Climate Change Data

RWE AG

Climate Impact & Sustainability Data (2019, 2021, 2021-01 to 2021-06, 2022, 2023)

Reporting Period: 2019

Environmental Metrics

Total Carbon Emissions:87.1 million metric tons of CO2 (EU ETS)
Scope 1 Emissions:91.7 million mt CO2e
Scope 2 Emissions:4.72 million mt CO2e
Scope 3 Emissions:187.2 million mt CO2e
Renewable Energy Share:10.7%
Total Energy Consumption:934 million GJ
Water Consumption:4,924.0 million m3
Waste Generated:4,197 thousand tons of ash; 920 thousand tons of gypsum
Carbon Intensity:0.569 mt/MWh (EU ETS); 0.599 mt/MWh (Scope 1)

ESG Focus Areas

  • Climate Change
  • Environmental Concerns
  • Employee Concerns
  • Social Concerns
  • Respect for Human Rights
  • Anti-corruption

Environmental Achievements

  • Reduced annual CO2 emissions by 51% from 2012 to 2019
  • 10.7% share of renewable energy in electricity generation
  • 3,000 animal species and 1,500 plant species in recultivation areas
  • 100% coverage through environmental management system

Social Achievements

  • Launched New Way of Working (NWoW) program
  • Around 600 social and community projects
  • LTIF of 2.1 (2018: 2.2) for occupational accidents with at least one day off work per one million hours worked
  • 15.8% share of women in management positions

Governance Achievements

  • Established a Compliance Management System
  • 100% coverage of the procurement volume for goods and services by acknowledgement of the RWE Code of Conduct
  • Statement of Compliance pursuant to Article 161 Stock Corporation Act (AktG)

Climate Goals & Targets

Long-term Goals:
  • Climate neutrality by 2040
Medium-term Goals:
  • Reduce CO2 emissions by 75% by 2030
  • Achieve an LTIF of 2.0 by 2020
Short-term Goals:
  • Not disclosed

Environmental Challenges

  • Compliance with regulations on occupational health and safety, especially when commissioning third parties
  • Fully guaranteeing that all possible negative impacts are excluded in the supply chain
  • Excluding money laundering or financing terrorism when procuring fuels
  • Meeting national and international climate change targets
  • Managing financial risks associated with CO2 emissions
  • Securing electricity supply while transitioning to carbon neutrality
  • Increasing the proportion of women in the company
Mitigation Strategies
  • Implemented management and controlling instruments to ensure compliance with legislation
  • Continuous improvement and cooperation with other companies and organizations
  • Review of all potential trading partners before entering business relationships
  • Consistently reducing CO2 emissions and expanding renewable energy
  • Concluding appropriate hedging transactions
  • Maintaining a flexible power plant portfolio
  • Strategic support for women entering the company and climbing the career ladder

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: 100% coverage of procurement volume for goods and services by acknowledgement of the RWE Code of Conduct

Responsible Procurement
  • RWE Code of Conduct
  • UN Global Compact principles
  • Bettercoal Initiative

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks
  • Extreme weather events
Transition Risks
  • Regulatory changes
  • Market shifts
Opportunities
  • Expansion of renewable energy

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI Standards: Core option

Certifications: ISO 14001:2015, ISO 50001

Third-party Assurance: PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

UN Sustainable Development Goals

  • Goal 5
  • Goal 7
  • Goal 8
  • Goal 9
  • Goal 13
  • Goal 15
  • Goal 16

The report details how various initiatives contribute to these goals.

Sustainable Products & Innovation

  • Flex2Market Model
  • Green Power Purchase Agreements

Awards & Recognition

  • German Occupational Safety Prize for Safety Academy

Reporting Period: 2021

Environmental Metrics

Total Carbon Emissions:86.9 million mt CO2e
Scope 1 Emissions:86.9 million mt CO2e
Scope 2 Emissions:2.7 million mt CO2e
Scope 3 Emissions:22.7 million mt CO2e
Renewable Energy Share:28.4% of installed capacity
Water Consumption:4,747,522,482 m3 (total withdrawn)
Waste Generated:3,784,840 tons (coal combustion residuals)
Carbon Intensity:0.499 mt CO2e/MWh (Scope 1+2)

