Environment, Social and Governance Reporting
Bonheur has a strong commitment towards integrating sustainability and social responsibility into its businesses, as this forms the base of a sound long-term business model and supports the decarbonisation of society and minimising the environmental footprint in all our activities.
Bonheur ESG report 2021.pdf
The Company was a pioneer in recognising the need to develop renewable energy sources and has over the last 25 years established numerous companies in the renewable energy sector, covering the entire value chain from developing to constructing and operating onshore windfarms as well as installation and service of both onshore and offshore windfarms. This progress continues through further improvement of the existing operations, development of new technologies and new investments with strong focus on long-term sustainability with examples like moving into construction and operation of offshore wind and development of floating solar projects, innovative fabrication solutions as well as other new technologies.
The Company also focuses on high integrity and ethical standards and is committed to comply with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations. This is reflected into the respective companies’ Codes of Conduct, and all employees and suppliers are obliged, at all times, to behave and conduct their business strictly in accordance with the principles of such codes. It is equally rooted within the Group of companies that an active and sound corporate governance environment is essential to delivering a sustainable investment strategy that aligns with the best interests of the shareholders, employees and the society. Social awareness and active engagement with local stakeholders and communities are essential prerequisites for successful investments. Across the business segments of the Company there is a strong commitment towards engaging with local businesses, suppliers, and service providers to ascertain that the activities performed also extend to their benefit. It is part of the inherent operating philosophy to focus on training and employing people from the local communities where practically possible and to ensure good working conditions, honouring labour rights and promoting diversity.
Given the importance of ESG, during 2021 the main operating subsidiaries of the Company have further strengthened and enhanced their ESG reports. This report should be read in conjunction with the Board of Directors report and vice versa.
The structure of the ESG report, is firstly to describe how the Company is governed with the importance of transparency in the corporate governance, with the composition and independence of both the Shareholders Committee and the Board of Directors and with internal control in general. Secondly, the ESG report describes the environmental aspects showing that the Group of companies consolidated has a significantly positive CO2 footprint resulting from the direct contribution from the wind farms and the indirect contribution from the Wind Service segment which are actively involved in transport, installation and service of wind turbines. Furthermore, the report elaborates on the Green Finance Framework which was established by the Company in 2020. Thirdly, the ESG report describes the human resources aspects of the Group of companies, which strives to provide a good and safe working environment, equal opportunities without any discrimination and compliance to all relevant codes of conduct and anti-corruption policies. And, fourthly, the ESG report describes the kind of local engagements in the countries of operations through employment of local people, taxes paid and the predominantly philanthropical contributions by the Fred. Olsen Social Engagement Group (FOSEG). Looking forward beyond 2022 the ESG report also describes genuine environmental-friendly initiatives like offshore wind and floating solar, in addition to the continuous work of reducing CO2 emission in our operations.
Further information may also be found on the respective operating subsidiaries webpages:
www.fredolsenrenewables.com
www.windcarrier.com
www.globalwindservice.com
www.fredolsencruises.com
The subsidiary companies have identified and prioritised those ESG topics that are considered the most significant to their respective operations through a materiality analysis involving processes with internal interviews and market analyses, in addition to considering relevant ESG standards and the business context of the individual industry in question.
The Group of companies’ sustainability reporting takes into account the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Stakeholder Capitalism metrics which were published in September 2020. The metrics are drawn from existing voluntary standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and aim to provide a core set of common sustainability metrics, covering the topics of Governance, Planet, People, and Prosperity. In addition, the Group of companies has a focus on the upcoming implementation of the EU taxonomy.