Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate Social Responsibility
By making major investments in new energy infrastructures over this decade, we are laying the foundations for the creation of significant external social value in the future. We are already creating internal social value right now by continuing to future-proof our day-to-day operations.
Difference between Gasunie’s Vision 2030 and the Gasunie Green Deals
Gasunie Green Deals
In 2020, we identified nine different areas in which we can make our day-to-day operations greener and more social, in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2021, we set concrete targets (KPIs) for these nine ‘Gasunie Green Deals’. We recorded our initial results in 2022. We report on the progress we are making in achieving the targets on our dedicated CSR pages at gasunie.nl/csr. In the coming years, we will regularly evaluate whether the Gasunie Green Deals and the KPIs are feasible and sufficiently ambitious.
Below we provide a summary of our Green Deals results; later in this section we provide more details on the various Green Deals. We were able to make progress with most of the Green Deals in 2022. One exception was the Green Deals on Energy Efficiency and Emission Reduction. Last year we had to use considerably more energy to perform our core tasks. This was partly due to the loss of Russia as a gas supplier. Russian gas that entered the GUD and GTS networks at relatively high pressure from the east and north has been replaced by gas flows that are fed into our networks from the west and south at a lower pressure. As a result, the compressors in our networks had to work harder to keep the gas at the right pressure.
| Gasunie Green Deal | Ambition 2030 | Milestones in 2022 | Expectations for 2023 | Connects to SDG | Responsible manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Zero-emission construction site | Award 50% of our construction project procurement to contractors with verifiable emission reduction measures | Pilot deployment of H2 generator for generating construction site electricity during reconstruction of N270 in Venray. Next year we will start using hydrogen-fired generators for our own maintenance projects. | New framework agreements for engineering firms and contractors, with sustainability heavily considered as one of five strategic pillars starting in 2023. | 7, 9, 13 | NL: Manager Operations Engineering |
| Replacement of dynamic no-breaks (running on diesel) with static, emission-free no-breaks. Last year the facilities at CS Beverwijk were addressed. | Emission-free no-breaks at CS Grijpskerk and CS Wieringermeer. | DE: Manager Operations | |||
| 2. Circular purchasing | 50% of purchased kilograms of material is demonstrably circular | In 2022 have procured 5.36% of our materials circularly and followed up on the introduction of material passports in (European) tenders. | Further roll out material passports and further explore their validation. | 8, 12, 13 | DE: Manager Procurement |
| Organization is ready to receive digital material passports from suppliers. We currently have more than 100 material passports defined by component type. | DE: Manager Procurement | ||||
| 3. Reusing assets | Dutch national hydrogen network 100% ready, with 85-90% reuse of existing pipelines | Made decision in principle with government to further develop Waterstofnetwerk Nederland. | First investment decisions for Waterstofnetwerk Nederland. | 7, 9, 13 | Manager Corporate Strategy |
| 4. Social chains | 80% of our suppliers are OECD/UNGP compliant | We have aligned the Gasunie Supplier Code of Conduct (GSCoC) with the most recent Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) Code of Conduct, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP). | Establishment and implementation of Due Diligence in accordance with OECD Guidelines. Due Diligence is an ongoing process that helps companies identify and then stop, prevent or mitigate human, labor and environmental risks. | 8, 12, 17 | NL: Chief Information Officer |
| Gasunie Netherlands has declared the updated GSCoC in Q3 2022 applicable to all its procurement contracts. Gasunie Germany included the GSCoC in its General Terms and Conditions in Q3 2023. | GSCoC systematically maximally secured in procurement process. Attention shifts to supply chain responsibility through Due Diligence. | DE: Manager Procurement | |||
