Strategic Framework of Commitment
Water is essential
to life and a human right duly recognised by the United Nations in addition
to taking on transversal importance throughout the Sustainable Development
Goals set by the Agenda 2030. However, access to this universal right
is becoming increasingly compromised due to the risks arising
from climate change, from controlling pollution through to protecting the health
of both humans and the environment.
Over
recent decades, the AdP Group has brought about a profound transformation in
the national water supply and basic sanitation sectors, raising
the standard of quality and establishing the conditions necessary both
for ensuring public health and preserving the environment.
In order to provide responses to the evolution in the paradigm and the major social challenges interrelated with this sector, the AdP Group has set out its Strategic Framework of Commitment, which further reinforces its response capacity to the dynamics associated precisely with climate change, decarbonisation, the digital transformation and the circular economy. This strategy shall also drive the still more effective utilisation of resources, the objectives of improving the quality of water and the levels of service provided to the populations served, endowing Portugal with one of the best environmental performances in Europe.
“This collective
commitment makes the Águas de Portugal Group
still more
cohesive and robust and of deeper social utility.”
José Furtado, Chair
of the Águas de Portugal Board of Directors
The AdP
Group Strategic Framework of Commitment is a collective alignment and
mobilisation in the sense of adding social utility, corresponding
to environmental demands, returning efficiency gains and outperforming quality
standards in water supply and wastewater treatment services, which are
essential to wellbeing, public health, the environment, the economy and to
sustainable development.
The
construction of this Strategy incorporated a collaborative process involving
the 3,300 Group members of staff, reflecting their personal and
professional experiences in their specialist fields and beyond, understanding
the complete water cycle, its evolutions and needs.
We started
out by identifying and interpreting the expectations of the main stakeholders
and we subsequently structured them into an approach anchored on three
strategic axes focused on Persons and Organisations, on Clients and
Users and on the Environment and Society before then establishing 12
strategic challenges that triggered around 500 different action
proposals, from across every Group company, which in turn expresses
the high level of involvement and clear perception of the importance of
establishing an open and shared direction.
The Strategic
Framework of Commitment was publicly presented at a meeting open to
employees, institutional partners, municipalities, clients, sector associations
and environmental groups among other stakeholders in November 2020.
“Due to the impact
that we have on the life of the Portuguese, we have added duties and
responsibilities in the public presentation of both our strategy and our
accounting.”
José Furtado, Chair
of the Águas de Portugal Board of Directors