Industry Comparison

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Current language: English (2023)

You are viewing information about the following Industries:

  • Software & IT Services The Software & Information Technology (IT) Services industry offers products and services globally to retail, business and government customers, and includes entities that develop and sell applications software, infrastructure software and middleware. The industry generally is competitive but with dominant players in some segments. Although relatively immature, the industry is characterised by high-growth entities that place a heavy emphasis on innovation and depend on human and intellectual capital. The industry also includes IT services entities delivering specialised IT functions, such as consulting and outsourced services. New industry business models include cloud computing, software as a service, virtualisation, machine-to-machine communication, big data analysis and machine learning. Additionally, brand value is important for entities in the industry to scale and achieve network effects, whereby wide adoption of a particular software product may result in self-perpetuating growth in sales.
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  • Electric Utilities & Power Generators Electric Utilities & Power Generators industry entities generate electricity; build, own and operate transmission and distribution (T&D) lines; and sell electricity. Utilities generate electricity from many different sources, commonly including coal, natural gas, nuclear energy, hydropower, solar, wind and other renewable and fossil fuel energy sources. The industry comprises entities operating in both regulated and unregulated business structures. Regulated utilities face comprehensive regulatory oversight of their pricing mechanisms and their allowed return on equity, among other types of regulation, to maintain their licence to operate as a monopoly. Unregulated entities or merchant power entities are often independent power producers (IPPs) that generate electricity to sell to the wholesale market, which includes regulated utility buyers and other end users. Furthermore, entities in the industry may operate across both regulated and deregulated power markets depending on their operational span. Regulated markets typically contain vertically integrated utilities that own and operate everything from the generation of power to its retail distribution. Deregulated markets commonly split generation from distribution to encourage wholesale power generation competition. Overall, the complex task of providing reliable, accessible, low-cost power while balancing the protection of human life and the environment remains a challenge.
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Relevant Issues for both Industries (14 of 26)

Why are some issues greyed out? The SASB Standards vary by industry based on the different sustainability-related risks and opportunities within an industry. The issues in grey were not identified during the standard-setting process as the most likely to be useful to investors, so they are not included in the Standard. Over time, as the ISSB continues to receive market feedback, some issues may be added or removed from the Standard. Each company determines which sustainability-related risks and opportunities are relevant to its business. The Standard is designed for the typical company in an industry, but individual companies may choose to report on different sustainability-related risks and opportunities based on their unique business model.

Disclosure Topics

What is the relationship between General Issue Category and Disclosure Topics? The General Issue Category is an industry-agnostic version of the Disclosure Topics that appear in each SASB Standard. Disclosure topics represent the industry-specific impacts of General Issue Categories. The industry-specific Disclosure Topics ensure each SASB Standard is tailored to the industry, while the General Issue Categories enable comparability across industries. For example, Health & Nutrition is a disclosure topic in the Non-Alcoholic Beverages industry, representing an industry-specific measure of the general issue of Customer Welfare. The issue of Customer Welfare, however, manifests as the Counterfeit Drugs disclosure topic in the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals industry.
  • Software & IT Services Remove
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    • GHG Emissions The category addresses direct (Scope 1) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that a company generates through its operations. This includes GHG emissions from stationary (e.g., factories, power plants) and mobile sources (e.g., trucks, delivery vehicles, planes), whether a result of combustion of fuel or non-combusted direct releases during activities such as natural resource extraction, power generation, land use, or biogenic processes. The category further includes management of regulatory risks, environmental compliance, and reputational risks and opportunities, as they related to direct GHG emissions. The seven GHGs covered under the Kyoto Protocol are included within the category—carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).
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    • Air Quality The category addresses management of air quality impacts resulting from stationary (e.g., factories, power plants) and mobile sources (e.g., trucks, delivery vehicles, planes) as well as industrial emissions. Relevant airborne pollutants include, but are not limited to, oxides of nitrogen (NOx), oxides of sulfur (SOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), heavy metals, particulate matter, and chlorofluorocarbons. The category does not include GHG emissions, which are addressed in a separate category.
