Environment
Our commitment to environmental responsibility is underpinned by the importance we place on preventing and minimizing the impact of our activities on the environment. Sound environmental practices and behaviours are entrenched in our approach to business activities; we remain committed to conducting our activities in an environmentally responsible manner by focusing on continuously improving our practices.
As a holding company, our direct environmental impact is limited to the operations of our head office, which has no production or manufacturing functions. Despite this limited impact, we work diligently to reduce our environmental footprint, while working with our group companies to support their environmental management initiatives.
Our management approach to the environment is further reinforced through our Environmental Policy, which sets out our commitment to conduct our activities in an environmentally responsible manner.
Our environmental management activities are overseen by the Vice-President, Administration and Human Resources, and the Vice-President and General Counsel.
We have focused our environmental priorities on:
REDUCING
Energy and carbon footprint
INCREASING
Use of renewable resources
PREVENTING, REDUCING AND DIVERTING
Waste from landfills
PROCURING
Products and services responsibly
2020-2021 Achievements
- Achieved a 32 per cent reduction in energy consumption (electricity and natural gas) in 20201.
- Reduced our emissions from building sources (electricity and natural gas only) by 60 per cent in 20201.
- We again responded to the CDP in 2021, for a tenth consecutive year, using a financial control approach and rolling up data from Great-West Lifeco and IGM Financial. For a second consecutive year, Power Corporation was one of three Canadian companies to receive the top score of A (Leadership) for its response to the 2021 CDP questionnaire.
- Our CDP response included information about the continued integration of recommendations from the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
- Our GHG emissions reported and referenced in our 2020 and 2021 CDP submissions were externally verified.
- Helped finance sustainable and renewable energy projects through our alternative asset investment platform, Power Sustainable.
- Engaged with suppliers to procure sustainable products and services.
- No environmental incidents were reported.