A responsibility to local communities
ERG'S top management and the entire company were delighted when, in 2019, ERG received international acclaim for its Corporate Social Responsibility reporting.
The company was promoted to an AA rating by MSCI ESG Research. An MSCI ESG Rating is designed to measure a company's resilience to long-term industry, material, environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks. MSCI uses a rulesbased methodology to identify industry leaders and laggards according to their exposure to ESG risks and how well they manage those risks relative to peers. An AA ranking is highly sought after.
ERG ensures that it participates fully with local communities for each new wind farm project. The company engages directly with local communities in a transparent way, in order to inform them of the development, benefits and delivery of each new wind project.
The involvement of local communities is achieved through a variety of means. These include investment participation and engaging local stakeholders through information campaigns, organised site visits and meetings held at local schools. This approach is key to the acceptance of new wind farms in the UK and across Europe.
As an example, with the Covid pandemic forcing people to stay at home, ERG agreed to advance payments from the community benefit fund, which will come into effect once the project is operational, to help purchase 100 electronic devices for each of the Primary Schools in Kelloholm and Sanquhar. The electronic devices are necessary to allow the students to do remote learning.
Catherine Wicks, Business Development and M&A UK at ERG, commented: “Local communities are fully involved throughout the development phase of a new project. This addresses key concerns such as the visibility of the turbines from particular locations, the environmental impact and any locally sensitive areas, such as archeological remains.
“Close collaboration with local communities ensures that our wind farm projects are designed and constructed with these local sensitivities in mind.”