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    • Energy Management The category addresses environmental impacts associated with energy consumption. It addresses the company’s management of energy in manufacturing and/or for provision of products and services derived from utility providers (grid energy) not owned or controlled by the company. More specifically, it includes management of energy efficiency and intensity, energy mix, as well as grid reliance. Upstream (e.g., suppliers) and downstream (e.g., product use) energy use is not included in the scope.
      • Environmental Footprint of Hardware Infrastructure With the growth of cloud-based service offerings, entities in this industry own, operate or rent increasingly more data centres and other hardware. Thus, managing the energy and water use associated with IT hardware infrastructure is relevant to value creation. Data centres must be powered continuously, and disruptions to the energy supply can have a material effect on operations, depending on the magnitude and timing of the disruption. Entities face a trade-off between energy and water consumption because of data centre cooling needs. Cooling data centres with water instead of chillers improves energy efficiency, but this method may create dependence on significant local water resources. Data centre specification decisions are important for managing costs, obtaining a reliable supply of energy and water, and reducing reputational risks, particularly with the increasing global regulatory focus on climate change and the opportunities arising from energy efficiency and renewable energy innovations.
    • Water & Wastewater Management The category addresses a company’s water use, water consumption, wastewater generation, and other impacts of operations on water resources, which may be influenced by regional differences in the availability and quality of and competition for water resources. More specifically, it addresses management strategies including, but not limited to, water efficiency, intensity, and recycling. Lastly, the category also addresses management of wastewater treatment and discharge, including groundwater and aquifer pollution.
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    • Waste & Hazardous Materials Management The category addresses environmental issues associated with hazardous and non-hazardous waste generated by companies. It addresses a company’s management of solid wastes in manufacturing, agriculture, and other industrial processes. It covers treatment, handling, storage, disposal, and regulatory compliance. The category does not cover emissions to air or wastewater nor does it cover waste from end-of-life of products, which are addressed in separate categories.
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    • Customer Privacy The category addresses management of risks related to the use of personally identifiable information (PII) and other customer or user data for secondary purposes including but not limited to marketing through affiliates and non-affiliates. The scope of the category includes social issues that may arise from a company’s approach to collecting data, obtaining consent (e.g., opt-in policies), managing user and customer expectations regarding how their data is used, and managing evolving regulation. It excludes social issues arising from cybersecurity risks, which are covered in a separate category.
      • Data Privacy & Freedom of Expression As Software & IT Services entities increasingly deliver products and services over the Internet and through mobile devices, they must carefully manage two separate and often conflicting priorities. First, entities use customer data to innovate and provide customers with new products and services to generate revenues. Second, entities have access to a wide range of customer data, such as personal, demographic, content and behavioural data creating associated privacy concerns. This dynamic may result in increased regulatory scrutiny in many countries. The delivery of cloud-based software and IT services also raises concerns about potential access to user data by governments that may use it to limit the citizens’ freedoms. Effective management in this area may reduce regulatory and reputational risks that may result in decreased revenues, reduced market share and increased regulatory actions involving potential fines and other legal costs.
    • Data Security The category addresses management of risks related to collection, retention, and use of sensitive, confidential, and/or proprietary customer or user data. It includes social issues that may arise from incidents such as data breaches in which personally identifiable information (PII) and other user or customer data may be exposed. It addresses a company’s strategy, policies, and practices related to IT infrastructure, staff training, record keeping, cooperation with law enforcement, and other mechanisms used to ensure security of customer or user data.
      • Data Security Software & IT Services entities are targets of growing data security threats from cyberattacks, which puts their own data and their customers’ data at risk. Inadequate prevention, detection and remediation of data security threats may influence customer acquisition and retention and result in decreased market share and reduced demand for the entity’s products. In addition to reputational damage and increased customer turnover, data breaches also may result in increased expenses, commonly associated with remediation efforts such as identity protection offerings and employee training on data protection. Meanwhile, new and emerging data security standards and regulations may affect operating expenses through increased compliance costs. Additionally, entities in this industry may be well-positioned to capture revenue opportunities by providing secure software and services to meet the demand for ensuring data is kept secure.
