Highlights and Challenges in ESG Demonstrate Industry Leadership

BTE Renewables has released its second annual Sustainability Report, highlighting its Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) performance in 2022 and progress on its strategic sustainability goals. Building on the base line of its inaugural report (2021), the report demonstrates the company’s leadership in the ESG arena, as recognised through a number of awards and accolades.

In keeping with BTEs’ Sustainability goals, a three-year strategy was established as of 2020, ensuring that sustainability is at the core of its decision-making, and integrated into its resourcing, policy-making and processes. The company continues to focus on harnessing opportunities for long term transformational impact, and setting an example for the effective management of environmental and social impacts. “Three years ago we put a strategy in place, with the clear intention of becoming a leader in Sustainability by 2022. We set about putting the right structures in place to achieve this, with a view to building on a solid foundation for achieving sustainability excellence through clarity in goals, collaboration, consultation and partnership for achieving positive impact. Today, I believe we are well on our way to achieving our target, as acknowledged by a number of accolades in the areas of overall sustainability, environmental stewardship and gender empowerment,” said Libby Hirshon, BTE Renewables Sustainability Director. The report shows excellence in performance across a number of areas, including:

• Industry leadership in gender diversity, with women making up 57% of Senior Leadership, and 43% of the total workforce.
• Exceptional Health and Safety performance, with a Total Reportable Injury Frequency Rate of just 0,25 – and not a single Lost Time Injury throughout 2022.
• Leadership in Biodiversity performance, showing continuous success in the pioneering observer-led Shut Down on Demand (SDOD) mitigation and conservation programmes.
• Strategic Community Investment, investing for long term sustainable impact as implemented according to the Lifetime of Learning approach to community investment.
• Environmental Performance, having voluntarily assessed their carbon footprint for the first time, resulting in a baseline to work from to reduce future emissions.

This Report has allowed the company to incorporate comparisons to the previous year’s data and performance, and understand potential trends arising. Demonstrating its commitment to transparency, this report has offered the opportunity to not only cover the positive aspects of the company’s performance, but to shine a light on the challenges that were faced as well. “This report has demonstrated an increased focus on linkages to the global Sustainable Development Goals and our contributions to those that are most relevant to our business. Not only through our own achievements, but also our challenges.  We have simultaneously highlighted progress made through collaboration with peers, and inspiration to stakeholders to work together in ensuring that the energy transition in Africa is truly a Just Energy Transition,” concluded Robert Skjodt, CEO of BTE Renewables.