It is crucial that the forthcoming COP28 highlights the significant role of business, NGOs, and civil society in tackling climate change, beyond the question of whether countries will step up their commitments and how they will deliver on them. The major challenges in key sectors such as agriculture, transport, industry and energy will be closely examined.
As a leader in several essential sectors, such as cities, transportation, and buildings, Egis is firmly dedicated to achieving a desirable and low-carbon future. Our primary fields make up over 50% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, we hold a significant societal responsibility to create and implement solutions that promote the ecological and energy transitions (TEE).
That's precisely why we've decided to make tackling these challenges a cornerstone of our identity and development strategy. Given the climate emergency, we are committed to delivering practical solutions to combat climate change.
Our Group is committed to helping solve the challenging equation of the 21st century: improving people's quality of life, supporting the economic and social development of their communities, and achieving net-zero goals by 2050 through the large-scale decarbonisation of our societies. This unified direction is the core of the Egis group's Purpose, which was published in 2022 and has since been applied to an ambitious climate plan, the progress of which I am pleased to report today.
In 2023, our growth was intrinsically linked to sustainable development, as demonstrated by the acquisition of Sustainability Linked* financing, which was used for the first time for the major acquisition for Egis of McIntosh Perry in Canada, and which reflects the alignment of the Group's external growth strategy with its purpose and its climate goals. We have bolstered our decision-making processes by significantly enhancing our focus on ESG criteria** and by adopting an exclusion policy*** to ensure that the projects in which we invest are in line with our environmental and energy transition ambitions.
As the International Energy Agency pointed out in its most recent annual report, published in October 2023, the gradual and widespread abandonment of fossil fuels is not only at the heart of this energy transition, but also a necessary condition for its success.
Consequently, Egis excludes work on projects and infrastructure for the exploitation of coal, new oil fields or unconventional fossil fuels (shale gas, oil shale, etc.).
COP28 serves as a stark reminder of the crucial need to take action, and we pride ourselves on playing a leading role in building a more sustainable world.
** Environmental, Social and Governance
*** Link to press release https://www.egis-group.com/all-news/egis-strengthens-its-exclusion-policy
