Sustainability

Implenia, a pioneer in many areas, wants to be a pioneer in sustainability too. An evaluation by Sustainalytics, a leading provider of environmental, social and governance sustainability ratings, shows that it is doing this very successfully. Implenia was once again confirmed as an industry leader on sustainability issues in 2019.

Sustainability is deeply rooted in our corporate values. More than this, it is an integral part of everything that Implenia does. Because our future as a company and our long-term success depend on us being environmentally, socially and commercially sustainable. Our efforts have been proven by the ranking given to us by Sustainalytics, one of the world’s leading providers of research and ratings on environmental, social and governance issues. Sustainalytics gave Implenia a score of 79 points in the year under review, two points better than the previous year, making us leaders in our industry once again.

In our Group-wide Sustainability Report, which can be found at sustainability.implenia.com, we have reported on our activities and objectives in accordance with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards continuously since 2011. Our excellent ranking is gratifying, of course, but above all it encourages us to maintain the course we embarked on in 2009, guided by our five pillars of sustainability. We are well aware that the construction industry has a significant economic impact in our markets. It is a major employer and makes a substantial contribution to overall value creation and prosperity. However, it is also responsible for substantial greenhouse gas emissions, as well as creating waste and consuming a lot of energy. We take our responsibilities seriously on this front. For today’s world and tomorrow. And we want to make our contribution to a sustainable economy. We do this by taking appropriate measures in accordance with clearly defined priorities.

Priority 1

Sustainable products and services

We aim to execute, or even develop, our construction and real estate projects in the most sustainable manner possible. This requires us to use appropriate products and services. Consequently, we apply Implenia’s sustainability standards to the projects we develop ourselves, but also demand that our planners, suppliers and subcontractors act sustainably. The standards we apply to them are integrated into our Group-wide supplier management system.

Priority 2

Attractive working environment

Recruiting and retaining good employees is one of the keys to our company’s future success, so we offer our workforce an attractive working environment. We provide them with a wide range of training and development opportunities, as well healthy and safe workplaces.

Priority 3

Respect for the environment

We want to look after the environment and have set ourselves ambitious objectives. Our focus is on reducing the environmental impact of our construction sites. Specifically, we want to reduce our consumption of resources and energy, and aim to cut our emissions of greenhouse gases by 2.5% a year relative to revenue. Since the base year of 2013, Implenia has reduced CO2 emissions by 10.8% in Switzerland, and so is on track to reach this target.

Priority 4

Social commitments and compliance

We take our responsibilities to society seriously and are committed to social projects that go beyond our own business activities. This includes greater cooperation with universities, as exemplified by our support for the Chair for Innovative and Industrialised Construction at the ETH Zurich. This connection is allowing us to intensify knowledge transfer between academia and business and promote the training of skilled specialists. Our work on the social side of sustainable development is rounded out by our talent development efforts and social projects. Our ethical corporate values are enshrined in our “Code of Conduct”. We make sure all our employees abide by our rules and guidelines by providing training and adopting a clearly defined zero-tolerance policy towards any lack of integrity and any infringement of competition law.

Priority 5

Financial and operational excellence

For Implenia, doing business sustainably also means maintaining our competitiveness. We aim to do this through financial and operational excellence, which is why these things are embedded in our strategy. We maintain our long-term commercial freedom by constantly adapting our structures and processes to changes in the market and by carefully weighing up risks and opportunities against each other. This also helps us create sustainable corporate value for our stakeholders.

“Green credit financing”: Implenia leads the way

In 2018 Implenia became the first industrial company in Switzerland to link its credit margin to its sustainability performance as measured by Sustainalytics. This means that our years of work on sustainability are now also having a direct financial effect: thanks to its positive rating (79 points in the Sustainalytics systems), Implenia can access financing on more favourable conditions.

A proven sustainability organisation

Implenia has had a internal Sustainability Committee since 2011; this was adjusted in 2019 to suit the new organisational structure. The Committee is made up of twelve decision-makers from all home markets, divisions and relevant global functions. It manages and develops the Group-wide sustainability strategy and defines objectives. It is currently formulating the Group’s 2025 sustainability goals, for example.

The internal global sustainability team has acted as the interface with our construction projects for more than twelve years. These specialists work on Group-wide sustainability strategy and sustainability reporting, help implement specific measures on construction projects and push initiatives at Group level in collaboration with sustainability officers in the country units.