The philosophy of our sustainability analysis distinguishes the environmental and social contribution of the project from the practices stemming from its management. Thus, we firstly identify environmental and social opportunities to assess to what extent a project addresses sustainability issues. In a second step, we assess to what extent the companies responsible for the project mitigate environmental and social risks throughout the project’s lifecycle.
In terms of opportunities, Social criteria measure social impact; this may concern, for example, access to green energy, reduction of pollution in urban areas through the electric mobility expansion, local development with resource to SMEs or artisans, job creation over the long-term during operation phase. Regarding risk review, we assess issues such as the respect for human rights, local externalities, working conditions and health and safety practices during the construction and operation phases.Environmental opportunities can include projects allowing a significant reduction of GHG emissions or energy consumption, for example. Concerning environmental risks, all potential risks relative to a project are considered in terms of biodiversity, energy, water consumption, waste, etc. Depending on the projects, some issues can be more important than others.
Governance is embedded in the very foundation of contracts in the form of clauses covering conflicts of interest and provisions as to the tenure and composition of the board designed to protect the long-term interests of unit holders. Business ethics are also systematically reviewed to ensure responsible practices.
Documents related to both the project itself (such as environmental impact assessment) and companies involved in the project are reviewed to assess all these sustainability aspects.
For more information about how these issues are then monitored after investment, as part of our engagement approach, please refer to INF.12.
And for further details about Mirova’s RI Research methodology suited to infrastructures, please refer to INF.01.