Environmental protection and the fight against climate change are, without a doubt, fundamental issues that concern us all. To ensure the preservation of our planet, it is essential to have the commitment of companies and organizations. This is the case in the case of Abertis, a company that operates thousands of kilometers of high-capacity and quality highways around the world, and that has been working on sustainable infrastructure management for the future for more than 60 years. Abertis' model is focused on offering innovative and sustainable solutions that guarantee an efficient, safe and quality service.
In an increasingly connected world, to properly prepare to face the challenges of tomorrow, it is essential to take into account the opportunities and risks involved in the incorporation of new emerging technologies. Highways, for example, must be prepared for innovations in vehicles. For this reason, Abertis is already working to be able to host not only electric cars, but also connected and autonomous vehicles. In each project, the company studies the conception of the road globally, taking into account the use of energy resources; interaction with the environment; intelligent management of circulation to reduce pollution and contamination; as well as the construction materials used, which increasingly come from recycled waste.
Abertis has just launched an ambitious plan based on ESG criteria (an acronym in English for environmental, social and corporate governance factors), designed to reduce the carbon footprint, mitigate climate change, minimize the environmental impact on its activity and promote the circular economy. The Plan, which is transversal to the entire organization, presents clear and measurable objectives, based on three lines of action: decarbonization, road safety and corporate culture. Regarding the first section, Abertis has proposed to actively contribute to the reduction of greenhouse emissions and also to the decongestion of transport.
To achieve this, it has invested more than 10.6 million euros in energy improvements and environmental protection measures. In terms of road safety, the company is working to reduce by 50% the number of fatalities and serious traffic deaths on its highway network. For now, it has already managed to globally achieve this objective in the period 2010-2020. Finally, in the area of corporate culture, it has managed to develop an organizational culture based on ethical principles. The rejection of corruption, the incorporation of new good governance practices, equality, inclusion and the generation of positive synergies in global communities are some of the actions on which it has worked with special intensity.
Increasingly, consumers are showing concern about issues related to the environment or social inequality. This change in mentality influences their purchasing decisions and contracting services, but also their way of traveling and getting around increasingly smarter and greener cities, or living in more efficient and ecological homes. The citizen is no longer limited to contemplating what is offered to him, but he wants to be an active part of the change, because he is aware that his demands and purchasing decisions can transform the way companies act.
Companies, regardless of which sector they belong to, must be able to respond to these demands if they aspire to continue developing their activity in the usual environment. Being competitive and attractive to this new, more aware consumer is now an unavoidable requirement. According to the data available to Abertis, 87% of citizens want to travel sustainably; 25% would be willing to pay more for trips that have a positive impact on the local community; and 71% express their willingness to make more efforts to travel in this new way.
Transportation plays a critical role in the United Nations 2030 Agenda, and is also present in several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to energy, health, infrastructure or economic growth, among other factors. Abertis, as a partner of the United Nations Global Compact since 2005, has identified those SDGs to which it can contribute most substantially, taking into account the organization's activity and its geographical presence, to quickly integrate them into its sustainability strategy. In this way, the group expresses its commitment to society, directing its long-term investment towards environmentally friendly infrastructures, and collaborating with public administrations in the development of initiatives aimed at achieving the SDGs.
The mobility sector faces a great challenge: achieving decarbonization. Guaranteeing the movement of the entire society in a digitalized, safe and “zero emissions” environment requires great efforts and requires the collaboration of all countries in the world, as well as all the actors involved, both public and private. The purpose is to build fair, green, well-structured and connected mobility, which allows compliance with the European Green Deal, and which contributes to creating a more inclusive, modern and progressive society. Abertis puts itself at the service of the Administration, so that, together, they can build this fair, homogeneous and sustainable model. Its expertise and know-how will, without a doubt, be essential to adapt the current infrastructures, which are already among the best in Europe, to the challenge of decarbonization.
The modernization, modernization and adaptation to a sustainable future of the aforementioned infrastructures is a primary issue. It is also important to ensure the necessary investments to preserve, improve, extend and digitize the road network, so that we can respond to the great challenges posed by mobility in the coming years. Among the different traffic decongestion and decarbonization strategies in our country, the need to facilitate the circulation of electric vehicles and the use of alternative fuels (including hydrogen) stands out. Also the purchase and generation of renewable energy to power both infrastructure and vehicles. To achieve this, it is necessary, in parallel, to launch electric stations throughout all high-capacity networks to provide vehicles with clean energy. Abertis, through its company Autopistas, is deploying 76 ultra-fast charging points throughout its road network in Spain, which reaches nearly 600 kilometers.
