GDF SUEZ Rassembleurs d’Energies for Access to Sustainable Energy for All

The GDF SUEZ Group, the world’s largest utility, is seeking to combat poverty and economic disparities with the launch of the GDF SUEZ Rassembleurs d’Energies initiative. This global initiative promotes access for the poorest populations to energy and essential services and supports the reduction of energy poverty. It provides socially responsible investment, donations, as well as technical and managerial assistance, with the GDF SUEZ Group coordinating these various tools in support of social entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations.

The centerpiece of the GDF SUEZ Rassembleurs d’Energies initiative is the creation of an investment fund that will progressively increase to around €100 million in 2013 – 10 percent of which will be immediately invested in social business energy access projects in the form of equity participation.

The GDF SUEZ Rassembleurs d’Energies initiative will make investments in projects such as the electrification of small villages and small-scale hydroelectric projects, with an emphasis on social entrepreneur involvement. The social and environmental impacts are the most important selection criterion. However, the selection process includes specific criteria regarding the profitability of the project in terms of the rate of return on the investment and the returns to shareholders. The initial investment portfolio includes projects in India, Indonesia, South America, and France.

GDF SUEZ, the world’s largest utility, has 218,900 employees worldwide and had revenues of €90.7 billion in 2011. Listed in Brussels, Luxembourg, and Paris, the Group is represented in the leading international indices: CAC 40, BEL 20, DJ Stoxx 50, DJ Euro Stoxx 50, Euronext 100, FTSE Eurotop 100, MSCI Europe, ASPI Eurozone, and ECPI Ethical Index EMU.

GDF SUEZ develops its businesses around a model based on responsible growth to address the key global energy and environmental challenges: meeting energy needs, insuring the security of supply, fighting against climate change, and optimizing the use of resources. The Group provides highly efficient and innovative solutions to individuals, cities, and businesses by relying on diversified gas supply sources, flexible electricity production with low CO2 emission levels, and unique expertise in four key sectors: liquefied natural gas, energy-efficiency services, independent electricity production, and environmental services.

A call to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by the year 2015 is among the eight Millennium Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in 2000. Energy and basic services are key factors in the eradication of poverty. Yet more than eleven years later, this challenge, though well-known and appreciated by all, remains intractable.

As of 2011, 1.3 billion people have no access to electricity – some 20 percent of the world’s population; 2.7 billion people – around 40 percent of the world’s population – rely on traditional biomass fuels for cooking; 880 million people are without access to drinking water and nearly 2 billion individuals are without sanitation services. As suggested in the International Energy Agency’s “New Policies Scenario,” this situation is likely to endure; in 2030, approximately 1 billion people will still not have access to electricity. Considerable progress in energy access is necessary if the Millennium Development Goals are to be achieved. Between now and 2015, there will be nearly 400 million more individuals who need access to electricity and 1 billion will need clean, non-polluting cooking facilities. According to the International Energy Agency, achieving universal access to modern energy services by 2030 will require an additional investment of almost $50 billion each year. While generally focused on developing countries, the question of access to energy also affects developed countries, where it can be a major social concern for low-income groups. In Europe, for example, between 50 and 125 million people are estimated to be experiencing energy poverty according to the European Union. As such a large range suggests, this phenomenon is poorly defined and badly understood.

There is now increased attention on how businesses should respond to a major challenge such as energy poverty, especially within the context of depletion of resources (water, energy) and the imperatives of climate change. The new element in recent years has been the introduction of “market logic” to companies’ social responsibility activities. As Michael Porter points out in his Harvard Business Review article “Creating Shared Value,” the successful businesses of the future will be those that place the societal dimension at the core of business strategy. In this context, businesses in general – and in particular large companies that provide basic services – can play a new role by adopting appropriate business models.

GDF SUEZ is convinced that business has a role to play alongside public institutions and governments in meeting development challenges. While 20 percent of the world’s population lacks access to electricity and more than one in four people are facing fuel poverty in Europe, access to energy is a key enabler for economic and social development and is at the heart of the fight against poverty. As a participant of the United Nations Global Compact, GDF SUEZ Group seeks to support the major objectives of the UN, including the Millennium Development Goals for combating poverty and supporting socioeconomic development.

Launched in early 2011, the GDF SUEZ Rassembleurs d’Energies initiative embodies the commitment of the GDF SUEZ Group to the access of energy for poor people and reducing fuel poverty. It is a initiative of global dimension that consolidates concrete measures by the company through support for projects with high social impact and that promote access to renewable energy sources and reduce fuel poverty.

GDF SUEZ Rassembleurs d’Energies is a partnership-based initiative. GDF SUEZ is actively seeking to work with the development community, NGOs, public authorities, and the general public.

With GDF SUEZ Rassembleurs d’Energies, the Group is implementing three levers and complementary strengths to expand access to sustainable energy for all in Europe and worldwide:

• GDF SUEZ has created a joint investment fund – one of the first in the energy sector – to contribute to the development of social entrepreneurship and support projects that are sustainable, profitable, and replicable
  
• he new GDF SUEZ Foundation, through its Energy Solidarity initiative, is supporting the initiatives of NGOs and associations
  
• The expertise and knowledge of employees is being mobilized through skills sponsorships.