Materiality and objectives

5.2 Strategy

GRI 102-15, 102-29, GRI 201-2

5.2.1 Act Now – the Elia group Sustainability Initiative

In 2020, the Elia group launched "Act Now", its sustainability initiative. This ambition has been translated into sustainability goals in five key areas (or lighthouses):

These five lighthouses are linked to the United Nations’s global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 17 global SDGs are intended to be a "blueprint" and make explicit the contributions towards a better and more sustainable future for all - to be achieved by 2030. Under Act Now, we are defining long-term goals in the areas of carbon neutrality, biodiversity and eco-design of our assets, health and safety, diversity and inclusion, ethical values and governance. Sustainability will become a stronger compass to guide business plan decisions in order to reach a level sufficiently ambitious for our projects and activities.

With regard to climate change, the electricity sector has major potential for decarbonisation. Electricity as an energy carrier is already the most cost-efficient solution in most sectors. Accordingly, further electrification based on renewable energy integration is the most efficient way to realise the energy transition. The Elia group is positioned at the very centre of the energy system and thus well placed to identify the levers for decarbonizing the system. In addition to developing the necessary grid infrastructure to integrate and transport additional volumes of renewable energy, the Elia group is identifying the necessary sources of flexibility to cope with the variability of renewable energy and is preparing the market and system to operate in a 100% renewable energy context.

Collaboration has been established with with several other TSOs (Terna, RTE, Tennet, Amprion, Red Electrica, Swissgrid and APG) to identify the main levers for decarbonising the energy system. A paper will be published by mid-2021.

The Elia group companies, including Elia Transmission Belgium supports the European Green Deal in its core business. The demand-driven grid development and our innovation programmes enable the continually increasing integration of renewable energies, and the operation of interconnectors enables barrier-free European electricity trading. We cover the high investments required for this - where this makes economic sense - through green bonds that we place in the European and international financial markets. We are therefore committed to the efforts of the EU taxonomy to make this market more transparent.

5.2.2 Materiality and objectives

GRI 102-15, GRI 102-46, GRI 102-47, GRI 103-1, GRI 102-29

We consolidated our material economic, environmental and social topics at Elia Group level back in 2019. As a result, 15 material topics of high and very high importance were identified, which determine Elia group’s guidelines for reporting and stakeholder dialogues. These topics are shown in the materiality matrix below.