ESG Focus Areas

  • Climate Change
  • Biodiversity & Recultivation
  • Innovation
  • Social Responsibility
  • Diversity, Equal Rights & Inclusion
  • Health & Safety
  • Sustainable Investments
  • Compliance & Ethics
  • Circular Economy

Environmental Achievements

  • Increased share of renewable energies in installed capacity to 28.4% (pro rata)
  • Reduced CO2 intensity of power generation capacity to 0.41 t CO2 / MW
  • Shut down last two hard coal-fired power plants in Germany
  • 3,100 animal species and 1,500 plant and fungi species in recultivation areas

Social Achievements

  • Launched various transformation programs to support internal change processes
  • 1,105 external new hires, including 271 women
  • Increased share of women in management positions to 19% (Group-wide, in core business)
  • Established Lumiland daycare nurseries in Essen, Dortmund and Cologne
  • Provided emergency aid of €2 million after German flooding

Governance Achievements

  • 88% share of taxonomy-eligible activities in CAPEX in 2021
  • Implemented a groupwide Compliance Management System
  • Linked Executive Board compensation to sustainability indicators
  • Established a web-based whistleblower system

Climate Goals & Targets

Long-term Goals:
  • Climate neutrality by 2040
Medium-term Goals:
  • Increase share of women in management positions to 30% by 2030
  • Reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030 (compared to 2019)
  • Reduce Scope 3 emissions by 30% by 2030 (compared to 2019)
  • Expand green generation capacity to 50 GW by 2030
Short-term Goals:
  • Not disclosed

Environmental Challenges

  • Extreme weather conditions in Texas resulting in outages at RWE wind turbines (€400 million burden)
  • Flooding catastrophe in Germany impacting RWE power plants and Inden opencast mine (middle double-digit million euros expenditure)
  • Regulatory changes in the energy sector impacting conventional electricity generation
  • Amendments to government subsidy systems for renewable energy
Mitigation Strategies
  • Developed alternative sourcing strategies
  • Introduced an evaluation of climate-relevant risks and opportunities in risk management
  • Implemented an Environmental Management System in conformity with ISO 14001
  • Regularly monitor and certify operations to ensure environmental protection

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement
  • Compliance with UN Global Compact principles
  • Use of Sustainable Biomass Programme (SBP) certificates for biomass
  • Incorporation of ESG criteria into international procurement for renewable energy projects

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks
  • Extreme weather events
  • Flooding
Transition Risks
  • Regulatory changes
  • Amendments to government subsidy systems
Opportunities
  • Expansion of renewable energy
  • Growth potential of offshore wind
  • Increasing demand for storage technologies
  • Use of renewable energy in hydrogen projects

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI Standards: Core option, UN Global Compact, UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Certifications: ISO 14001, ISO 50001, ISO 45001, SBP (Sustainable Biomass Programme)

Third-party Assurance: PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

UN Sustainable Development Goals

  • Goal 5
  • Goal 7
  • Goal 8
  • Goal 9
  • Goal 12
  • Goal 13
  • Goal 14
  • Goal 15
  • Goal 16

The report details how RWE's initiatives contribute to these goals.

Sustainable Products & Innovation

  • Recyclable rotor blades
  • Green hydrogen

Awards & Recognition

  • Financial Times “Diversity Leaders Award”
  • Uhlala Dax 30 (LGBT and Diversity Ranking)
  • Pride Champion LGBTIQ+ Diversity Employer Seal
  • PROUT AT WORK “Rising Star Award”
  • Outstanding Security Performance Award
  • German Brand Award
  • BRITAIN’S CHOICE 2021/22
  • UK “The Energy Awards”
  • Sitecore “Experience Awards”
  • S & P Global Platts “Global Energy Awards”
  • German Investor Relations Association “German Investor Relations Prize”
  • S & P Global Included in the “Sustainability Yearbook 2022”

Reporting Period: 2021-01 to 2021-06

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

  • Climate Change
  • Renewable Energy
  • Emissions Reduction
  • Nuclear Phaseout
  • Coal Phaseout

Environmental Achievements

  • Issued €500 million green bond for wind and solar projects.
  • Scioto Ridge onshore wind farm (250 MW) in Ohio started commercial operation.
  • Sofia offshore wind farm (1,400 MW) in the UK North Sea final investment decision made.