    • Access & Affordability The category addresses a company’s ability to ensure broad access to its products and services, specifically in the context of underserved markets and/or population groups. It includes the management of issues related to universal needs, such as the accessibility and affordability of health care, financial services, utilities, education, and telecommunications.
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    • Employee Health & Safety The category addresses a company’s ability to create and maintain a safe and healthy workplace environment that is free of injuries, fatalities, and illness (both chronic and acute). It is traditionally accomplished through implementing safety management plans, developing training requirements for employees and contractors, and conducting regular audits of their own practices as well as those of their subcontractors. The category further captures how companies ensure physical and mental health of workforce through technology, training, corporate culture, regulatory compliance, monitoring and testing, and personal protective equipment.
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    • Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion The category addresses a company’s ability to ensure that its culture and hiring and promotion practices embrace the building of a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the makeup of local talent pools and its customer base. It addresses the issues of discriminatory practices on the bases of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and other factors.
      • Recruiting & Managing a Global, Diverse & Skilled Workforce Employees are important contributors to value creation in the Software & IT Services industry. Entities commonly find recruiting qualified employees to fill these positions difficult. A shortage in technically skilled employees can create intense competition to acquire highly skilled employees globally, contributing to high employee turnover rates. Some entities contribute to relevant education and training programmes to expand the availability of domestic, skilled employees. Entities offer significant monetary and non-monetary benefits to improve employee engagement and therefore retention and productivity. Initiatives to improve employee engagement and work-life balance may influence the recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce. Since the industry is characterised by relatively low representation from women and minority groups, efforts to recruit and develop globally diverse talent pools may address the talent shortage and improve the value of entity offerings. Greater workforce diversity is important for innovation and helps entities understand the needs of a diverse and global customer base.
    • Business Model Resilience The category addresses an industry’s capacity to manage risks and opportunities associated with incorporating social, environmental, and political transitions into long-term business model planning. This includes responsiveness to the transition to a low-carbon and climate-constrained economy, as well as growth and creation of new markets among unserved and underserved socio-economic populations. The category highlights industries in which evolving environmental and social realities may challenge companies to fundamentally adapt or may put their business models at risk.
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    • Competitive Behaviour The category covers social issues associated with existence of monopolies, which may include, but are not limited to, excessive prices, poor quality of service, and inefficiencies. It addresses a company’s management of legal and social expectation around monopolistic and anti-competitive practices, including issues related to bargaining power, collusion, price fixing or manipulation, and protection of patents and intellectual property (IP).
      • Intellectual Property Protection & Competitive Behaviour Entities in the Software & IT Services industry spend a significant proportion of their revenues on IP protection, including acquiring patents and copyrights. Although IP protection is inherent to some entity business models and is an important driver of innovation, entities’ IP practices sometimes may be a contentious societal issue. Entities sometimes acquire patents and other IP protection to restrict competition and innovation, particularly if they are dominant market players. Because of software complexity, its abstract nature and increasing IP rights protection related to software, entities in the industry must navigate overlapping patent claims to operate. As a result, entities in the industry may find themselves constantly in litigation or subject to regulatory scrutiny either because of allegations of patent violations if they engage in unethical business practices, or are perceived as doing so, or because they engage in IP infringement litigation. Adverse legal or regulatory rulings related to antitrust and IP may expose entities in the industry to costly and lengthy litigations and potential monetary losses as a result. Such rulings also may affect an entity’s market share and pricing power if its patents or dominant position in important markets are challenged legally, with potentially significant effects on revenue. Therefore, entities that balance the protection of their IP and its use to spur innovation while ensuring their IP management and other business practices do not unfairly restrict competition, may reduce regulatory scrutiny and legal actions while protecting their market value.
    • Critical Incident Risk Management The category addresses the company’s use of management systems and scenario planning to identify, understand, and prevent or minimize the occurrence of low-probability, high-impact accidents and emergencies with significant potential environmental and social externalities. It relates to the culture of safety at a company, its relevant safety management systems and technological controls, the potential human, environmental, and social implications of such events occurring, and the long-term effects to an organization, its workers, and society should these events occur.
