Not only profits and revenues in sharp increase for the FS group, but also the indices of sustainability from an environmental, social and economic point of view: reduced emissions and water consumption, growing recovery of special waste and energy self-production, reduced gender gap, expanded solidarity and social activities, recourse to green finance continues for projects in line with European sustainability criteria. To certify it the 2022 sustainability report approved by the board of directors of the parent company FS, under the chairmanship of Nicoletta Giadrossi, which sees improvements in the main ESG parameters and the overall assessment of the various dimensions of sustainability, as also confirmed by the rating assigned by Moody's ESG Solutions in January 2023, with the level "Advanced ” and with an ESG score of 65/100.
Actions to combat climate change are increasingly decisive and effective, thanks above all to the renewal of the railway fleet with more energy-efficient vehicles, the improvement of the electricity generation mix and the decrease in the use of fuels from fossil sources. The reduction of climate-altering emissions has allowed Ferrovie Italiane to improve the rating assigned by the Carbon Disclosure Project from B to A-.
FS Group: the 2022 Sustainability Report
The strong acceleration in 2022 towards theenergy autonomy, at the heart of the ten-year industrial plan which, among the many objectives, envisages producing 2,6 TWh per year when fully operational and covering 40% of electricity needs through self-production from renewables. The first months of 2023 have already shown the first steps in this direction with the 130 million euro European call for tenders to design and build the first twenty photovoltaic plants in the Group's spaces.
Water saving and environmentally sustainable activities
Excellent results also in the field of water saving. With the Group going from 17,1 to 16,7 million cubic meters of water consumed, while in terms of waste management sent over 95% of special waste for recovery. Supplier sustainability is also central to the Sustainability Report with over 700 companies involved, since 2017, in assessing the sustainability performance of the supply chain.
In addition, 2022 saw the reporting of information about theenvironmental sustainability of the Group's activities: 84,2% of capital expenditure, 60,6% of revenues and 44,5% of operating costs refer to eco-sustainable activities.
With the gender gap reduced, the generational turnover continues
The social dimension also finds space in the Report. In 2022, the number of employees went from 81.906 to 85.361, with a 20% female presence which is up by 0,9 percentage points. Continues the generational change, with 9.317 hires from the market compared to 6.232 exits. Therefore a large investment in the new generations, with the average age of employees continuing to fall (42 years). The commitment of FS also continues, in collaboration with the National Solidarity Observatory in Stations (ONDS), in solidarity and social activities in support of people experiencing situations of fragility: in 2022 the network of Help Centers, housed in the spaces of stations, was expanded with two new centers in Cagliari and Grosseto, bringing the number of facilities spread throughout Italy to 19.
The use of green finance continues
During 2022 they were placed two green bonds: the first in July, for a value of 200 million euros, with the European Investment Bank (EIB), in support of the purchase of high-speed trains by Trenitalia, and the second, for a value of 1,1 €.XNUMX billion to finance the purchase of new trains and expenses for the maintenance of Trenitalia's electric rolling stock, as well as – for the first time – for interventions on RFI's Turin-Milan-Naples high-speed network. All investments financed with green bonds meet the criteria of the EU Taxonomy.
Furthermore, in June, a new one was finalized by the Fs bond issue in a private placement worth 160 million euro with Eurofima, (always in line with the principles of green finance) to finance rolling stock used in the public service by Trenitalia. Finally, last July, FS subscribed to the extension from 2,5 to 3 billion euro of the committed and revolving credit line stipulated in 2021, essential for financing all the Group's activities on a general purpose basis.
