in various aspects of sustainability. Uniper was named as one of the world's best employers and earned the gold Pride Champion seal. We carried out several projects that enhance biodiversity and promoted activities that support both the physical and mental health of our employees. We continued to discuss ESG risks and impacts with several international NGOs and high-risk suppliers. These are just a few examples.
Uniper's sustainability journey is ongoing, and I recognize that there is always room for improvement. As we move forward, we remain dedicated to finding innovative solutions and collaborating with stakeholders to address the most pressing sustainability challenges of our time.
I would like to express my gratitude to all our employees who have contributed to our sustainability efforts. Together, we can create a more sustainable future for generations to come.
Best wishes,
Michael Lewis
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer
Uniper | 4 |
Sustainability Report 2023 |
Sustainability 2023
E Overview | 5 | E Planet | 14 | E People & Society | 37 | E Responsible Governance 59 | E Appendix | 82 | |||||
E Sustainability highlights in 2023 | E | Climate change and | E | Secure and affordable | E | Corporate governance | E | Key Figures | |||||
greenhouse gas emissions | energy supply | ||||||||||||
E | Foreword | E Business ethics and compliance | E | Disclaimer | |||||||||
E Emissions to air, land, and water | E | Human rights | |||||||||||
E | Our report | E | Stakeholder engagement | E | Publication details | ||||||||
E | Energy efficiency | E | Just transition | ||||||||||
E Our material topics and | E | Innovation | E | Contact us | |||||||||
sustainability strategy | E | Water use and optimization | E | Health, safety, and well-being | |||||||||
E | Digitalization | ||||||||||||
E | How Uniper contributes | E | Circular economy and | E Fair and attractive employer | |||||||||
to the SDGs | waste management | E Customer rights and satisfaction | |||||||||||
E Diversity, equity, and inclusion | |||||||||||||
E | Ratings and rankings | E | Biodiversity | ||||||||||
E | Corporate citizenship | ||||||||||||
E | Continually improving our | ||||||||||||
environmental performance |
Uniper | 5 |
Sustainability Report 20231 |
Overview
Planet
People & Society
Responsible Governance
Appendix
Sustainability highlights in 2023
Foreword
Our report
Our material topics and sustainability strategy
How Uniper contributes to the SDGs
Ratings and rankings
Our report
Uniper has published an annual Sustainability Report for each year since 2016, when we became an independent company. This is therefore our eighth Sustainability Report. It is available in English and German. It presents information about our most material sustainability topics, how we manage them, and what we achieved in the reporting period. The reporting period is the calendar year 2023.
Majority shareholders
The majority shareholder of Uniper SE is the Federal Republic of Germany, with a 99.12% stake in Uniper. This was the result of the financial stabilization pack- age, which totaled around €13.5 billion and the acquisition of the Uniper share package from Fortum.
Our report
This report's description of our materiality assessment and management approach reflects the Global Reporting Initiative's standards (GRI). The report uses GRI indicators to disclose information on selected issues; their use is referenced in each instance. We are working toward reporting 100% in accordance with the GRI Standards: Core Option to provide our stakeholders with an even more comprehensive overview. The sections of this report that fulfill a GRI standard are identified with the corresponding standard in the GRI Index, which is published together with this report on the Uniper website.
Uniper's material issues have been clustered into three impact areas: Planet, People & Society, and Responsible Governance. This report is structured according to these three impact areas.
This Sustainability Report is published as a PDF, which can be downloaded from our website. Uniper also reports on its sustainability progress in interim quarterly reporting.
This report supersedes the Uniper Sustainability Report 2022.
Personnel changes in the Supervisory Board and the Board of Management
Personnel changes in the Uniper Supervisory Board and the Board of Management occurred in 2023. On January 20, 2023, the Supervisory Board of Uniper SE appointed Dr. Jutta A. Dönges to the Board of Management of Uniper SE as CFO effective March 1, 2023. Dr. Jutta A. Dönges, who had been a member of Uniper SE's Supervisory Board since December 2022, resigned from the Supervisory Board of Uniper SE effective at the end of February 2023. On March 1, 2023, the new Chief Operating Officer, Holger Kreetz, also joined Uniper's Board of Management. Holger Kreetz was previously head of Uniper's Asset Management division. On June 1, 2023, Michael Lewis started at Uniper as the new CEO and, due to the strategic importance of sustainable business development for Uniper as a whole, he also assumed the role of Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO). Carsten Poppinga completed Uniper's Board of Management, joining as the new Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) on August 1, 2023.