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    • Systemic Risk Management The category addresses the company’s contributions to or management of systemic risks resulting from large-scale weakening or collapse of systems upon which the economy and society depend. This includes financial systems, natural resource systems, and technological systems. It addresses the mechanisms a company has in place to reduce its contributions to systemic risks and to improve safeguards that may mitigate the impacts of systemic failure. For financial institutions, the category also captures the company’s ability to absorb shocks arising from financial and economic stress and meet stricter regulatory requirements related to the complexity and interconnectedness of companies in the industry.
      • Managing Systemic Risks from Technology Disruptions With trends towards increased cloud computing and Software as a Service (SaaS), software and IT service providers must ensure they have robust infrastructure and policies in place to minimise disruptions to their services. Disruptions such as programming errors or server downtime may generate systemic risks, because computing and data storage functions move from individual entity servers in various industries to data centres of cloud-computing service providers. The risks are increased particularly if the affected customers are in sensitive sectors, such as financial institutions or utilities, which are considered critical national infrastructure. Entities’ investments in improving the reliability and quality of their IT infrastructure and services may attract and retain customers, thereby creating revenue and opportunities in new markets.
  • Electric Utilities & Power Generators Remove
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    • GHG Emissions The category addresses direct (Scope 1) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that a company generates through its operations. This includes GHG emissions from stationary (e.g., factories, power plants) and mobile sources (e.g., trucks, delivery vehicles, planes), whether a result of combustion of fuel or non-combusted direct releases during activities such as natural resource extraction, power generation, land use, or biogenic processes. The category further includes management of regulatory risks, environmental compliance, and reputational risks and opportunities, as they related to direct GHG emissions. The seven GHGs covered under the Kyoto Protocol are included within the category—carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).
      • Greenhouse Gas Emissions & Energy Resource Planning Electricity generation represents the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the world. Mainly carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, these emissions are mostly by-products of fossil fuel combustion. The transmission or distribution (T&D) segments of the industry produce negligible emissions. Electric utility entities could face significant operating costs and capital expenditures for mitigating GHG emissions as environmental regulations become increasingly stringent. Although many of these costs may be passed to a utility’s customers, some power generators, especially in deregulated markets, may be unable to recoup these costs. Entities may reduce GHG emissions from electricity generation through careful infrastructure investment planning by ensuring the delivery of an energy mix capable of meeting the emissions requirements set forth by regulations, and by implementing industry-leading technologies and processes. Being proactive in cost-effectively reducing GHG emissions may create a competitive advantage for entities and mitigate unanticipated regulatory compliance costs. Failure to properly estimate capital-expenditure needs and permitting costs, or other difficulties in reducing GHG emissions, may result in significant negative effects on returns in the form of asset write-downs, the costs to obtain carbon credits, or unexpected increases in operating and capital expenditures. Regulatory emphasis on this issue may increase in the coming decades, as exemplified by the international emissions-reduction agreement made at the 21st session of the United Nations Conference of the Parties in 2015.
    • Air Quality The category addresses management of air quality impacts resulting from stationary (e.g., factories, power plants) and mobile sources (e.g., trucks, delivery vehicles, planes) as well as industrial emissions. Relevant airborne pollutants include, but are not limited to, oxides of nitrogen (NOx), oxides of sulfur (SOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), heavy metals, particulate matter, and chlorofluorocarbons. The category does not include GHG emissions, which are addressed in a separate category.
      • Air Quality Fuel combustion in electricity-generation operations generates hazardous air pollutants. These air pollutants can create significant and localised environmental and health risks. The most common and impactful are nitrogen oxides (excluding nitrous oxide), sulphur oxide, particulate matter (PM), lead and mercury. Emissions of these localised air pollutants often are strictly regulated, creating significant compliance risks for electricity generators. Regulatory and legal risks are higher for entities operating near large communities. Harmful operational air emissions may result in regulatory penalties, higher regulatory compliance costs and capital expenditures to install control technology. In some cases, such expenditures may be cost prohibitive to continued facility operations. Entities may manage air quality concerns by reducing emissions, as well as by working with regulators to establish priorities and manage short- and long-term capital planning risks.