Of these, more than 50 are already operational, mainly in communities such as Catalonia, the Basque Country, La Rioja, Navarra, Aragón and Madrid. The deployment of these charging stations for electric vehicles is carried out by Abertis itself, with the help of expert operators in the sector. The facilities have a power greater than 150 KW, which makes it possible to charge a battery in just 20 minutes. Likewise, on the highways of Italy and France, it has also implemented fast charging points every 80 kilometers. These electric charging stations can charge 80% of a vehicle's battery in 30 minutes. In addition, the company is studying the possibility of developing an electric corridor that offers a solution based on the highways themselves being responsible for recharging electric vehicles.
Likewise, Abertis develops sustainable solutions based on technology and innovation. In France, for example, it is carrying out tests with service vehicles that run on hydrogen. And in Brazil and Puerto Rico they have installed photovoltaic panels on the roofs of toll plazas and rest area buildings, to generate electricity that is consumed locally.
Abertis' periodic and public participation in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) initiative and the annual calculation of its carbon footprint following international reference standards allow it to permanently monitor and communicate the impact of its activities on climate change, thus responding to expectations. of the different interest groups, in addition to facilitating the monitoring of the established objectives. The data recorded in the CDP to analyze the carbon footprint generated by Abertis has allowed Abertis to work on a plan of sustainability initiatives. On the one hand, they calculate the emissions derived from the company's activity, but they also measure the emissions regarding the mobility services they offer.
The main actions developed, based on these results, include the renewal of the vehicle fleet with less polluting ones, the implementation of energy efficiency measures, the installation of clean electricity generation mechanisms and the replacement of lighting. In addition, Abertis is going to develop a new line of action focused on detecting risks and opportunities for all the countries in which it operates, quantifying them economically, to make the group's infrastructure more resilient to climate change. Likewise, it is worth remembering that a total of 1,667 kilometers of highways managed by Abertis in Brazil, France, Spain, Chile and Italy pass through natural areas of special protection for biodiversity.
For Abertis, the conservation and protection of biodiversity and natural capital has special relevance in achieving the objectives related to the decarbonization of its activities. For all this, Abertis constantly works to minimize the impact that its highways have on the ecosystems through which these infrastructures pass. Among its main objectives, the importance of protecting and enhancing natural spaces and influencing the conservation of the biodiversity present in them stands out. The environmental monitoring and recovery programs for environmental liabilities, the installation of wildlife crossings and fences, the implementation of compensatory plantings, the deployment of awareness and environmental education campaigns with local communities and the emergency, conservation and cleaning plans, They constitute the main actions developed to obtain the established results. Finally, we must highlight the actions deployed in the field of the circular economy. Innovation applied to the recovery of waste and the use of recycled materials has a high potential for reducing environmental impacts in the life cycle of highways.
This allows generating positive synergies with the different stakeholders in relation to the closing of productive circles. Abertis highways are the most repaved roads in Spain. To carry out this operation, campaigns are carried out regularly, since one must be more demanding on roads like these that support a greater volume of traffic than on regional roads or highways. The treatment of the infrastructure in the case of high-quality roads is much more thorough, in order to offer comfortable driving. Abertis has set itself the challenge, in terms of maintaining its infrastructure, of using the minimum of raw materials and the maximum of recyclable materials at the beginning of the cycle, so that all the waste generated is recycled properly with the aim of reducing carbon footprint generated by the company.
To this end, it is already developing several pilot tests in this regard, in some of the countries in which it operates. Its goal is to continue growing in this area. Abertis believes in defining a new mobility model that can be sustainable from an environmental, social and economic point of view. Therefore, he advocates for a unified and clear model for our country that ensures decarbonized and decongested mobility, aligned with that of other neighboring European countries. Of course, all this represents a great challenge for infrastructure managers.
Success in this purpose depends, to a large extent, on there being constant collaboration with Administrations and Governments to achieve the SDGs that are truly critical if we want to reverse the effects of climate change. Without a doubt, the new mobility model must have the participation, effort and involvement of all political, economic and social agents, and will require a strong investment drive that must be born, as is already happening in other countries of the Union. European, public-private collaboration.
