Iberdrola S A : , once again best in class in the ranking of the largest renewables companies in the world in terms of human rights

19 November 2021

PHOTONEWS

Iberdrola, once again best in class in the ranking of the largest renewables companies in the world in terms of human rights

For the second year in a row, Iberdrola comes top in the latest ranking of the largest renewable energy companies in the world in terms of human rights. The report on Renewable Energy Companies and Human Rights, prepared by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), assesses the 15 largest listed companies in the world of wind and solar generation and includes two investors, BlackRock and Brookfields, with important holdings in renewable energies.

Iberdrola ranks above its competitors in this report, in which aspects such as labour rights, the right to a clean and healthy environment and the rights of communities are assessed. This time, the energy giant obtained a score of 60 % in a sector

19 November 2021

PHOTONEWS

in which the average stands at 28 % and in which more than half of the companies analysed (9/15) obtained scores below 40 %.

The company has improved by seven points with respect to the previous edition, which confirms its desire to continuously improve its human rights due diligence system, which allows it to properly identify its possible impacts on human rights.

The report highlights the following aspects about Iberdrola:

• Its public commitment to human rights and to implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for multinationals.
• The involvement of interest groups in the development of its approach to human rights.
• The existence of a due diligence system related to respect for human rights, as a key tool for preventing, mitigating and compensating for impacts.
• Iberdrola is the only company with a public and specific commitment to respect the rights of indigenous peoples, in line with international standards (in this case, ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples).
• The absence of a pay gap.

The study underlines the urgent need to "mitigate the climate crisis by accelerating the transition to clean energy", a process that must be sustainable, fast and fair.

BHRRC is an NGO with offices in London, New York and Washington that works to promote human rights in business. It monitors more than 10,000 companies in more than 180 countries and makes the information available to the public in order to help the vulnerable population manage potential situations of abuse. In its ranking, it takes into account international standards and the Governing Principles of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP).