Zorlu Energy releases its 6th Sustainability Report

Zorlu Energy, led by the Sustainability Committee, published its 6th Sustainability Report in accordance with the GRI Standards. Zorlu Energy, which positions sustainability at the focal point of its business model to implement the smart energy systems of the future, transparently discloses its development performance with the public.

Acting as one of the pioneers in Turkey’s domestic and renewable energy area, Zorlu Energy published its 6th Sustainability Report in line with its sustainability vision, in accordance with a framework of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, United Nations Global Compact – to which it is a signatory to- and Women Empowerment Principles. Zorlu Energy has been publishing a report that discloses sustainability activities biennially since 2009 .

The latest report of Zorlu Enerji, disclosing all of the work related to combating the climate change, reducing carbon emissions, sustainable use of resources, social governance, energy efficiency and security of energy supply, covers all corporate activities between 2018-2019.

Zorlu Enerji, while executing activities in order to fulfill the expectations of its stakeholders by providing continuous engagement, contributes to the improvement and development of the sustainable economy of our country, manages all risks in the environmental and social areas and contribute to the society, it also positions people and nature at the focal point of its production and investment activities. In the Sustainability Report, Zorlu Energy addresses its future goals, its efforts on combating climate change and awareness raising, monitoring and assessment activities for the goal of sustainable development.

Zorlu Energy’s 6th Sustainability Report is in line with the “core” option of Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Standards – a well-accepted reporting standard in the area of sustainability worldwide -. Along with this report, efforts are taking place to evaluate and analyze the existing sustainability practices in order to implement gap analyzes, form the company’s sustainability strategy and improve its sustainability goals.

Zorlu Energy calls for “An Equal World”

Zorlu Energy commits to the dissemination of its rhetoric and actions on women’s participation in the workforce, establishing gender equality as a corporate policy and increasing the representation of women in senior management in both internal and external communications through “An Equal Life” program with the goal of adaptation of gender equality, which is covered as a material issue in the report as well.

Zorlu Energy aims to lead the way in order for the business world to gain an understanding regarding the topic through its program that serves Sustainable Development Goal 5 – gender equality- and 10 – reduced inequalities-. The company’s Sustainability Report addresses various projects and cooperation of the firm throughout this process.

We are endeavoring with all our strength for a sustainable future

While stating that they have been making continuous investments with their vision of being the energy company of the future, Sinan Ak, CEO of Zorlu Enerji said that they readdressed their sustainability strategies by taking future-oriented development goals and ever-changing requirements into account in accordance with the Smart Life 2030 vision which covers Zorlu Holding and all of its companies, and continued with the following statement, "In accordance with our goal of being the pioneer of the energy sector, we continue our journey which started with a single power plant more than 25 years ago, by growing on a global scale. With the strength we rely upon through our deep-rooted past, we are working for a sustainable future with all we have and by adding onto the experiences every year. We, therefore, position sustainability as the focal point for all our work and we perform all activities and operations in an environmentally friendly manner, acting as a global brand with the awareness of fulfilling the expectations and needs of our stakeholders to move our country forward.”

“We dedicate all new investments to renewable energy.”

Stating that installed capacity of Zorlu Energy is based on renewables at a rate of 85% in Turkey and 61% in the world, Mr. Ak further mentioned that the operations and activities of the corporation are carried out in line with the mission of “environmentally friendly, safe, of good quality and sustainable generation, trade and distribution of energy” and added, “Environmental awareness is one of the 7 focal points of our sustainability strategy. We  perform all of our activities, operations and investments within the framework of our Environmental Policy which prioritizes preservation of natural resources and reduction of our environmental impacts. Within the scope of our Environmental Policy, we select materials and technologies that will reduce our negative environmental impact and use allow us to use resources more efficiently. We conduct electrification studies to reduce waste and emissions. Through our ZES brand we have established in accordance with these goals, we are installing charging stations in our country in order to accelerate the mobility of the electric cars. The fact that 85% of our energy generation is based on renewable energy resources is an indicator of how highly we rate the importance of carbon emissions. By the end of 2019, more than 26 percent of global electricity generation was from renewable sources, however, this is not enough to achieve the carbon neutral target. We have to make the best possible effort in order to create an ecosystem based on renewable sources. However, we cannot afford to wait for the year 2040 or 2050 for this. Therefore, we need to solve the issue starting from its roots and create a modern economy producing carbon emission at the minimum levels. As Zorlu Energy, we have been raising environmental awareness and consciousness, sharing our environmental impact with our stakeholders transparently and working to improve it. ”

Stating that they have been investing for the establishment and operation of smart systems to initiate the transformation in the industry within the scope of innovation works accomplished, Mr. Ak further pointed out, “We are closely following and monitoring the transformation in the energy sector while our digitalization endeavors for the establishment of smart systems and cities are in progress. We are aiming to transform our business models through digitalization and create new opportunities. We take an extra step to digitalize both the channels establishing our contact with the customers and our internal processes. Through the Smart Systems department that was established in 2017, our work continues in the fields of digitalization, R&D, innovation and particularly, electric vehicles. Through Zorlu Solar, established in 2016, we provide all sorts of installation and consultancy services related to solar energy, which is considered to be the indispensable part of smart systems, and we continue to make investments in this field. We further work on electrical charging stations and energy storage projects supported by the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) and continue to develop various projects within the scope of Horizon 2020 Program of the European Union.”

5.5 million TL for Social Investments

Zorlu Energy continues to increasingly contribute to Turkey’s future and offer benefits to society in all of its regions of operations, while generating energy from domestic and renewable resources with an innovative approach. In this context, encouraging and promoting development in various areas such as education, healthcare, culture and sports during the years 2018-2019, Zorlu Energy made social investments totaling 5.5 million TL.

Zorlu Energy’s sustainability activities

In line with a transparent, fair, responsible and accountable management approach, Mr. Ak addressed the practices in the economic, social and environmental areas accomplished within the reporting period of 2018-2019 and further stated, “We have concluded an agreement with Garanti Bank in 2018 within the scope of green loans established to support sustainable projects and corporations. This represents the first Green Loan agreement in Turkey. We continue to publish our CDP Climate Change and Water Management reports on a regular basis. Acting as a corporation blazing a trail in many aspects within our sector with respect to sustainability, we are included in the Borsa Istanbul’s Sustainability Index for the fourth time for the period between November 2019 and October 2020. We initiated the program “An Equal Life” in 2019 to contribute to gender equality within the scope of our Smart Life 2030 vision “An Equal Life 2030”. In this context, we became a signatory to the Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs), which is the joint initiative of UN Women and UN Global Compact. We are also a proud to be one of the members of the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative.”