Dr. Gerhard Holtmeier, who had been Managing Director of Uniper SE's parent company, UBG Uniper Beteiligungsholding GmbH, with its registered office in Berlin (Charlottenburg District Court, HRB 248168 B), since December 2022, joined the Supervisory Board of Uniper SE as a new member effective March 21, 2023. He was nominated by the Federal Ministry of Finance and UBG to succeed Dr. Jutta A. Dönges on the Supervisory Board. The Düsseldorf District Court had appointed Dr. Gerhard Holtmeier and additional shareholder representatives as members of the Supervisory Board. Shareholders then formally elected the initially court-appointed shareholder representatives to the Supervisory Board at the Annual General Meeting on May 24, 2023. At its inaugural meeting on May 24, 2023, the Supervisory Board subsequently elected Tom Blades as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Prof. Dr. Ines Zenke was elected Deputy Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board. Harald Seegatz also holds the office of Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board as an employee representative.
Uniper | 6 |
Sustainability Report 2023 |
Overview
Planet
People & Society
Responsible Governance
Appendix
Sustainability highlights in 2023
Our material topics and sustainability strategy
Uniper materiality matrix 2023
Foreword
Our report
Our material topics and sustainability strategy
How Uniper contributes to the SDGs
Ratings and rankings
Uniper
Sustainability Report 2023
Our strategy and purpose are fully dedicated to sustainability. We once again performed an extensive materiality analysis in 2023 to reassess which sustainability topics are most material for Uniper.
Materiality assessment
Understanding our stakeholders' views and expectations is crucial to Uniper's success and the public's acceptance of our operations. It is also of great importance for Uniper to understand its impact on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. We conduct an annual materiality assessment to identify which issues our sustainability efforts should focus on most. An issue's materiality reflects its relevance to our business, our stakeholders, and the estimated magnitude of its impact on Uniper and of Uniper's impact on the issue.
The first dimension of the materiality assess- ment, business impact, involves an in-depth study to assess the impact of a number of eco- nomic, environmental, and social issues on Uniper and the impact of Uniper's business activities on the issues. The issues are evaluated in relation to their significance from the standpoint of the law, the public interest, Uniper's competi- tors, and ESG ratings. Correlations between the issues and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are also examined. An update of
the business impact study was performed in 2023 to take into account relevant developments.
The second dimension of the materiality assess- ment, stakeholder expectations, considers the view of Uniper's internal and external stakehold- ers. In 2023, stakeholder expectations were compiled by means of surveys in which participants were asked to rate the importance of Uniper's material issues. Participants included Uniper employees and management, and representatives from the main external stakeholder groups, such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), customers, and investors.
The following materiality matrix provides an overview of the assessment's findings. The horizontal axis indicates the issues' impact on Uni- per's business and Uniper's impact on the issue. The vertical axis indicates the issues' relevance from a stakeholders' perspective. As in recent years, "Climate Change and GHG," "Secure and affordable energy supply," and "Emissions to air, land, and water" are Uniper's three most material topics.
The various sections of this report describe Uni- per's management approach for the issues, the progress it achieved in the reporting period, and, where appropriate, exceptions to its definition of materiality.
Business ethics | Climate change |
and greenhouse | |
and compliance | gas emissions |
high | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
very | Fair and | Emissions to air, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
attractive | land, and water | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
relevance | Shared value | employer | Secure and | |||||||||||||||||||||||
creation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
affordable | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Human rights | energy supply | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stakeholder engagement | Energy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Diversity, equity, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
efficiency | and inclusion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stakeholder | Innovation and digitalization | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Just transition | Health, safety | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
and wellbeing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Corporate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
governance | Biodiversity | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Customer rights | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Water use and optimization | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
and satisfaction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Corporate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
citizenship | Circular economy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
medium | and waste management | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
medium | very high | |
Business impact | ||
Planet | Responsible Governance | People & Society |
7
Overview
Planet
People & Society
Responsible Governance
Appendix
Sustainability strategy
Sustainability highlights in 2023
Foreword
Our report
Our material topics and sustainability strategy
How Uniper contributes to the SDGs
Ratings and rankings
In August Uniper announced its new corporate strategy: "Accelerating the energy transition: flexible, balanced, be- spoke." Our new strategy is to use our unique combination of capabilities - flexible and increasingly green power, reliable and increasingly green gas, and system optimization - to accelerate Europe's transition toward carbon neutrality. And, consistent with our heritage, we will continue to ensure supply security for our markets. All of this is captured in our new motto: Uniper - the beating heart of energy.
Uniper has developed the Strategic Sustainability Plan (SSP) to support the corporate strategy and to actively manage and minimize the main negative environmental and social impacts of its business activities and to set commitments and targets to improve ESG performance.
Our approach
The SSP groups the material issues derived from the materiality assessment into three categories: Planet, People & Society, and Responsible Governance. These categories provide the framework for the development of specific commitments, targets, and action plans in alignment with selected UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The long-term commitments reflect the core elements of Uniper's corporate culture and strategy and build the basis for the SSP targets.
