IBERDROLA - We became the first company with AENOR's Sustainable Procurement Strategy certificate

Iberdrola is committed to society and, therefore, has taken a new step forward by obtaining the Sustainable Procurement Strategy certificate awarded by AENOR, based on the ISO 20400:2017 standard, where the company's responsibility to ensure that the life cycle of each product or service has the greatest positive environmental, social and economic impact has been verified.

The certificate was handed over by Rafael Garcia Meiro, CEO of AENOR, to Asis Canales, Global Director of People and Services of the Iberdrola group, at a ceremony held at the energy company's headquarters in Bilbao.

Asis Canales stated that 'this is the culmination of our strategy for the sustainable development of the supply chain. We have been carrying out activities in the area of suppliers for many years, from the point of view of sustainability, and the fact that this new certificate now exists and that we are pioneers in having it, in some way confirms that the path we had taken was the right one'.

For his part, Rafael Garcia Meiro explains that 'at AENOR we have been working on solutions to help companies that aim to make their commitment to sustainability a competitive differentiating factor. We have developed the Sustainable Procurement Strategy certification, because procurement is a powerful tool for amplifying SDG action in companies, promoting cross-cutting sustainability throughout the value chain. In this line, the audit by AENOR has shown that the sustainable purchasing management system implemented by Iberdrola is in line with current best practices'.

In fact, the AENOR certification shows that Iberdrola has effectively incorporated a vision of its supply chain focused on sustainability, and favoring a 'back and forth' interaction with suppliers and internal stakeholders of the company in a continuous and transparent manner thanks to the digital tools implemented that facilitate the management of purchasing processes, risk management and compliance with the company's governance guidelines.

The global scope of this certification, which applies to all areas of the company's activity anywhere in the world, has generated that by 2021 Iberdrola has allocated 10,827 million euros (82.5 % of the total awarded) to suppliers that exceeded the sustainability levels established by its sustainable procurement management system.

Iberdrola also drives sustainability throughout the supply chain, proposing customized improvement plans to those suppliers that are not at the appropriate sustainability levels, for a long-term relationship. In the last 12 months, more than 500 plans have been sent and in more than 50% of the cases these suppliers improved to the point of being considered sustainable.

The energy company has a supplier evaluation model based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. Thus, Iberdrola considers 43 factors to calculate the ESG score of each of its suppliers, including compliance with human rights, management of risks derived from climate change, circular economy strategy or contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Iberdrola group's achievement of this important certification is part of its global commitment to quality, which involves the excellent management of all processes and resources as an essential lever for creating value for people: shareholders, customers, employees, suppliers and other stakeholders in society.

AUDIT

The audit conducted by AENOR has assessed the digital tools that guide the purchasing process, being the best option to minimize risks for the organization. In addition, the use of BI tools (Power BI, boots, etc.) allows the staff of the purchasing departments to focus on the management of each tender, with an almost live analysis of the data and facilitating decision-making and reporting. In the same way, the organization publishes an annual Sustainability Report explaining its governance policies with emphasis on its interactions and impacts with its stakeholders. There is also a Procurement Policy that articulates the company's governance guidelines with respect to spending and the level of legal compliance required of suppliers and internal stakeholders, establishing sustainable supply chain management as a standard.According to the audit, Iberdrola has an internal scorecard that integrates the performance of suppliers in terms of cost, term and supplier risk, and has a robust digital supplier process that affects economic, structural, capacity, responsibility and sustainability aspects. A culture of sustainability and responsible supplier management is promoted within the organization at all levels, including senior management, a Code of Ethics and Conduct for employees and suppliers that is public and accessible, and transparent, public and accessible Contracting Terms and Conditions.

AENOR's Sustainable Procurement Management certificate, based on the ISO 20400:2017 standard, allows clients to integrate into a certificate an action strategy aligned with Sustainability, to highlight the real execution of ESG commitments to investors or society, to minimize risks throughout the value chain, to involve the entire business structure within the supply chain, and to anticipate the legal provisions that are being developed, such as the Due Diligence Directive, or to respond to the specific requirements that are beginning to be included to qualify for certain subsidies.

IBERDROLA, COMMITED TO THE SDGS

Iberdrola has fully incorporated the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, approved in September 2015, into its strategy.

In line with its activity, Iberdrola focuses its efforts on the supply of affordable and non-polluting energy (Goal 7) and on climate action (Goal 13). By obtaining the AENOR Sustainable Procurement certificate, Iberdrola also contributes to the fulfillment of SDG 8 (d

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