2024-2028 Sustainability Plan Update
The Terna Group’s strategy for the five-year period from 2024 to 2028, updated in 2025, is based on a unified vision of its role in serving the country and means that the new Industrial Plan is fully integrated with the Sustainability Plan, with ESG objectives being given the same priority as industrial and financial objectives.
The structure of the Sustainability Plan, unchanged by the update, promotes all ESG objectives in line with the goals of the Industrial Plan.
The two common threads running through both the Sustainability Plan and the Industrial Plan are linked to environmental and social considerations, shaped by the Group’s material topics. These concepts express two of Terna’s key characteristics: on the one hand, given its role as a TSO with a vital part to play in delivering the energy transition, thus leaving future generations with a carbon-free environment, sustainability is inherent in the very nature of Terna, making it “Green by Nature”. On the other hand, Terna’s business activities are carried out within the framework of a solid structure of protections and safeguards aimed at the maximum protection of its stakeholders’ rights and demands, with a constant commitment to listening to local communities. As a result, the Group is sustainable by choice and therefore “Social by Purpose”. The elements that make up the two threads - Green by Nature and Social by Purpose – thus indicate that, in delivering on its priority goal of achieving a combined energy and digital transition (the Twin Transition), the Company must also take into account the social impacts, raising the Group’s ambition and delivering a Just Transition.
Achieving an energy and digital transition that is both fair and inclusive is thus, at the same time, the priority goal of the 2024-2028 Sustainability Plan and the Plan’s contribution to the Industrial Plan, providing further impetus towards the objective of delivering long-term value and sustainable success.
The structure of the Sustainability Plan, unchanged by the update, promotes all ESG objectives in line with the goals of the Industrial Plan.
The two common threads running through both the Sustainability Plan and the Industrial Plan are linked to environmental and social considerations, shaped by the Group’s material topics. These concepts express two of Terna’s key characteristics: on the one hand, given its role as a TSO with a vital part to play in delivering the energy transition, thus leaving future generations with a carbon-free environment, sustainability is inherent in the very nature of Terna, making it “Green by Nature”. On the other hand, Terna’s business activities are carried out within the framework of a solid structure of protections and safeguards aimed at the maximum protection of its stakeholders’ rights and demands, with a constant commitment to listening to local communities. As a result, the Group is sustainable by choice and therefore “Social by Purpose”. The elements that make up the two threads - Green by Nature and Social by Purpose – thus indicate that, in delivering on its priority goal of achieving a combined energy and digital transition (the Twin Transition), the Company must also take into account the social impacts, raising the Group’s ambition and delivering a Just Transition.
Achieving an energy and digital transition that is both fair and inclusive is thus, at the same time, the priority goal of the 2024-2028 Sustainability Plan and the Plan’s contribution to the Industrial Plan, providing further impetus towards the objective of delivering long-term value and sustainable success.
The architecture of the Sustainability Plan, which also takes into account the results of the Double Materiality Assessment (see page 182), the guidance provided by science and developments in the regulatory framework, organises thecontent into:
• pillars;
• strategic areas;
• topics;
• areas of action;
• key activities.
• pillars;
• strategic areas;
• topics;
• areas of action;
• key activities.
The Plan is based on four pillars, all defined with a view to delivering the priority goal of a Just Transition and whose content is firmly anchored to the Company’s Purpose and the way in which Terna intends to fulfil its role in leading the country’s fair and inclusive energy transition. The pillars are as follows:
• Energy transition: this pillar focuses on the delivery of a transition to a new, more sustainable energy paradigm, based on the use of energy from renewable sources. In addition to a progressive reduction in the carbon footprint and in the related CO2 emissions – needed to limit global warming – this pillar also involves concerns regarding the security and resilience of the National Electricity System and, therefore, the country’s productive and social system;
• Sustainable value chain: this pillar aims to establish a new, increasingly inclusive and sustainable value chain through the adoption of new development models that promote sustainable supply chain management, internal stakeholder value creation, transparency in customer relations and the development of circularity in business practices;
• Creation of share value: the aim is to strengthen the business model in terms of sustainability, achieving a balance between profit, safeguards for natural capital and the social licence, based around engagement with and support for the communities affected by Terna’s presence and activities;
• Sustainable growth: this pillar aims to guarantee sustainable long-term growth. This involves innovation and digitalisation focused on the energy transition, the development of an ecosystem and new businesses to support growth and a commitment to financing for a just transition.
