According to the study The Decade that Matters 2.0, more than half of businesses (53%) globally say, rising energy prices in 2022 affected their sustainability strategies in a positive way. At BayWa r.e., a leading renewable energy company, the integration of a comprehensive sustainability strategy in business processes has been underway for several years through its Sustainability Framework 2025.
With the release of BayWa r.e.’s Sustainability Report 2022, the company reports its progress made on companywide sustainability objectives, its environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance, and key performance indicators (KPIs) in reference to the internationally recognized standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
Matthias Taft, CEO of BayWa r.e.: “Our Sustainability Report describes how we deliver on our strategic objective to accelerate the growth of renewable energy while adhering to our sustainability commitments. We consider scaling our business a success only if we do this in a sustainable way, taking into account the environment, society and our people. We are proud about the considerable progress we made in 2022 and are looking forward to continuing this journey to make a lasting impact for our planet and all the communities we work with."
Three priority objectives
BayWa r.e.’s Sustainability Framework 2025 includes overarching objectives that aim to integrate sustainability management into business processes. Focus was placed on the following three priority objectives: Foster sustainability in the supply chain; promote Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI); increase the acceptance of renewable energy through enhanced community engagement.
The Sustainability Report 2022 showcases milestones that were reached to accomplish these objectives such as the development of a Supplier Code of Conduct, a Global DEI Handbook, and the inclusion of sustainability in our project development.
Key highlights from 2022 include:
- Employee-driven sustainability initiatives from sustainability workshops in Mexico to charity drives for stateless migrant families living in extreme poverty in Thailand.
- The award-winning global wellbeing initiative #socialandhealthy, which provides regular digital courses for physical and mental health.
- BayWa r.e.’s co-sponsorship of the Solar Stewardship Initiative of Solar Power Europe to develop an industry-wide standard that ensures responsible, transparent, and sustainable practices in the solar PV value chain.
- A collaborative global partnership with Remote Energy to provide online and hands-on PV installation training for women from various countries in Africa.
- BayWa r.e.’s first ESG Corporate Rating performance of B+, an achievement which means that BayWa r.e. achieved prime status in 2022.
BayWa r.e. is also committed to providing immediate and long-term relief to the Ukrainian people. Beside other actions described in the report, provided 100 mobile solar systems for emergency services, mobile batteries for shelters and granted seven scholarships to Ukrainian students at Central European University (CEU) in Vienna and Technical University of Munich (TUM).
More about the BayWa r.e. Sustainability Report 2022 and the Sustainability Framework 2025 can be found on the website.