Social Achievements

  • Initiated a €1 million emergency relief program to help people affected by floods in western Germany.
  • Extended €5 billion syndicated credit line by one year, linking it to sustainability goals.

Governance Achievements

  • Fitch and Moody’s upgraded RWE’s credit rating.
  • Adjusted Long-Term Incentive Plan for executives to include carbon footprint and total shareholder return.

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

  • Lower than average wind speeds at nearly all European and North American generation sites.
  • Extreme cold snap in Texas in February 2021 caused substantial supply outages and high electricity purchase costs (€400 million earnings reduction).
  • Catastrophic floods in western Germany in mid-July led to production outages and damage.
Mitigation Strategies
  • Developed alternative sourcing strategies (not explicitly detailed).
  • Emergency relief program for flood victims.
  • Conversion of Westfalen power plant generator to produce reactive power.

Supply Chain Management

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks
  • Extreme weather (cold snap, floods)
Transition Risks
  • Regulatory changes (coal phaseout, climate targets)
  • Market shifts (competition in renewables)
Opportunities
  • Expansion of renewable energy

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: IFRS

Third-party Assurance: PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

Reporting Period: 2022

Environmental Metrics

Total Carbon Emissions:83 million metric tons of CO2 (2022)
Scope 1 Emissions:89.6 million metric tons of CO2e
Scope 2 Emissions:2.8 million tons of CO2e
Scope 3 Emissions:22.1 million tons of CO2e
Renewable Energy Share:32% of total capacity (end 2022)
Carbon Intensity:0.57 million tons of CO2e per MWh of produced electricity (2022)

ESG Focus Areas

  • Climate change
  • Innovation
  • Biodiversity
  • Circular economy
  • Social responsibility
  • Occupational health and safety
  • Diversity, equity and inclusion
  • Compliance and ethics
  • Sustainable investments

Environmental Achievements

  • Commissioned two gigawatts of clean energy projects
  • More than 5 GW of clean energy projects under construction
  • Accelerated coal phase-out to 2030
  • Three of 38 wind turbines at Kaskasi wind farm equipped with recyclable blades

Social Achievements

  • Launched new Employer Value Proposition: ‘Our energy has impact’
  • Revamped central career website
  • Harmonised internal job board
  • Improved onboarding, offboarding, and job change processes
  • Invested over €5 million in local communities in the UK and Ireland via community funds
  • Engagement index rose to 84%

Governance Achievements

  • Established a dedicated ‘HR coal phase-out team’
  • Implemented a milestone plan for workforce reduction at coal plants
  • Consistently achieved 100% response rate in executives’ compliance reporting

Climate Goals & Targets

Long-term Goals:
  • Climate neutrality by 2040 (all three scopes)
  • Fully circular economy by 2050
Medium-term Goals:
  • Reduce Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 50% per unit of electricity generated by 2030 (relative to 2019)
  • Reduce Scope 3 GHG emissions by 30% by 2030 (relative to 2019)
  • Increase recovery rate to over 90% by 2030
  • Increase proportion of women in management positions to at least 30% by 2030
Short-term Goals:
  • Reduce Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 15% absolute by 2025 (relative to 2019)

Environmental Challenges

  • Global pandemic
  • Surging inflation
  • War in Europe
  • Energy crisis in Europe
  • Climate change
  • Biodiversity loss
  • Need for accelerated transition to renewable energy
  • Social ramifications of coal phase-out
  • Difficulty in quantifying impacts on biodiversity
  • Need for more efficient resource use
  • Impacts of decommissioning facilities on employees and communities
Mitigation Strategies
  • Organised imports of LNG to Europe
  • Brought lignite-fired power plants back online
  • Deferred decommissioning of lignite and nuclear units
  • Accelerated coal phase-out agreement with German government
  • Investment of €50 billion (gross) in green core business by 2030
  • Socially acceptable coal phase-out process
  • Development of scientifically sound criteria to measure biodiversity impacts
  • Development of a circular economy roadmap
  • Just Transition initiatives for employees affected by coal phase-out
  • Community engagement and communication

