15SUEZ

EXPECTATIONS OF CITIZENS

The intensification of exchanges leads to a higher level of public opinion interconnections, regardless of country. Technologies enable better- informed individuals to express their expectations more and more loudly, and directly, to decision-makers.

TREND 04

BILLIONS $ IN ASSETS IN LINE WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF POSITIVE IMPACT FINANCE (UNEP, 2017)

OECD CITIZENS TRUST THEIR GOVERNMENT (GALLUP WORLD POLL AND OCDE 2016)

6,600

43%

THE TRENDS OF A FAST-MOVING WORLD

MATERIALITY ASSESSMENT*

Ethics

Women s access to decision-

making

Optimised water and waste

management

Greenhouse gas emissions

Air pollution

Health, safety and reducing disturbance to residents

Reducing energy consumption

Integrating digital and smart

technologies

Capacity-building and knowledge

transfer

* The nine priority challenges for SUEZ from the materiality matrix (see details on p.71).

In 2017, the #metoo phenomenon did not only reveal the distance still to be covered to achieve true equality between men and women. It also illustrated the power of global public opinion, which was crystallised in 24 hours and produced very visible effects, regardless of country. Citizen vigilance is exercised everywhere, and decision-makers must be ready to respond to questioning and controversies that can have an immediate impact. For businesses, this vigilance requires an ever greater control over the risks that can threaten their reputational capital throughout their value chain. Adopted in March 2017, the French law on the duty of vigilance obliges companies to prevent the social, environmental and governance risks associated with their operations and the activities of their subsidiaries and commercial partners (subcontractors and

suppliers). In the face of the scale of this task, some companies are seeking to pool their efforts. In 2017, SUEZ, together with Air Liquide, Engie and Michelin, created the Materiality Observatory under the auspices of the Institute of Responsible Capitalism. For those companies, the goal is to share their questioning with stakeholders and to gauge together the public expectations toward them. In 2017, air quality and human rights are the two priority issues for the French; the fight against climate change is the challenge to which businesses in the energy and urban services sector must respond most urgently.