Corporate social responsibility
Elering has developed principles of corporate social responsibility, which are integrated into the company’s management and provide input into strategy development. These principles have been approved by the company’s management board, ensuring that responsibility is an integral part of Elering’s operations and long-term goals.
The purpose of the principles is to explain Elering’s role in society and describe the company’s connection to the concept of corporate social responsibility. These define the international sustainability and ESG frameworks that are important to Elering, on which we base our management of ESG topics and which formulate the focus topics of corporate social responsibility in the areas of the environment (E), social practices (S), and responsible governance (G). The document governing the principles is public and available here (link) (currently attached at the bottom).
Focus topics of responsible entrepreneurship and their management
Elering manages its social impact through ESG areas and focus topics, which are selected based on the company’s current areas of influence and the opportunity to influence social processes.
The focus topics are divided into subtopics, and to manage them, we have prepared an ESG action plan with more detailed area-specific action plans and guidelines. In addition, we manage ESG issues through area-specific policies and strategies, ensuring a systematic and thoughtful approach to sustainability.
The ESG action plan defines our annual goals, and we update the document on an ongoing basis according to changing circumstances and priorities. The action plan is also approved by Elering’s supervisory board as part of the company’s budget, which ensures the integration of ESG principles into the company’s strategic management.
Attached is a drawing from page 57 of the annual report.
Elering has held the Gold Label for Responsible Entrepreneurship since 2019
In May 2023, the Responsible Business Forum Estonia once again recognised Elering as the holder of the certificate of Gold Label for Responsible Entrepreneurship, which is valid for two years. Elering received the same recognition on previous occasions in 2019 and 2021.
The labels of Estonia’s most comprehensive corporate social responsibility assessment index recognise companies operating in Estonia that care about the environment around them, but also want to contribute to society more than the law requires of them.
UN Sustainable Development Goals
On 25 September 2015, the UN Summit adopted the global Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Read more about the Sustainable Development Goals (in estonian)
Elering’s activities have a significant impact on almost all of the UN’s global Sustainable Development Goals, but due to Elering’s core business objective of ensuring security of supply in a climate-neutral manner, our main focus is on two goals
No. 7 Affordable and clean energy
Our goal is to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy. We believe that the socio-economically cheapest energy can only be achieved through an efficiently functioning and transparent regional energy market that is based on a reliable and smart energy network.
Our vision is to ensure security of supply in a climate-neutral way, using digital tools to make the energy network more flexible, efficient and future-proof.
No. 13 Climate action
The goal of Elering’s climate policy is to ensure Estonia’s security of supply in a climate-neutral manner in order to achieve Elering’s strategic goals in the transition to a climate-neutral economy. We are thinking along and contributing to achieving the European climate goals set by the Paris Climate Agreement by being a leader in making electricity and gas systems climate-neutral.
We have adopted a more ambitious goal than the European Union – to make Elering climate neutral by 2030 so as to enable energy consumers to use climate-neutral energy throughout the entire value chain, including transmission services. This step will strengthen the environmental friendliness, competitiveness and security of supply of the Estonian energy system.
Our CO2 footprint
Elering has assessed the greenhouse gas emissions related to the electricity transmission system in 2019–2024 in relation to national end consumption. Estonian companies can use this information to assess their footprint and draw up ESG reports.
A significant portion of Elering’s greenhouse gas emissions comes from electricity network losses. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with these losses, Elering has been purchasing renewable energy certificates of origin since 2022 – 8,005 certificates in 2022, 52,000 in 2023, and 118,000 in 2024.
|
Year |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Direct and indirect emissions |
0.033 |
0.024 |
0.032 |
0.040 |
0.033 |
0.013 |
Elering’s Greenhouse Gas Footprint for 2024
Elering’s greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint has been calculated in accordance with the internationally recognized and widely used GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. According to this standard, greenhouse gas emissions associated with Elering’s business activities are divided into three scopes:
Scope 1 – Direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by the company.
For Elering, this includes diesel and natural gas used to start the Kiisa emergency power plant, gasoline and diesel for business trips, the annual addition of sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆), and natural gas used for heat generation.
Scope 2 – Indirect emissions from purchased energy.
For Elering, this includes losses from electricity and gas networks, as well as emissions from purchased electricity and heat.
Scope 3 – All other indirect emissions resulting from activities in the company’s value chain, both upstream and downstream.
For Elering, this includes business travel, employee commuting, waste, office paper consumption, and water usage.
Elering’s environmental principles
Continuous assessment of environmental impacts is a natural part of our daily operations. A significant portion of our environmental activities is based on the environmental legislation in force in Estonia. For example, the maintenance of transformers and the handling, storage, and transportation of hazardous waste from substations must comply with dozens of different legal requirements. Adhering to these regulations is an integral part of our work processes, and our employees possess the necessary knowledge and qualifications.
Elering is guided by the following principles of environmental responsibility:
- We inform employees and suppliers of legislative and other environmental requirements and are committed to complying with them.
- We avoid environmental pollution and reduce waste generation by applying the best available technology.
- We use resources efficiently and sustainably.
- We require suppliers to act in an environmentally responsible manner and use environmentally friendly technologies, as specified in procurement documents.
- The company's environmental policy and aspects are public – every employee is free to share them outside the company.
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental impact assessment is an integral and important part of all Elering’s new electricity system development projects, including informing relevant stakeholders. It is a process where the anticipated environmental impacts of a proposed activity are identified, assessed, and described. The process also includes analyzing ways to avoid or mitigate these impacts and determining the most suitable solution.
Public participation through open discussions is the best way to engage in environmental impact assessment and helps identify common ground in the early phases of a project.
In the past, strategic environmental assessment processes have been initiated for projects such as Harku–Lihula–Sindi, Kilingi-Nõmme–Riga, and Balticconnector. More recently, the process has also been started for the EstLink 3 interconnection project.