Sustainable Development Goals

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy.

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 7 is to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

Access to energy is at the heart of almost all of the challenges and opportunities facing the world today. That includes job creation, safety, climate change, food production and the ability to earn extra income.

Energy is the biggest contributor to climate change, on account of its emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. The solution lies in renewable energy sources such as hydroelectric, wind and solar power. Renewable energy is sustainable.

Å Energi's contribution:

• We produce hydroelectric power that is dispatchable and renewable, generating 8.2 TWh in a typical year.
• We supply flexible, renewable district heating that makes use of waste heat and energy that would otherwise have been lost. Assuming normal conditions, in 2020 we will supply 187 GWh of district heating.
• We sell our renewable energy to customers in both the domestic and business markets.
• We sell eco-labelled electricity from certified power stations, which finances a green fund used to pay for improvements at our power stations, energy conservation measures and investments in new energy technology at our customers.

Å Energi's goals:

• Our hydroelectric power stations shall be available to generate electricity 98 percent of the time. UN target 7.2.
• At least 99 percent of our district heating energy shall come from renewable sources. UN target 7.2.

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full employment and decent work for all.

A good business community is needed to create jobs and end poverty. In order to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, businesses must take social responsibility and care about more than just their bottom line.

Investment is important to business development, but it must be used to create and safeguard jobs, and there must be a focus on diversity and safe working conditions.

Å Energi’s contribution:

• We are establishing new partnerships and alliances in order to improve our ability to develop new business opportunities.
• We are working systematically on diversity and are participating in a project focusing on equality at work.
• Health and safety is a priority area at all levels of our organisation.

Å Energi’s goals:

We shall help to create the green jobs of the future. The Group shall create and distribute economic value, not just to its owners, but also to its employees, lenders and the public sector. UN target 8.2

All employees at Å Energi shall recognise the value of diversity to a forward-looking business and we shall work actively to promote diversity and equal opportunity. UN targets 8.5 and 8.8

We shall have no workplace accidents or occupational sickness absence. We shall have a high level of job satisfaction and employees shall look after their own health. Our sickness absence rate shall be below 3%. UN target 8.8

Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 9 is to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

Investment in transport, irrigation systems, energy and information technology will play a key role in promoting sustainable development.

Infrastructure is the underlying structure that must be in place for society to function. Infrastructure is a prerequisite for boosting growth and productivity, and for improvements in education and health services.

Technology and innovation can help to solve the environmental challenges caused by infrastructure development.

Å Energi's contribution:

• We distribute electricity and facilitate the electrification of society.
• We invest in innovation and development, and help to ensure a reliable supply of energy at the same time as working to reduce peak loads.

Å Energi's goals:

• The up-time of our power distribution network in Agder shall be at least 99.98 percent. UN target 9.1.
• Agder Energi Nett shall have a quick turnaround time for connecting new customers, and we shall build the right infrastructure at the right time and in the right place. UN targets 9.1. and 9.4.

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 12 is to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Sustainable consumption and production is all about getting more out of fewer resources.

Sustainable production involves minimising resource use, environmental degradation and greenhouse gas emissions during manufacturing. In the long term, this will promote economic growth, limit climate change and improve the quality of life of people around the world.

To push companies to adopt sustainable production practices, states can use tools such as laws and taxes, as well as investing in green technology.

Currently we are consuming more than is environmentally sustainable. In order to safeguard good living conditions for current and future generations, all individual consumers must also change their lifestyles.

Å Energi's contribution:

• Å Energi is moving itself, as well as its business partners and suppliers, towards a more sustainable future.
• In our purchasing decisions, we focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts, preventing injuries at construction sites, ensuring fair working conditions, incorporating sustainability as an evaluation criterion and being predictable in what we require of our suppliers.

Å Energi's goals:

• By 2025, all suppliers shall adhere to our sustainability requirements, and we shall base our purchasing decisions on the 10 principles for green procurement established by Skift.
• At least 95 percent of the value of our purchases shall come from suppliers with environmental certification under ISO 14001 or the Eco-Lighthouse scheme, or with an equivalent environmental management system in place. UN targets 12.6 and 12.7.
• We shall ensure that all of our employees have relevant information about, and an awareness of, sustainability throughout our operations. We shall proactively reduce negative impacts and the risk of harm to the environment, and promote efficient use of resources. UN target

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 13 is to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Climate change is a global issue that does not respect national borders. That’s why we must come up with global solutions. In addition to cutting emissions and capturing and storing CO2, we need to invest far more in renewable energy and other forms of clean energy.

Scientists on the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change believe that a two-degree temperature increase is the limit of what nature can withstand. If the temperature rises beyond that, climate change will become uncontrollable. At the Paris conference in 2015, the world’s leaders therefore reached a new agreement. Countries undertook to do everything possible to prevent the average global temperature rising more than two degrees, and preferably no more than 1.5 degrees.

Å Energi's contribution:

• We are reducing our own greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) by:
• Reducing transport-related emissions through electrification and new guidelines on travel and transport, as well as by promoting greater use of videoconferencing
• Reducing SF6 emissions from switchgear
• Reducing our consumption of fossil oil by optimising the use of waste heat and increasing the supply of electricity for district heating.

Å Energi's goals:

• We shall reduce our own greenhouse gas emissions in a way that is consistent with global warming of 1.5 ºC. We shall reduce them by at least 5 percent per year, and by at least 50 percent by 2030. UN target 13.2.
• The Group reviews climate risk annually and reports in accordance with the TCFD standards. UN target 13.3.
• By 2025, all new projects shall take into account climate risk, to avoid additional impacts from climate change, and we shall have new streams of revenues as a result of climate change. UN target 13.3.

Protect, restore and promote the sustainable use of ecosystems, ensure sustainable forest management, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation and stop the loss of biodiversity.

Although many countries have implemented measures to ensure a fairer use of their natural resources, those measures are not enough.

The seriousness of the situation that our planet is facing requires immediate action to stop the loss of biodiversity and to protect vital ecosystems.

Å Energi’s contribution:

• We are participating in various research projects to increase our understanding of how we can build and operate our infrastructure with the lowest possible impact on the environment.

Å Energi’s goals:

• When building and operating our infrastructure, we shall take into account the need to protect vulnerable ecosystems and biodiversity on land and in our rivers. Our goal is to avoid all serious environmental incidents. UN targets: 15.1 and 15.5.

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 17 is to strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

n order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, new, strong partnerships are needed. The authorities, business community and civil society must work together to achieve sustainable development.

The Sustainable Development Goals should set out a joint, global pathway and set of priorities for the coming 15 years. Experience from the Millennium Development Goals shows that this type of targeted approach works.

Å Energi’s contribution:

• We are working with the authorities, external experts, organisations and other stakeholders to promote sustainability and the electrification of society.
• We are actively involved in networks that promote sustainability and climate action: Global Compact, Skift and Klimapartnere.

Å Energi’s goals:

• The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals can only be achieved through cooperation. In order to accelerate the green transition, we shall seek out new partnerships and alliances with companies that complement our areas of expertise. UN target 17.16.
• We shall help to test tomorrow’s energy solutions for cities and communities through our participation in Electric Region Agder. UN target 17.17.