CEZ Group 2023 Sustainability Report: direct GHG emissions down by 12%, investments into sustainable activities up by CZK 4.7 billion
CEZ Group production continues becoming greener. Last year, the company reduced direct greenhouse gas emissions by 12% year on year, which corresponds to a saving of approximately 2.2 million tonnes of CO2. CEZ is on a good track to achieve its goal of climate neutrality by 2040. Simultaneously, the biggest Czech utility increased investments in taxonomy-aligned activities: last year, they accounted for over two-thirds of all investments, up by CZK 4.7 billion year on year. Recent ESG statistics are presented in the new CEZ Group Sustainability Report 2023. It presents close to 300 diverse environmental, social, and governance indicators.
The new 2023 CEZ Group Sustainability Report presents a detailed overview of activities and monitored ESG parameters for all the more than 200 companies that comprise the Group. A separate overview of non-financial reporting is published for the last time this year. From next year, all the indicators presented will form an integral part of a standard annual report, in line with European law.
The 2023 data shows that CEZ Group has successfully continued in fulfilling its ambitious decarbonisation targets, set in its strategy ‘Vision 2030 – Clean Energy for Tomorrow’. Direct emissions (Scope 1) have dropped by 12% year on year, which represents 2,206,790 tonnes of CO2. CEZ Group is therefore still on track to reach net zero by 2040. In September 2023, it became the first Czech company to receive validation of its long-term climate targets by the international initiative SBTi.
The chapter dedicated EU Taxonomy classification of activities shows that the volume of investment into sustainable activities that are in line with the taxonomy is up: last year, they accounted for 67% of total CAPEX, which means a year-on-year increase by nearly CZK 5 bn.
CEZ Group’s progress in ESG has been carefully monitored by major rating agencies. CEZ Group’s rating has improved again last year. According to CSR Hub, a company that aggregates ratings from dozens of agencies into a single final indicator, in 2023 CEZ ranked among the top 16% of the world’s best-rated companies. These figures are very important for banks: CEZ already has three lines of credit linked to the development of ESG indicators, where a better rating means lower interest rates and vice-versa.
The volume of non-financial data reported every year continues to grow; whereas the 2021 report had a total of 102 pages, last year’s report spans over 190 pages, almost double the count. For environmental reasons, the reports are not printed in physical form, but are available on CEZ website. The figures can also be found in the online Data library, the most extensive database of ESG data of all European energy companies.