    • Energy Management The category addresses environmental impacts associated with energy consumption. It addresses the company’s management of energy in manufacturing and/or for provision of products and services derived from utility providers (grid energy) not owned or controlled by the company. More specifically, it includes management of energy efficiency and intensity, energy mix, as well as grid reliance. Upstream (e.g., suppliers) and downstream (e.g., product use) energy use is not included in the scope.
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    • Water & Wastewater Management The category addresses a company’s water use, water consumption, wastewater generation, and other impacts of operations on water resources, which may be influenced by regional differences in the availability and quality of and competition for water resources. More specifically, it addresses management strategies including, but not limited to, water efficiency, intensity, and recycling. Lastly, the category also addresses management of wastewater treatment and discharge, including groundwater and aquifer pollution.
      • Water Management Electricity generation is one of the most water-intensive industries in the world in terms of water withdrawals. Thermoelectric power plants—typically coal, nuclear and natural gas—use large quantities of water for cooling purposes. The industry is facing increasing water-related supply and regulatory risks, potentially requiring capital investment in technology or even creating stranded assets. As water supplies tighten in many regions—and electricity generation, agriculture and community use compete for water supplies—power plants increasingly may be unable to operate at full capacity, or at all, because of region-specific water constraints. The availability of water is an important factor to consider when calculating the future value of many electricity-generating assets and for evaluating proposals for new generation sources. Increased water scarcity—because of factors such as increasing consumption and reduced supplies resulting from climate change, which could result in more frequent or intense droughts—could prompt regulatory authorities to limit entities’ ability to withdraw necessary amounts of water, especially in regions with high baseline water stress. Furthermore, entities must manage the growing number of regulations related to the significant biodiversity impacts that such large withdrawals may cause. To mitigate these risks, entities can invest both in more efficient water-usage systems for plants, and place strategic priority on assessing long-term water availability, as well as water-related biodiversity risks, when siting new power plants.
    • Waste & Hazardous Materials Management The category addresses environmental issues associated with hazardous and non-hazardous waste generated by companies. It addresses a company’s management of solid wastes in manufacturing, agriculture, and other industrial processes. It covers treatment, handling, storage, disposal, and regulatory compliance. The category does not cover emissions to air or wastewater nor does it cover waste from end-of-life of products, which are addressed in separate categories.
      • Coal Ash Management Electricity generators must safely discard the hazardous by-products of their operations. Coal-fired electricity generation is a major source of hazardous waste because of coal ash. Coal ash can have a significant effect on entity value in the power-generation segment of the industry. This issue will affect entities differently, depending on the extent to which they generate electricity from coal. Coal ash is one of the largest industrial waste streams in the world. It contains heavy metal contaminants associated with cancer and other serious diseases, especially when they leach into groundwater. Coal ash can have beneficial uses when recycled or reused, such as in the creation of fly ash concrete or wallboard, creating revenue opportunities for electric utilities. Safe handling of coal ash, locating coal ash impoundments to minimise potential harm to human life or the environment, effective monitoring and containment of coal ash, and the sale of coal ash for beneficial uses are important strategies to reduce regulatory compliance costs as well as penalties for non-compliance. Coal ash leaching into the surrounding environment can result in significant litigation and remediation costs.
    • Customer Privacy The category addresses management of risks related to the use of personally identifiable information (PII) and other customer or user data for secondary purposes including but not limited to marketing through affiliates and non-affiliates. The scope of the category includes social issues that may arise from a company’s approach to collecting data, obtaining consent (e.g., opt-in policies), managing user and customer expectations regarding how their data is used, and managing evolving regulation. It excludes social issues arising from cybersecurity risks, which are covered in a separate category.