The SSP is Uniper's main tool for defining and managing appropriate risk-mitigation and impact-remediation measures for material issues. This accords with the recommendations of international frameworks, such as the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The SSP seeks to not only mitigate impacts but, where relevant, take proactive steps and seize opportunities to have a positive impact on ESG issues. It aims to ensure systematic monitoring and review of Uniper's sustainability performance and ambitions. The HSSE & Sustainability function tracks this performance and progress, and reports on it by means of quarterly reviews for the Management Board and senior manag- ers. Uniper discloses its progress on at least an annual basis in external reports.
Highlights 2023
In 2023 Uniper made more progress implementing the commitments defined in the SSP. We made a number of new commitments and set new sustainability targets as part of the adoption of our new strategy in August 2023. For example, we raised our climate ambitions. We now aim to reduce our carbon emissions by 55% by 2030 and to be carbon-neutralGroup-wide by 2040 - ten years earlier than previously planned. We also set the ambition for women to hold 30% of leadership positions by 2030. In addition, we underscored our commitment to a just transition and NGO engagement and intend to enhance our performance management and create comprehensive frameworks for these issues.
Uniper will further refine its SSP approach in 2024 to align it with the new EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the strategic pillars of our new corporate strategy. We will revise the SSP in 2024 to consider new targets, commitments, and KPIs for topics such as decarbonization, biodiversity, NGO en- gagement, just transition, and innovation.
This Sustainability Report provides additional insights into our management approach for material issues and our approach to the new commitments.
Uniper. The beating heart of energy.
Uniper | 8 |
Sustainability Report 2023 |
Overview
Planet
People & Society
Responsible Governance
Appendix
Sustainability highlights in 2023
Foreword
Our reportt
Our material topics and sustainability strategy
How Uniper contributes to the SDGs
Ratings and rankings
Uniper
Sustainability Report 2023
Uniper Sustainability Strategic Plan
Sustainability is one of Uniper's most important topics. Our strategy - Accelerating the energy transition - is fully dedicated to it.
ESG impact area Material issuesCommitmentsTargets
Planet | • Climate change and GHG | • Contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation while providing a secure supply of | • Carbon-neutral (Scopes 1, 2, and 3), in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement, by |
emissions | steadily cleaner energy by evolving Uniper's businesses and value chains toward net-zero | 2040 at the latest.1, 2 | |
• Emissions to air, land, and | together with key stakeholders. | • Carbon-neutral (Scopes 1 and 2) by 2035 at the latest.1, 2 | |
water | • Minimize Uniper's impact on the environment as a whole as we move along Uniper's pathway | • Reduction of CO emissions by at least 55% by 2030 (base year 2019).1, 2, 3 | |
• Water use and optimization | to neutrality. | 2 | |
• Reduction of Scope 3 indirect emissions by 35% by 2035 at the latest (base year 2021).3 | |||
• Energy efficiency | • Manage water in a more sustainable way by improving understanding of Uniper's impacts | • During 2023-24, implementation of leak detection and repair (LDAR) campaign across | |
• Circular economy and | and dependencies | Uniper operations to reduce methane emissions. | |
waste | • Work with suppliers, contractors, and customers to improve resource efficiency and sup- | • Have no severe environmental incidents. | |
• Biodiversity | port life-cycle approaches. | • Maintain certification of 100% of Uniper's operational assets to ISO 14001. | |
• Support a transition toward circular economy, including minimizing waste production, | • During 2023, develop a global biodiversity target aligned with Uniper's decarbonization | ||
maximizing reuse, and recycling. | strategy including a local biodiversity action plan process for existing assets and a | ||
• Enhance the biodiversity of Uniper's operations and new developments. | process to evaluate biodiversity impacts in investment decisions. | ||
People & | • Human rights | • Screen Uniper's operations and suppliers for ESG risks, including human rights risks, and | • Achieve a Group-wide combined TRIF threshold of 1.0 or below by 2025.4 |
Society | • Corporate Citizenship | collaborate with stakeholders | • Become actively involved in up to three multistakeholder associations by 2023 that |
• Secure and affordable ener- • Respect labor rights and ensure a safe, healthy, and secure work environment for all em- | support ESG due diligence along the supply chain for Uniper's energy commodities. | ||
gy supply | ployees and contractors; promote the same standards in Uniper's joint ventures and part- | • Increase the share of women in leadership positions to 25% by 2025 and to 30% by | |
• Fair and attractive employer | nerships. | 2030.5 |
- Health, safety, and well- • Systematically enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion to create the best possible environ-
being | ment for all employees and to achieve equal opportunity and more balanced representation. |
- Diversity, equity, and inclu- • Have no tolerance for discrimination.
