Stakeholder engagement

In 2021, we conducted an extensive stakeholder survey, among 86 ACWA Power employees, to produce a comprehensive materiality assessment, which helped us identify the most material topics and will be updated this year. We supplemented our initial materiality assessment by referencing it against the GRI reporting standards, as well as industry best practice. The materiality assessment helped us to identify our core ESG focus topics and indicators, which include climate change, water, health and safety, and governance, and to develop our ESG framework accordingly.

Our key stakeholders include:

Employees
Suppliers
Partners
Shareholders
Governments
Power and water providers
Educational institutions
End customers

We intend to conduct broader stakeholder engagement, on a qualitative basis, in 2023/2024 with representatives of the above groups.

We develop ACWA Power’s materiality matrix in six steps

Define long list of topics to consider

Leveraging peer matrices and industry standards
(SASB and GRI)

Shorten list to 23 topics

Taking out duplicates or irrelevant topics, merging topics

Conduct survey on business criticality

Conducting survey with ACWA Power employees, analysing peer matrices to incorporate external stakeholder views

Develop draft materiality matrix

Consolidating inputs from step 3

Prioritise topics (comply-compete-lead)

Reviewing peers' targets, prioritising topics in comply-compete-lead logic during workshop

Finalise materiality matrix

Consolidating outputs from top management workshop

Source: BCG care experience

Final ACWA Power materiality matrix

Source: Business criticality assessed via materiality survey conducted with 86 ACWA Power employees from Dec 2020 – Jan 2021; Importance for stakeholders assessed via BCG MMAP analysis of materiality matrices of 17 international players in the utility sector and calculation of average stakeholder importance, likely to represent international stakeholder views.