Abengoa has a sustainability policy that has been clearly defined within the company’s internal regulations, a risk management system including environmental risks, a GHG emissions inventory, and specific emission reduction programs for all of its business units.

Specifically, various elements should be mentioned that make Abengoa a benchmark company in the realm of sustainability and the struggle against climate change:

• Abengoa’s General Sustainability Department, which promotes and coordinates all efforts dedicated to environmental sustainability and climate change, embraces the mission of promoting strategy and guidelines to gear Abengoa businesses towards sustainable development.²
• The Common Management Systems, which help to align operational, tactical and strategic decisions with Abengoa’s vision of sustainability and approach to combating climate change..
• The GHG emissions inventory^3.
• Proprietary capability for managing emissions through Zeroemissions, a company created in 2007 to provide global solutions to climate change through the promotion, development and marketing of carbon credits, strategic carbon consulting, voluntary emissions compensation, and innovative GHG reduction technologies.
• 2010 was a year of tremendous progress for Zeroemissions. Highlights for the year were as follows:
  • Ninety CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) business opportunities in carbon markets were evaluated, and agreements were signed with more than ten companies in ten different territories to carry out CDM projects.
  • Development of the methodology for risk analysis and technical and legal audit of CDM projects.
  • ISO 9001, 14001 and OHSAS certification was obtained in Brazil and Spain.
• Progress in activities involving CO₂ capture and storage and energy efficiency. Significant R&D developments this year include, for example, achievements in the area of energy optimization in combined-cycle and gas turbine control containers.
• Ongoing communication with all company employees regarding the importance of including environmental variables and striving to halt climate change in the way they perform their duties. Among other communication tools, the following are employed to transmit these messages: In-house bulletin, namely Connect@, and the Abengoa Intranet. In this regard, a key development in 2010 was drawing up a sustainable mobility program for the entire Abengoa group. In the specific case of Campus Palmas Altas, a virtual sustainable mobility office was set up on the Intranet and includes a description of all measures to be implemented in order to lower the number of personal vehicles used for commutes to and from the facility.

² See chapter titled Environment and Sustainable Development
³ See chapter titled Greenhouse Gas Inventory