      None
    • Data Security The category addresses management of risks related to collection, retention, and use of sensitive, confidential, and/or proprietary customer or user data. It includes social issues that may arise from incidents such as data breaches in which personally identifiable information (PII) and other user or customer data may be exposed. It addresses a company’s strategy, policies, and practices related to IT infrastructure, staff training, record keeping, cooperation with law enforcement, and other mechanisms used to ensure security of customer or user data.
      None
    • Access & Affordability The category addresses a company’s ability to ensure broad access to its products and services, specifically in the context of underserved markets and/or population groups. It includes the management of issues related to universal needs, such as the accessibility and affordability of health care, financial services, utilities, education, and telecommunications.
      • Energy Affordability An objective of regulated electric utilities is to provide reliable, affordable and sustainable electricity. Entities in the industry manage these potentially competing priorities to maintain favourable relations with customers and regulators—and ultimately to earn appropriate returns for shareholders. The affordability of energy is particularly challenging for entities to balance because it often conflicts with other core objectives. Utility energy bills generally are perceived to be increasingly unaffordable for low-income customers (affordability is determined by both the net cost of energy bills and the underlying customer economics). Ensuring that utility bills are affordable is crucial for utilities working to build trust (intangible asset value) with regulators and customers. Regulatory relations are an important value driver for utilities and one of the issues analysed closely by investment analysts. The willingness of regulators to grant rate requests, rate structure modifications, cost recovery and allowed returns determines financial performance and investment risk. Effectively managing affordability may enable utilities to invest more capital, favourably revise rate structures and increase allowed returns. Furthermore, utilities that ineffectively manage affordability increasingly are exposed to customers defecting from the grid (or reducing reliance on the grid) by implementing distributed energy resources or pursuing other alternative energy sources (for example, industrial customers’ use of combined heat and power). Managing affordability involves operating an efficient business with a comprehensive, long-term strategy, as well as working closely with regulators and public policymakers on rate structures and, potentially, bill-assistance programmes. Although a utility’s business model and rate structure largely determine the precise nature of the financial effects, affordability is a critical business issue for utilities managing, maintaining and growing customer bases, building intangible asset value, creating investment and return opportunities, and ultimately delivering shareholder returns.
    • Employee Health & Safety The category addresses a company’s ability to create and maintain a safe and healthy workplace environment that is free of injuries, fatalities, and illness (both chronic and acute). It is traditionally accomplished through implementing safety management plans, developing training requirements for employees and contractors, and conducting regular audits of their own practices as well as those of their subcontractors. The category further captures how companies ensure physical and mental health of workforce through technology, training, corporate culture, regulatory compliance, monitoring and testing, and personal protective equipment.
      • Workforce Health & Safety Employees of entities in the Electric Utilities & Power Generators industry face numerous hazards in the construction and maintenance of electric transmission and distribution lines, as well as with the various means of electricity generation. Many of these employees work for extended periods at great heights, operate heavy machinery and face electrocution risks. Although the industry has made significant strides in safety improvements, significant risks remain, along with opportunities for further improvements. The nature of the industry—as a necessity of modern life and economies, as well as commonly a legally granted monopoly—means that entity actions receive significant public and regulatory scrutiny. Entities must maintain a culture of safety to ensure adequate working conditions for their workers, strong operational productivity, and to uphold positive views from the perspective of regulators and manage potential risks of regulatory penalties.
    • Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion The category addresses a company’s ability to ensure that its culture and hiring and promotion practices embrace the building of a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the makeup of local talent pools and its customer base. It addresses the issues of discriminatory practices on the bases of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and other factors.
      None
    • Business Model Resilience The category addresses an industry’s capacity to manage risks and opportunities associated with incorporating social, environmental, and political transitions into long-term business model planning. This includes responsiveness to the transition to a low-carbon and climate-constrained economy, as well as growth and creation of new markets among unserved and underserved socio-economic populations. The category highlights industries in which evolving environmental and social realities may challenge companies to fundamentally adapt or may put their business models at risk.
