VINCI’s environmental transformation: update and Scope 3 target

Published last week, the latest IPCC report can seem worrying, to say the least: the climate emergency is absolute, investments must be multiplied by 3 or 6, and the cost of inaction is greater than the necessary investments…

But it can also be read in a more optimistic, or at least action-oriented light, since the IPCC also says that the solutions are within reach, whether in terms of behavior or technology.

And even if there’s no miracle cure, the combination of these solutions – energy, decarbonization and sequestration – can reverse the trend of growing greenhouse gas emissions.

At VINCI, we prefer this second approach, and it’s what we proposed to our shareholders in the annual meeting yesterday.

An announcement to our shareholders on our Scope 3 reduction target

The shareholders’ meeting is an important moment for reporting on progress and moving forward with our environment transformation. One year ago, we submitted our environmental plan, which 98.14% of our shareholders approved.

Yesterday, we provided an update on the deployment of this environmental plan and made an announcement on our Scope 3 emissions target.

Although this topic is prominent in the media, let me remind you of some of the jargon:

• Scopes 1&2 refer to a company’s direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which in our case means consumption of fuel (Scope 1) and electricity (Scope 2). Our target, set a few years ago, is to reduce these emissions by 40% between 2018 and 2030, or by 1?million tons of CO2 equivalent.
• Scope 3 is the widest, referring to indirect emissions, such as GHGs linked to the mining of the raw materials required to build infrastructures, manufacture facilities, or use them (energy and transportation).

In other words, the target we announced at the shareholders’ meeting is to achieve a 20% reduction in our Scope 3 carbon footprint by 2030.

We did not pull this figure out of a hat. It comes from a careful review, a realistic but positive thought process: we did not want to announce a high figure just because it looks good. We wanted to set a feasible, realistic target that would be accepted internally and above all appear credible – in our case, certified by the Science Based Targets initiative.

We decided on a 20% reduction of all our Scope 3 emissions, because as a leader in the construction and concessions sector, we have a duty to support our clients – those for whom we build infrastructure, which, as the IPCC acknowledges, is critical.

For me, the shareholders’ meeting is also an opportunity to provide a progress update on our environmental strategy.

Helping clients reduce green house gases AND adapt to climate change

Given the long lifespan of these infrastructures, the choices we make today will be critical for ensuring the environmental transition in every sector of activity.

Here, we’re advancing quite quickly: as an example, the 2024 Olympic Village in Paris, which we are contributing to, is entirely built from bio-sourced materials and low-carbon concrete. In fact, VINCI has announced that 90% of the concrete used in its activities will be low carbon by 2030.

Universeine project, VINCI Immobilier & VINCI Construction

For our clients, we have two roles: helping them both reduce their carbon footprint through energy-efficient solutions and adapt to climate change, which means anticipating the impact of rising temperatures on infrastructure and regions.

On this topic, I should mention the Group’s expertise in vulnerability mapping with Resallience, the engineering company focused on resilience, started by the LEONARD intrapreneur platform. These maps enable us to assess infrastructure’s ability to withstand climate risks like heatwaves, floods or fires. This is also a way to prepare for the future.

VINCI’s approach: multiple challenges, multiple criteria and grassroots

I always have trouble talking ONLY about climate change, no matter how important the topic is.

Our environmental strategy has two priorities: optimizing resources thanks to the circular economy and preserving natural environments. That involves CO2, of course, but also water, biodiversity, natural resources, reuse, land restoration, etc. We aim to consider all these topics at once, since everything is linked.

So, for this overview, I’ll also mention the Group’s progress on zero-net artificialization or land-use change.

For a company that uses concrete to construct buildings, roads, and so on, achieving zero-net land-use change means offsetting every artificial surface by restoring the natural state of an equivalent surface of land on other projects.

VINCI Immobilier has committed to achieving zero-net land-use change by 2030. That means engaging in urban recycling, considering how to revive urban wasteland, derelict buildings, and so on to through new-build or renovation projects. Or how environmental remediation and urban planning come together.

We only build when the right balance is found. And VINCI Autoroutes is also moving forward on renaturing highways.

VINCI Immobilier’s “Arborescence” residential project in Angers, France.

There are so many examples and topics, I could go on, but I hope that the people at VINCI who are moving forward on these issues with so much energy won’t mind if I don’t mention them all here!

What I’d like to get across above all is that we’re certainly not perfect, but our approach is determined, very comprehensive, based on multiple criteria and always backed up by solid, in-depth methodology. And we’re advancing steadily, proof after proof, project after project.

Finally, I’d like to add that we’re not the only ones pushing the boundaries. The entire construction and mining sector, which always rises to major challenges (mobility, housing, energy consumption, etc.), is mobilized and making a credible contribution to the environmental transformation on land or in the air.

So, when the IPCC tells us that “it’s now or never,” the whole construction sector replies what our customers already know: “Bring it on!”

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