The process for defining the Sustainability Plan involves all company departments, which each year are called upon not only to report on the past year’s performance, but also to evaluate new goals for the future based on input from the external context and business developments. In this regard, note that the latest update of the Plan took into account the requirements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, expanding the scope of the targets to the entire Group in line with the consolidated scope required by the legislation, and including the issues that emerged as relevant from the new European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). The update also included objectives related to the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, ensuring an increasingly transparent and structured approach to reporting and managing sustainability impacts along the value chain. The mechanism for reviewing and updating the Plan includes, after the Sustainability function’s discussion with the various company departments, sharing it with the Board of Directors’ “Sustainability, Governance and Scenarios” Committee.
For the monitoring of the Plan, which is crucial to ensure the achievement of its objectives, a special system of procedures and controls was adopted. In fact, an interdepartmental coordination group responsible for monitoring the Plan was set up, which, for the first time in the Group’s history, monitors progress against the Sustainability targets on a quarterly basis. The Coordination Group maintains a continuous exchange of information with the corporate structures that own the KPIs and Plan targets, thus ensuring constant updating and effective management of the various activities. The main KPIs set out in the Plan are then reported to the board committees on a periodic basis. In the last quarter of 2024, with a view to continuous improvement, a “light assessment” by a third party was also planned in order to evaluate the quarterly monitoring model envisaged for the Plan and to gather insights for improvement to be implemented in the 2025 monitoring period.
In this document some of the main objectives set out in the Sustainability Plan are recalled for the various sections.
• Energy transition: this pillar focuses on the delivery of a transition to a new, more sustainable energy paradigm, based on the use of energy from renewable sources. In addition to a progressive reduction in the carbon footprint and in the related CO2 emissions – needed to limit global warming – this pillar also involves concerns regarding the security and resilience of the National Electricity System and, therefore, the country’s productive and social system;
• Sustainable value chain: this pillar aims to establish a new, increasingly inclusive and sustainable value chain through the adoption of new development models that promote sustainable supply chain management, internal stakeholder value creation, transparency in customer relations and the development of circularity in business practices;
• Creation of share value: the aim is to strengthen the business model in terms of sustainability, achieving a balance between profit, safeguards for natural capital and the social licence, based around engagement with and support for the communities affected by Terna’s presence and activities;
• Sustainable growth: this pillar aims to guarantee sustainable long-term growth. This involves innovation and digitalisation focused on the energy transition, the development of an ecosystem and new businesses to support growth and a commitment to financing for a just transition.
The process for defining the Sustainability Plan involves all company departments, which each year are called upon not only to report on the past year’s performance, but also to evaluate new goals for the future based on input from the external context and business developments. In this regard, note that the latest update of the Plan took into account the requirements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, expanding the scope of the targets to the entire Group in line with the consolidated scope required by the legislation, and including the issues that emerged as relevant from the new European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). The update also included objectives related to the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, ensuring an increasingly transparent and structured approach to reporting and managing sustainability impacts along the value chain. The mechanism for reviewing and updating the Plan includes, after the Sustainability function’s discussion with the various company departments, sharing it with the Board of Directors’ “Sustainability, Governance and Scenarios” Committee.
For the monitoring of the Plan, which is crucial to ensure the achievement of its objectives, a special system of procedures and controls was adopted. In fact, an interdepartmental coordination group responsible for monitoring the Plan was set up, which, for the first time in the Group’s history, monitors progress against the Sustainability targets on a quarterly basis. The Coordination Group maintains a continuous exchange of information with the corporate structures that own the KPIs and Plan targets, thus ensuring constant updating and effective management of the various activities. The main KPIs set out in the Plan are then reported to the board committees on a periodic basis. In the last quarter of 2024, with a view to continuous improvement, a “light assessment” by a third party was also planned in order to evaluate the quarterly monitoring model envisaged for the Plan and to gather insights for improvement to be implemented in the 2025 monitoring period.
In this document some of the main objectives set out in the Sustainability Plan are recalled for the various sections.
