The sustainability model

Snam considers sustainability to form an integral part of its business model. It is in fact a leading factor in defining the Company’s strategic and operational decisions and a lever for long-term sustainable growth. Meanwhile it delivers the shareholders’ expected results, sharing the value generated with all of its stakeholders including in terms of environmental and social issues.

The Company bases the day-to-day conduct of its activities on the principles set out by international bodies and conventions on the protection of human rights, employment and trade union rights, health, safety and environmental rights, repudiation of forced labour, child labour and any form of discrimination, and on conformity with values and principles concerning fairness, transparency and sustainable development. These principles are listed in the Code of Ethics adopted by all the companies, which are fundamental in orientating the conduct of personnel and for the responsible management of relationships with the stakeholders.

In order to give greater visibility to this commitment, Snam is a signatory to the Global Compact. This international initiative upholds ten universal principles concerning human rights, employment, the environment and anti-corruption, and brings together governments, businesses, United Nations agencies, labour organisations and civil associations, with the aim of contributing to the creation of a more inclusive and sustainable global economy. Snam’s commitment to the Global Compact also continued in 2013 with activities for engagement and dissemination of the ten principles by participating both actively, as a member of the Italian Global Compact Network, in the meetings of the Integrated Reporting Working Group, and in specific initiatives aimed at its own stakeholders.

Snam’s sustainability management model extends to all Group companies and is integrated into all phases of the corporate business process (Planning, Management, Control, Reporting, Communication and Stakeholder Engagement). The Board of Directors takes on a central role in defining the policies, while the Sustainability objectives, submitted for the approval of top management, are pursued by means of specific short- and medium-term projects and initiatives included in the Company’s action plan. All of the activities provided for by the model are coordinated by the Snam sustainability office with the participation of the various Snam offices and subsidiaries.

Snam publishes its sustainability balance sheet annually, which is considered to be an important instrument for strategic control and communication with stakeholders. The Report, approved by the Board of Directors at the same time as the annual financial report, examines the activities carried out according to economic efficiency, environmental protection and social protection, providing the performance indicators on which the business is measured and compared publicly.

In 2013 Snam embarked on a process of analysing sustainability issues (“Materiality Analysis”) that has enabled the definition of the most significant business issues. The analysis also responds to the request of the new guidelines (GRI-G4) published by the Global Reporting Initiative in 2013 regarding the reporting of sustainability reports.

The results achieved and maintained over time have enabled Snam shares to maintain their position in the main ethical indices, such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index World, the FTSE4Good Europe Index, the FTSE4Good Global Index, the ECPI Ethical Index Euro and the STOXX Global ESG Leaders Index.

In 2013 Snam is also present:

• in the CDP Italy 100 Climate Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI), a sustainability index issued directly by the CDP, a non-profit organisation involved in climate change that is among the most important internationally;
• in the new global index United Nations Global Compact 100 (GC 100), developed by the United Nations Global Compact in cooperation with the research firm Sustainalytics, which includes the 100 companies that have distinguished themselves at the global level both for attention to sustainability issues as well as for performance in the financial sector, and that adhere to the ten fundamental principles of the United Nations on the topics of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.

Snam has incorporated into its own path to sustainability the Shared Value approach that places high value on the connection between the economic system and society, and redefines the boundaries of corporate social responsibility. The premise of this new concept is that companies need to take action to reconcile business and society by placing a high value on knowledge, best practices and current or possible future initiatives: in short, to create economic value in ways that generate value simultaneously for the Company but also for the stakeholders and the locations where it operates.

Following this approach, during the year the Company has started up further processes for identifying new projects that maximise positive external results, and it has completed several projects (see the table below).