The presentation was made by Fátima Borges, Director of AdP Sustainability and Social Responsibility under the auspices of the session on “Commitments to Sustainability: educating, acting and innovating with purpose”, which took place on 23 November at the 17th Social Responsibility Week, an event that included a speech by José Furtado, President of the Águas de Portugal Group, who highlighted the strategic direction and commitments of the Group in the present and into the future. 

Working with purpose; Acting for the climate; Accelerating the circular water economy; Valuing the territory; Innovating to impact; Guaranteeing Water and Sanitation without borders; and Educating for sustainability account for the seven AdP ambitions through to 2025. 

Among the objectives defined under the pillar ‘Working with purpose’, there is the emphasis on the professional and personal development of members of staff through various different training initiatives; guaranteeing equal opportunities and fostering diversity and inclusion as well as promoting a healthy balance between the professional and personal lives of staff members. 

In the axis ‘Acting for the Climate’, the Group seeks to guarantee energy neutrality and self-sustainability; reducing greenhouse gas emissions, bringing about sustainable mobility, the resilience of systems and guaranteeing the quality and safety of both the service and the product. The increase in the output of 100% renewable energy to 20% of total consumption; a 5% reduction in the electricity consumed; and raising energy self-sufficiency to 30% reflect some of the defined targets. 

In order to ‘Accelerate the Circular Economy of Water’, AdP aims to conserve the bodies of water and minimise the wastes produced, as well as valuing them as sub-products and thereby incorporating goals such as reducing both bulk and retail physical water losses by 20% and guaranteeing the extraction of value from 70% of the wastewater treatment plant sludges by 2025. 

In the case of ‘Valuing the territories’, the company plans for the implementation of various projects within the framework of providing public services of excellence with direct impacts on improving the quality of life of the local population. Deepening relationships of proximity and dialogue with municipal clients and partners; contributing to the development of a responsible economy (implementing a green procurement plan), and protecting and restoring biodiversity and ecosystems feature among the AdP priorities in this field. 

In terms of the ‘Innovate to Impact’ ambition, the Group shall set about developing RDI projects, raising their number by 10%; generate and launch innovative products, services and processes; implement open innovation based on multipolar networks of competences (raising internal and external partnerships by 10%) and advancing with the digital transformation.  

In order to ‘Guarantee Water and Sustainability without borders’, AdP defined the goal of boosting the capacity to share knowledge through empowerment and technical support projects (with the plan to raise the number of countries in receipt of know-how from AdP Internacional by 20%); nurturing mutual support in activities and programs related to water and sanitation in developing countries and operating within our reference geography. 

Finally, the axis ‘Educating for Sustainability’ strives to be a benchmark actor in the field of education and sustainable development through the implementation of diverse national promotional campaigns and incentives for best practices and changes in behaviour.  

Thus, the AdP Sustainability Plan strives to ensure the implementation of sector policies while consolidating the Group in terms of Environmental Policies.