ENBRIDGE PUTS FOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY
Enbridge exists to fuel people’s quality of life — safely, reliably and, on an ever- increasing basis, sustainably.
Linda Coady joined Enbridge, a North American leader in energy delivery, as the company’s chief sustainability officer in June 2013 after holding similar leadership roles on sustainable development for the forestry industry, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and World Wildlife Fund Canada.
Enbridge owns North America’s longest and most complex crude oil and liquids pipeline, serves more than two million customers as Canada’s largest gas distribution utility and has invested more than$ 4 billion in renewable energy across the continent.
Sustainability is an important concept at Enbridge, which has been named to the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations list for seven straight years and has earned a spot on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices( DJSI) in each of the past three years.
And as Enbridge’s recently released 2014 CSR ( corporate social responsibility) Report makes clear, the mandate for Coady and her team is integrating sustainability across the company’s North American workforce of more than 11,000. Enbridge’s 2014 CSR Report is available online at csr2014. enbridge. com.
“There are efficiencies to be gained through good environmental performance in terms of energy use, waste and water reduction and embracing innovation,” says Coady.
“The business case is there for higher levels of performance in social and environmental areas. Better performance helps companies reduce risks.”
CSR reporting is a demonstration of a company’s transparency and accountability, and investors and the general public now have higher expectations regarding the social and environmental performance of companies, as well as their financial bottom lines, says Coady.
Enbridge’s 2014 CSR Report, released late last month, focused on topics that its leaders say matter most to the company’s stakeholders, including system integrity and leak detection, energy and climate change, environment and land management and economic impact and benefits.
“Leadership in these areas happens at various levels,” says Coady.
“It happens at the level of individual employees and contractors. It happens at the industry level. And it happens through some of these global rankings like the Global 100 and DJSI. At Enbridge, we’re in there pitching on all three levels.”