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement
  • Code of Conduct
  • Human rights and environmental due diligence requirements

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks
  • Changes in wind, sunshine, precipitation, and drought
Transition Risks
  • Regulatory changes
  • Market shifts
Opportunities
  • Expansion of renewable energy
  • Development of energy-efficient products
  • Hydrogen economy

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: UN Global Compact, OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, EU Taxonomy Regulation, Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)

Certifications: ISO 14001:2015

Sustainable Products & Innovation

  • Recyclable rotor blades
  • BECCUS (Bio-Energy with Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage) projects

Reporting Period: 2023

Environmental Metrics

Total Carbon Emissions:60.6 million mt CO2e
Scope 1 Emissions:61.9 million mt CO2e
Scope 2 Emissions:0.2 million mt CO2e
Scope 3 Emissions:21.6 million mt CO2e
Renewable Energy Share:35% of total electricity generated
Carbon Intensity:0.48 mt CO2e/MWh (Scope 1 and 2)

ESG Focus Areas

  • Climate change
  • Biodiversity
  • Circular economy
  • Diversity, equity and inclusion
  • Occupational health and safety
  • Social responsibility
  • Compliance and ethics
  • Sustainable investments
  • Human rights

Environmental Achievements

  • Reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 27% to 60.6 million metric tons compared to 2022.
  • Generated more electricity from renewables (35%) than coal (30%) for the first time in company history.
  • Increased renewable energy generation capacity significantly, primarily due to the acquisition of Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses.

Social Achievements

  • Increased the proportion of women in leadership positions to 23.1%.
  • Maintained a Lost Time Injury Frequency (LTIF) of 1.5 and zero fatal work-related accidents.
  • Improved engagement index to 88%.

Governance Achievements

  • Maintained a 100% feedback rate in the executives’ compliance survey.
  • Achieved full coverage for contracts with suppliers including the Code of Conduct and fuel trade partners audited using the Know Your Customer process.

Climate Goals & Targets

Long-term Goals:
  • Achieve net-zero emissions by 2040.
  • Maximize circularity by 2050.
Medium-term Goals:
  • Reduce total Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 67.6% and Scope 3 emissions by 42% by 2030 (base year 2022).
  • Achieve a recycling rate of over 90% in core business by 2030.
  • Increase the proportion of women in management positions to 30% by 2030 (core business).
Short-term Goals:
  • Phase out hard coal-fired power generation by 2030.
  • Increase offshore wind capacity to 6 GW by 2027 and 10 GW by 2030.
  • Increase onshore wind portfolio to 12 GW by 2027 and 14 GW by 2030.
  • Increase solar portfolio to 12 GW by 2027 and 16 GW by 2030.
  • Increase battery storage capacity to 4 GW by 2027 and 6 GW by 2030.

Environmental Challenges

  • High inflation and interest rates, weak global economy, and uncertain geopolitical situation.
  • Drop in wholesale electricity prices.
  • Rising costs for some competitors' renewables projects.
  • Supply chain pressures in the energy industry.
  • Potential trade embargoes or import duties.
Mitigation Strategies
  • Regional diversification (strong positioning in the USA).
  • Investment program to safeguard future earnings (profits from most wind and solar farms are stable).
  • Hedging strategies to mitigate risks associated with earnings.
  • Early ordering and sourcing products from a broad range of suppliers.
  • Identifying local sources to reduce reliance on international supply chains.

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: 100% coverage for contracts with suppliers overseen by Group purchasing.

Responsible Procurement
  • Code of Conduct
  • Supplier sustainability requirements
  • Know Your Customer process for fuel procurement.

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks
  • Extreme weather events
Transition Risks
  • Changes in regulatory framework
  • Market shifts
Opportunities
  • Expansion of renewable energy
  • Development of hydrogen technologies

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI, EU Taxonomy

Certifications: ISO 14001:2015

Third-party Assurance: PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

Sustainable Products & Innovation

  • Recyclable rotor blades
  • GreenerTowers