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2021-11-24 00:00:00.0

The leading renewable energy company in human rights for the second year in a row

Iberdrola is the best renewables company in terms of human rights

  • A report by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) has assessed the 15 largest renewable energy companies in the world.
  • 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

This is the second consecutive year that Iberdrola has topped the ranking of the world's major renewable energy companies in terms of human rights. The Renewable Energy Companies and Human Rights report, prepared by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), assesses the 15 largest listed wind and solar utilities in the world and includes two investors with significant interests in renewable energies (BlackRock and Brookfields). The report addresses subjects including human rights, the right to a clean and healthy environment and community rights, among others.

Iberdrola has positioned itself ahead of its competitors in issues such as workers' rights, the right to a clean and healthy environment and community rights. It received a score of 60 % in an industry where the average is 28 % and where more than half of all the companies analysed (9/15) obtained scores below 40 %.

Iberdrola has improved by six points compared to last year, clear evidence of the company's determination to make continual improvements to its due diligence system as regards human rights, enabling it to properly identify any potential impact.

The report highlights the following positive aspects of the company:

  • Its public commitment to human rights and to implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for multinationals.
  • Stakeholder involvement in the development of the human rights focus.
  • 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 gender 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. The study monitors more than 10,000 companies in more than 180 countries and makes the information available to the public in order to help vulnerable people manage potential situations of abuse.

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