While Spain is a world-leader in renewable energy technology, Spanish companies are also beginning to make progress in their social programmes

 

In the 1990s Spanish companies started to become aware of the need to address social and environmental concerns and the economic benefits of trying to integrate them into regular business activity.
 

But it wasn’t until the turn of the century that companies really began to understand the need for sustainable business. The tipping point resulted from a combination of factors including the creation of the UN Global Compact, a 2001 EU responsible business green paper, an awareness of the international market incentives for companies with CR programmes and the prosperous economy of Spain at the turn of the 21st century.
 

Sustainable business initiatives have appeared across the country, promoted in the most part by the biggest companies, which have gradually became the drivers for the most significant advances in sustainability. Repsol, Iberdrola, Endesa, Telefónica, Ferrovial, Banco Santander and BBVA are among the leading Spanish companies in terms of responsible business.
 

A major focus, backed by national legislation, is the development of renewable energy – so that Spain can move towards energy independence and remove the need for large imports of fossil fuels.

Wind winner

Spain is now a leader in the development of wind energy, close behind Germany in terms of wind technology and installations. According to the latest statistics from the Spanish national electric system operator – Red Eléctrica de España – during January to April 2011, wind production provided 17.9% of Spain’s electricity.
 

For the past couple of years, solar energy has been booming, too. Spain and Portugal receive the most solar radiation in Europe, and Spain is now the top producer of solar electricity in the EU. Currently this provides only 3% of the country’s energy, but it is clearly a sector with potential for more.
 

Reflecting the enormous potential that Spain has for renewable energy, this summer the Spanish government’s renewable energy plan for 2011 to 2020 will come into effect. Under this plan, up to €60bn will be invested in renewable energy technology.
 

New regulations aim to increase Spain’s energy independence, largely by ramping up wind and solar power production.
 

This is no small goal: Spain is currently the most energy-imports-dependent country in the EU. Spain lacks any substantial fossil fuel reserves. According to Eurostat, in 2009, 48.4% of Spain’s energy came from oil. Spain produces just 1% of the total it consumes, so it has to import the remaining 99% from other countries, including Iran, Libya and Russia. Spain also depends on natural gas imports, primarily from Algeria and Russia.
 

And as well as creating energy dependence, this is extremely expensive. Spanish industry minister Miguel Sebastián announced recently that fuel importation will cost the country around €50bn in 2011, which is 5% of Spain’s GDP.
 

But Spain is not just making progress in renewable energy. There have been advances in social policy too, if rather more slowly.
 

More women are now reaching senior management positions in big companies. And there have been advances in corporate policies that allow employees to better balance their personal and professional lives. However, as reported by El Pais newspaper in March 2010, 53% women who want to work can find employment versus 66% of men (who want a job) – that is a difference of 13.4%. The average inequality in the EU is 12.3%. This places Spain still below the EU Lisbon treaty equality targets for women (which is 60%).
 

From a corporate perspective, Spain has had a long tradition of social action but it’s only been in the last few years that companies have understood that social responsibility is much more than conventional community or development philanthropy. In the context of globalisation, many Spanish companies have reconsidered their long-term social action programmes and have adjusted them to respond to the tangible social impacts of their business operations. Spanish companies have embraced the change from social action to social responsibility and they are currently developing more strategic social responsibility programmes address their labour, supplier and community business impacts.
 

Spanish companies are also realising that they can’t always properly tackle social challenges on their own. As in other countries, it’s through the work of a number of stakeholders that many complex social challenges are best addressed. In this respect, Spain is starting to wake up to the benefits of multistakeholder initiatives.
 

The Spanish CSR State Council, set up in 2008, is still a work in progress, but there are an increasing number of opportunities to engage in deeper stakeholder engagement where all parties bring value to the table and are able to effectively work towards a common goal. To facilitate the journey, organisations such as the UN Global Compact and multiple business and civil society institutions have begun to provide the tools and training required to sharpen the art of stakeholder engagement in Spain.

Carmen Gómez-Cotta is editor in chief at Ethic,a new media organisation specialising in promoting sustainable development.
 

Paloma Lopez an independent consultant specialising in sustainable business growth. She's a graduate of the Cambridge sustainability leadership postgraduate programme and an active member of The Hub.


 

References:

 

Socio-economic statistics obtained from recent publications from the CIA Factbook and the Human Development Index.

Corporate responsibility data obtained from a May 2011 Ethical Corporation survey. The results should be regarded as a basic indication of trends in Spain and not as scientific research.

Guideline and standards statistics obtained during May 2011 from official website of each initiative.

 



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