sion | • Commit to a just transition of Uniper's operations and sites through effective dialogue and | ||
• Just transition | stakeholder engagement to support Uniper's people and communities affected by transi- | ||
tion; to develop sustainable economic strategies for Uniper's sites and to foster diverse, | |||
inclusive, and decent work. | |||
Responsible | • Corporate governance | • Minimize the impact on communities affected by Uniper's operations. | • At the corporate level, engage in trust-building dialogue and cooperative discussions |
Governance | • Shared value creation | • Engage in dialogue with stakeholders to ensure transparency, learn and improve by shar- | with up to five NGOs per year by 2023. |
• Stakeholder engagement | ing perspectives with critical stakeholders and civil society organizations, and seek cooper- | • Engagement with 100% of relevant high-risk suppliers by 2025.6 | |
• Business ethics and com- | ation opportunities. | ||
pliance | • Further strengthen Uniper's compliance culture and protect Uniper's business from cor- | ||
• Customer rights and cus- | ruption risks. | ||
tomer satisfaction | • Foster effective, accountable, and transparent institutions at all levels. | ||
• Innovation and digitalization | • Focus the innovation portfolio on low carbon commodities and solutions contributing. | ||
- Including divestments, technical solutions, and offsetting as a final option.
- Market-basedScope 2 emissions.
- Baseline excludes emissions from Unipro.
- Total recordable incident frequency (TRIF) measures the number of incidents per million hours of work.
- Leadership positions refer to managerial positions two levels below the Board of Management (L1-L2); the target applies separately to L1 and L2.
- Within the scope of the Know-Your-Counterparty Business Policy, applied to Uniper Global Commodities, Procurement and Energy Services, based on Supplier ESG Due Diligence process, and in alignment with the Just Transition guidelines from the Internation Labour Organization (ILO) and the agreements in COP26.
9
Overview
Planet
People & Society
Responsible Governance
Appendix
Sustainability highlights in 2023
Uniper's contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals
Foreword
Our report
Our material topics and sustainability strategy
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) - an urgent call for action by all countries in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand
in hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic
growth - all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests (source: www.praeventionstag.de). We recognize the importance of all the 17 SDGs and fully support them. We have prioritized 10 SDGs that are particularly relevant to our business activities, strategy, and material topics. Here are some examples of how Uniper contributed to the 10 prioritized goals in 2023.
How Uniper contributes to the SDGs
Ratings and rankings
SDG 5
Gender Equality
SDG 7 | SDG 8 | ||
Affordable and Clean Energy | Decent Work and Economic Growth |
Alongside the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) ambassador net- work, Uniper's employee-led resource groups are instrumental in promoting and supporting DEI - for instance, Women@Uniper (inter- nal women's network) and Uniper's LGBTQIA+ network. All of these groups continued their activities in 2023 and increased their mem- bership.
In 2023, Uniper also commissioned the Association of Compensation & Benefits Experts (ACBE) to audit its compensation scheme in order to identify potential gender pay gaps. The audit confirmed that Uniper's pay equity in Germany is within the tolerance limit of 5% and the Company was awarded the "Fair Compensation" certificate.
- Diversity, equity, and Inclusion
We intend to increase our new renewable energy capacities primarily through onshore wind and solar in Europe. In late August 2022, Uniper received regulatory approval to build a 17 MW solar farm at our former coal-fired power plant in Wilhelmshaven on Germany's North Sea coast. This project is expected to generate approximately 16,000 MWh of renewable electricity per year.
In 2023, Uniper embarked on a project to build a 300 MW solar farm outside Elsfleth, a town located about 30 kilometers northwest of Bremen. Additionally, Uniper announced in November 2023 six ready- to-build solar projects in Hungary with a combined capacity of 280 MW. They will start producing green electricity by 2027.
- Climate change and greenhouse gas emissions
In 2023, Nyckeltalsinstitutet AB, a Stockholm-based people analytics firm, again recognized Uniper as an excellent employer and, indeed, as Sweden's Best Employer. The award considers data and scientific analyses of working conditions such as health care, salary, sick leave, management setup, and career opportunities.
In 2023, the US-based Institute for Quality named Uniper one of the world's best employers in Germany. It drew on 55 different sources (including rating portals, career websites, and media coverage) to assess the attractiveness of more than 74,000 companies on topics like sustainability and new work.
In 2023, we had 21 new trainees take part in our 18-to-24-month pro- gram, which assigns them to various roles depending on their individual interests and career plans. More than 95% of those who completed the program between 2016 and year-end 2023 took on a permanent role at Uniper.
- Fair and attractive employer
Uniper | 10 |
Sustainability Report 2023 |
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Uniper SE published this content on 19 May 2024 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 19 May 2024 03:23:01 UTC.