- Also defined is the commitment to greater integration of sustainability principles in business activities with the strengthening of the offer of digital solutions for customers to achieve ESG targets.
The Board of Directors of Engineering has approved the Strategic Sustainability Plan for the years 2024-2026. For the first time, measurable objectives and targets have been defined for all 14 countries where the Group operates with its 70 locations. The Plan strengthens the centrality of ESG policies in corporate strategies, following the increasing commitment of recent years evidenced by joining Open-Es and the United Nations Global Compact, by signing the Companies Manifesto for People and Society, and by adhering to Valore D and the Foundation for Digital Sustainability.
The Sustainability Plan is an integral part of the transformative process that the Group led by Maximo Ibarra is carrying out and that has already generated important innovations both in the organizational model and in business strategies. Engineering aims to be the leading digital company in Italy and the most relevant Italian company in the sector worldwide, supporting all market sectors both through its over 30 proprietary solutions and in partnership with leading international Tech Players.
The objectives set out in the Plan cover all the main organizational and operational aspects of the Group. In this regard, it is worth highlighting the acceleration of the offer of digital solutions capable of enabling the achievement of ESG targets. The commitment towards a greater integration of sustainability principles in business activities has also been defined, including the adoption of green coding criteria for the development of software with a lower environmental impact.
Engineering CEO Maximo Ibarra said: "The Sustainability Plan approved by the Board of Directors is a fundamental step for the Engineering Group, which for the first time in its history sets ESG objectives and outlines a medium to long-term path to be increasingly resilient and competitive in terms of sustainability together with its partners. The Plan is an integral part of our transformative journey and will affect not only organizational and business models, but also our approach to innovation for clients, generating tangible and inclusive benefits for society. With this in mind, we plan to strengthen our strategy to design digital products and solutions that, in supporting partners in achieving ESG targets, are themselves green and sustainable.
Today, cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence are enhancing our ability to tackle critical environmental challenges, create more equitable and inclusive economic and social ecosystems, and simplify people's lives. With the Plan Engineering positions itself as the reference tech company for a digital transition capable of enabling and speeding up a greener and more inclusive economic and social growth".
The Plan, defined in collaboration with all corporate functions, has involved over 50 colleagues from different functions and business units worldwide. It focuses on 16 commitments and 34 goals with a timeframe until 2026 for social sustainability and governance, and until 2030 for decarbonization targets.
Going into the details of the Plan, it is worth noting:
- The environmental targets will contribute to achieving the broader objectives set out in the Decarbonization plan: among these, the 42% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in scope 1 and 2 by 2030 compared to 2022. This plan is currently under evaluation by the Science-Based Target Initiative (SBTi).
- Among the commitments made, by 2030 offices and data centers will use 100% of electricity from renewable sources.
- Moreover, among the qualifying points of the new strategy is the objective of greening the Group’s supply chain. In this regard, Engineering is committed to accompanying over 60% of its 250 suppliers, whose emissions fall under the category «goods and services purchased», in setting by 2029 CO2 reduction targets aligned to the latest climate science.
- As part of the assessment of the CDP (former Carbon Disclosure Project), Engineering is committed to improving its assessment of the Score CDP Climate Change, to exceed the industry average.
- Engineering also commits to implement a sustainable mobility program: by 2024, 100% of the service cars will be electric and within the following year also the company car list will be composed entirely of electric or hybrid cars with emissions lower than 60gr/ CO2. In addition, new policies for business travel and employee commuting are foreseen, these promote the use of vehicles with lower environmental impact: the goal is to reduce CO2 emissions related to commuting and business travel by colleagues by 25%.
- As for the social aspects, a strategy to eliminate in Italy by 2026 the gender pay gap, today at 1.8%, has been approved. With regard to the objectives of Diversity & Inclusion, the goal is to increase the presence of women in leadership roles in Italy, currently at 17%, to 22%.
- Other targets in the HRO include having 50% of the Group’s managers carry out leadership training activities and increasing by 20% the approximately 1,000 professional/technological certifications obtained annually by employees: these last two objectives will be achieved with the support of the internal IT & Management Academy.
- The improvement of employee engagement is also fundamental for Engineering, with the aim to surpassing industry benchmark values by 2026.
- Regarding governance aspects, in 2024 Engineering will continue to undergo the major international sustainability assessments such as Ecovadis, one of the most accredited recognitions in sustainability rating.
- Further actions include increasing and spreading the culture of sustainability to employees and corporate bodies. Among the planned actions: ensuring that at least 20% of the board meetings include ESG topics on the agenda; raising awareness in all the Group’s population on sustainability issues through corporate communication channels; constantly updating the institutional website section dedicated to ESG topics and achieved targets.
- Also envisaged is a plan that from 2025 will include among the sustainability objectives an economic incentive system for the management linked to the achievement of some of the ESG objectives.
The Strategic Sustainability Plan aims not only to define the guidelines for improving the management of environmental, social and governance (ESG) impacts of Engineering, but also strengthens the commitment of the whole Group to bring together technological skills and business knowledge to support companies and administrations in projects with important impacts on environmental protection, community safeguarding and on the design and creation of more inclusive social models.
All challenges already faced by Engineering today also through proprietary digital products and solutions that, exploiting the great potential of Artificial Intelligence, can for example:
- Optimize the water management of our aqueducts, creating digital infrastructures capable of intercepting and preventing leaks and malfunctions.
- Encourage the use of energy from renewable sources through a digital platform that enables and allows to manage the entire life cycle of Energy Communities.
- Make services more accessible to citizens, starting with health services, thanks to the National Telemedicine Platform.
The implementation of the 2024-26 Strategic Sustainability Plan will be reported annually in the Sustainability Report.