| Supplier sustainability commitment (CO2 reduction, circularity, social impact) counted 5-25% in almost every tender. | |||||
| 5. Inclusiveness and diversity | Senior management includes at least 30% women | Today, 27% of our managers are women. | 5, 8 | NL: Directeur Human Resources | |
| Onderzoek uitgevoerd naar beloningsverschillen vrouwen en mannen (Equal Pay). | Periodic follow-up surveys. | DE: Manager Human Resources | |||
| Internship compensation equalized for all interns regardless of level of training. | |||||
| All members of senior management reside in the Netherlands or Germany. | |||||
| 60 people distanced from the labor market employed for Gasunie | At the end of 2022, Gasunie employed 31 people with a distance to the labor market. | By the end of 2023, we hope to have 40 people with a distance to the labor market working for Gasunie. | |||
| 6. Biodiversity | 100% of our sites contribute to biodiversity | 32% of our larger Dutch sites and 44% of our larger German sites were contributing to increased biodiversity by the end of 2022. Combined, this gives a percentage of 36% (the Netherlands has more sites than Germany). | Prepare for new maintenance contract (Netherlands) from 2024 with maximum attention to ecological mowing and disposal of grass clippings, including on the smaller sites. | 15 | NL: member BoD |
| In the Netherlands, we started mowing more to prevent adjacent plots from having to deal with extra weeds. | DE: Manager Business | ||||
| In Germany, we continued the program to convert land and sites not in immediate use into natural areas. | |||||
| 7. Energy efficiency | 12.5% reduction in energy use compared to base year 2020 (increase from 8% to 12.5% in line with the new European Energy Efficiency Directive) | Energy consumption increased by 24.1% in 2022 compared to 2021, mainly due to changing gas flows. In particular, GUD needed more energy for compression. | Ambition 2023: 2.4% energy reduction from base year 2020 | 7, 9, 13 | NL: Manager HSE |
| By lowering the natural gas temperature at the gas receiving stations, we needed less energy to heat the natural gas. | Due to EmsEnergyTerminal and Zuidbroek II, we expect further increasing energy demand. | DE: Manager HSE | |||
| Implementation ISO50001 energy management system. Certification in 2024. | |||||
| By lowering the pre-pressure at metering and regulating stations, less energy will be required at gas receiving stations to heat natural gas starting in 2023. | |||||
| 8. Energy purchasing | 75% of our electricity purchases come directly from green sources in our market area | Started tendering Corporate Power Purchase Agreements from renewable local sources. With this we encourage the development of renewable generation capacity. | 7, 13 | NL: Manager Participations | |
| DE: Manager Business | |||||
| Germany: uses green electricity. | |||||
| Germany: share of green gas in consumption drops from 5% (2021) to 1% (2022) due to sharply increased use of gas compression and tighter market supply of green gas. | |||||
| 9. Emissions reduction | CH4: methane emissions below 70 kton CO2eq/year | Methane emissions in 2022 of 135 kton CO2eq (2020: 155, 2021: 144). | We remain on track to meet the 2030 reduction target. | NL: Manager Assets | |
| The use of recompression and nitrogen displacement has further reduced methane venting. | DE: Manager HSE | ||||
| CO2: CO2eq emissions (scope 1+2 market-based) below 219 kton based on constant transport volume (2020=1085 TWh) | Our CO2eq emissions of 390 kton in 2022 are 61 kton (19%) higher than the 329 kton in 2020, due to greater need for compression due to changed gas flows and EmsEnergyTerminal. | Additional measures needed to meet 2030 target. | |||
| EmsEnergyTerminal generated its own electricity in 2022 but will be connected to the grid in early 2023. |
Gasunie Green Teams
Gasunie employees in the Netherlands started the Gasunie Green Teams project on their own initiative in 2022. Employees were challenged to form project teams and submit sustainability ideas that could be voted on. The three most popular entries – shorter parking routes at headquarters, wider selection and better quality of vegetarian/vegan food in the company restaurants, and better waste separation – received an implementation budget. The Gasunie Green Teams will continue to search for new sustainability initiatives in 2023.
