Snam Rete Gas is listed in the DJSI World (Dow Jones Sustainability World Index). This is a major achievement that tangibly shows the company’s commitment on the sustainability front. In the last twenty years the markets have begun to evaluate companies not only on the basis of their book value, but also on the basis of their intangible assets like human capital, relational capital and organisational capital. One of the tools that the market avails of for this type of evaluation is the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, created in 1999 in order to track the financial performance of companies that are distinguished by excellent results from an economic, social and environmental viewpoint.
To be included in the list, companies need to be able to manage sustainability issues, they need to be able to include sustainability in the strategic decision-making process, and they need to be able to represent an attractive investment opportunity. The evaluation, which is subjected to external verification, is conducted by SAM Sustainability Asset Management rating company, which avail of a specific questionnaire per sector of activity as well as official documents (public and private) made available by the company.
| EVALUATION CRITERIA-UTILITIES SECTOR-GAS DISTRIBUTION: |
| Economic Dimension |
| Corporate Governance |
| Risk & Crisis Management |
| Codes of Conduct/Compliance/Corruption & Bribery |
| Customer Relationship Management |
| Market Opportunities |
| Price Risk Management |
| Scorecards/Measurement Systems |
| Environmental Dimension |
| Environmental Reporting |
| Environmental Policy/Management System |
| Operational Eco-Efficiency |
| Storage. Transportation and Distribution Infrastructure |
| Manufactured Gas Plants |
| Climate Strategy |
| Biodiversity |
| Social Dimension |
| Labor Practice Indicators |
| Human Capital Development |
| Talent Attraction & Retention |
| Corporate Citizenship/Philanthropy |
| Social Reporting |
| Stakeholder engagement |
| Occupational Health & Safety |
The DJSI index is calculated for industrial categories (59), which are in turn aggregated into sectors of activity (19). We are represented in this analysis in the Gas Distribution Utilities category, part of the more general utilities sector, a sector that presents many challenges: market liberalisation, management of demand, efficiency of assets, the impact of climate change, the cost of energy etc. The DJSI World selects around 300 companies out of a total of around 2,500 that are eligible in terms of capitalisation. In our sector we were ranked with a total score of 76 points compared to the result of 83 given to the best performer. It should also be noted that just 4 companies (out of 29 eligible companies) in the Gas Distribution sector were represented in the 2009 DJSI World. Snam Rete Gas has also been included in the SAM Silver Class 2010 excellence cluster and credited, for the Gas Distribution sector, with the SAM Sector Mover 2010 qualification. The title recognises the company that recorded the most remarkable improvement, in the sustainability area, compared to the previous year. For us, being part of this index represents something to be proud of, given the ongoing and widespread commitment to the issues of sustainability in which we believe. In addition to highlighting our strengths (involvement of stakeholders, excellence in accounting for performance in the areas of health, safety and environment, and effective working methods), the analysis to which we were subjected also indicates the possible areas for improvement (risk management, philanthropy management, integration of measurement systems to control non-financial variables) which will see us involved in the future. The result achieved is not - and in fact cannot be - a finish line. On the contrary, it represents a further challenge that will accompany us year after year on our path to sustainability.
TOTAL SCORE
* Score of the best company within the GAS sector
** Average score of the analyzed companies in the GAS sector
*** Average score of the companies in the GAS sector, which are member of the DJSI 2009