EDF / 2018 Reference document

3.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIETAL INFORMATION – HUMAN RESOURCES EDF's Corporate Social Responsibility Goals

3.2.6

COMMITTED TO BIODIVERSITY

EDF's commitment: to launch a 3.2.6.1

positive approach to biodiversity, not to limit itself solely to knowledge in the long term, but to have a positive impact on biodiversity (CSRG no. 6)

This goal, committed to for the whole Group, concerns the entire life cycle of installations, from the project study stage, to construction and operation through to the end of the life of installations. It spans the whole length of the value chain, including procurement policies and relationships with suppliers and sub-contractors. The Group intends to develop a positive approach to biodiversity, by striving to improve its practices and by avoiding as much as possible irreversible damage to the natural environment. In fact, EDF does not want to limit itself to a defensive approach to biodiversity, by solely focusing on reducing the impacts of its industrial operations on ecosystems. In 2018, the Group's commitment to the act4nature initiative specified the modalities for rolling out this CSRG, which is now broken down into five main objectives: mobilising the Group's entities, understanding biodiversity issues and implementing concrete actions, innovating for biodiversity, engaging in a participatory and open process, and contributing to public policies. Mobilise all the entities of the Group 3.2.6.2 EDF's commitment in favour of biodiversity mobilises the entire Company, its business lines, employees, activities and its projects. This is done through targeted training and reinforcement of the mitigation hierarchy (Avoid, Reduce, Compensate) for all projects. The CSRG and the act4nature commitment are implemented in each of the Group's companies in a manner tailored to their activities, and in compliance with local regulations. Certain companies have a specific biodiversity policy, such as EDF Energy which has equipped each nuclear site with a specific biodiversity action plan, the detailed results of which are given in the annual site reports. For its part, Enedis is publicly involved in act4nature. EDF's contribution is specified in a roadmap for each of its business lines. Training and awareness raising 3.2.6.2.1 Training and raising awareness of the Company’s employees are important levers for progress with regard to biodiversity issues across the whole value chain. Each company manages its own training and internal awareness courses for biodiversity. Training is often carried out with the help of non-profit naturalist partners: in France, eight business guides have been published, written in a manner ■ which very closely addresses the biodiversity issues and challenges specific to each operational activity. Training is organised both at the national level and within the entities. In 2018, 96 employees benefited from national training; in the UK, in September 2018, EDF Energy brought together nearly 1,900 ■ employees and local communities at the Heysham site for a biodiversity event.

Due to the location of most of its industrial facilities in or near protected areas, the Group has made biodiversity a major commitment for several decades. EDF is a landowner and a manager of natural resources of great importance. Improving our knowledge of this heritage, reducing the impacts of our activities, and enriching local biodiversity are part of the performance goals for these industrial sites. The importance of the issue explains why the Group committed to biodiversity as early as the 1970s, with for example, the creation of a national laboratory on hydroecological issues in France, and the drawing up of a Biodiversity policy in 2006. The pressures of the Company's activities on biodiversity mainly concern (1) : water and aquatic biodiversity, largely as a result of: ■ hydraulic generation structures (power plants, dams and water intakes), ■ which bring about modifications of the biodiversity upstream of the structures in the event of flood defence, and downstream, due to the fragmentation of areas and flow limitations or variations, thermal structures, to a lesser extent; ■ addressing the degradation and fragmentation of natural terrestrial habitats, ■ due to the land occupied by the existing sites or projects, as well as part of new projects; overhead transmission systems and wind turbines, which pose a threat to birds ■ and bats. In order to better assess the threats and opportunities related to the impacts and dependency of the Company’s activity on ecosystems, EDF is trialling the Ecosystem Services Review (ESR) method (2) . This process of continuous improvement has earned several Group companies recognition for their initiatives: in Mexico, Citelum has been recognised by the COEBIO (Council that ■ distinguishes companies responsible for bioethics); in the UK, EDF Energy is one of the five companies to have met the Wildlife ■ Trusts’ Biodiversity Benchmark on multiple sites; in France, EDF has been recognised for its commitment to the National Strategy ■ for Biodiversity (SNB) by the Ministry of Ecology for the 2014-2017 period. Developed with its partners, this commitment has resulted in a major focus and concrete actions implemented in favour of biodiversity. Its goal is to contribute to slowing down biodiversity erosion and to supporting local movements. A final report was sent in the first half of 2018 to the Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition.

GRI indicator: G4 EN12 – Disclosure 304-2. (1) Method developed by the World Resource Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). (2)

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EDF I Reference Document 2018