      • End-Use Efficiency & Demand Energy efficiency is a low-lifecycle-cost method to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, because less electricity needs to be generated to provide the same end-use energy services. Utilities can promote energy efficiency and conservation among their customers. Such strategies may include offering rebates for energy-efficient appliances, weatherising customers’ homes, educating customers on energy-saving methods, offering incentives to customers to curb electricity use during times of peak demand (‘demand response’), or investing in technology such as smart meters, which allow customers to track their energy use. While saving consumers money, these efforts also may reduce operating costs for electric utilities by decreasing peak demand. Furthermore, depending on the utility regulatory framework, local jurisdictions may mandate that entities develop energy efficiency plans before permitting new builds. Companies with effective strategies to reduce the downside risks from demand fluctuations, may gain adequate and timely returns on needed investments. Furthermore, reducing costs through efficiency initiatives may earn higher, long-term risk-adjusted returns.
    • Competitive Behaviour The category covers social issues associated with existence of monopolies, which may include, but are not limited to, excessive prices, poor quality of service, and inefficiencies. It addresses a company’s management of legal and social expectation around monopolistic and anti-competitive practices, including issues related to bargaining power, collusion, price fixing or manipulation, and protection of patents and intellectual property (IP).
      None
    • Critical Incident Risk Management The category addresses the company’s use of management systems and scenario planning to identify, understand, and prevent or minimize the occurrence of low-probability, high-impact accidents and emergencies with significant potential environmental and social externalities. It relates to the culture of safety at a company, its relevant safety management systems and technological controls, the potential human, environmental, and social implications of such events occurring, and the long-term effects to an organization, its workers, and society should these events occur.
      • Nuclear Safety & Emergency Management Although rare, nuclear accidents can have significant human health and environmental consequences because of their severity. Owners of nuclear power plants in many regions have operated for decades without any major public safety incidents, but the occurrence of infrequent but large-magnitude incidents anywhere in the world can have major effects on the entire nuclear power industry. Entities that own and operate nuclear plants may lose their licence to operate, as well as face many other financial consequences in the event of an accident—though entities carry insurance and may have legal protections from some liabilities. Failure to comply with the safety regulations can be expensive to nuclear power operators; in extreme circumstances it may make the continued operation of the plant uneconomical. Facing potentially significant financial repercussions, both from ongoing safety compliance as well as tail risk incidents, entities that own or operate nuclear plants must be vigilant in the safety compliance, best practices and upgrades of their facilities. They also must maintain robust emergency preparedness training for their staff and a strong safety culture. These measures can reduce the probability that accidents will occur and enable an entity to effectively detect and respond to such incidents.
    • Systemic Risk Management The category addresses the company’s contributions to or management of systemic risks resulting from large-scale weakening or collapse of systems upon which the economy and society depend. This includes financial systems, natural resource systems, and technological systems. It addresses the mechanisms a company has in place to reduce its contributions to systemic risks and to improve safeguards that may mitigate the impacts of systemic failure. For financial institutions, the category also captures the company’s ability to absorb shocks arising from financial and economic stress and meet stricter regulatory requirements related to the complexity and interconnectedness of companies in the industry.
      • Grid Resiliency Electricity is critical for the continued function of most elements of modern life, from medicine to finance, creating a societal reliance on continuous service. Major disruptions to electricity infrastructure may result in potentially high societal costs. Disruptions can be caused by extreme weather events, natural disasters and cyberattacks. As the frequency and severity of extreme weather events associated with climate change continues to increase, all segments of electric utilities entities—and especially major transmission and distribution (T&D) operations—will face increasing physical threats to their infrastructure. Extreme weather events could result in frequent or significant service disruptions, outages and require upgrade or repair of damaged or compromised equipment, all of which may add substantial costs and damage brand reputation among regulators and customers. The increased use of smart grid technology has several benefits, including strengthening the resiliency of the grid to extreme weather events. However, this technology may make the grid more vulnerable to cyberattacks, because it provides hackers more entryways into infrastructure systems. Entities must implement strategies that minimise the probability and magnitude of impacts from extreme weather events and cyberattacks. To remain competitive in the face of increasing external competition, entities must improve the reliability, resilience and quality of their infrastructure.

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