IBERDROLA believes that social responsibility is linked to the performance of business activities, while at the same time respecting the needs of all those groups affected by its activities (interest groups). This means managing the impact of the Company’s initiatives on society, promoting its activities in such a way as to create benefits for the communities, customers, employees and the environment..

IBERDROLA's approach considers the Company's relationship with its interest groups to have a twofold relevance: from the point of view of social responsibility, by meeting their expectations and needs, and from the reputational viewpoint, by managing the opinion these groups have of the Company.

For practical purposes, and in view of their importance, eight groups are considered as regards the activities carried out by IBERDROLA:

• Workforce.
• Shareholders and financial community.
• Regulatory bodies.
• Customers.
• Suppliers.
• Media.
• Society.
• Environment.
 

The relationship with these groups is implemented according to the following diagram, where four steps are identified:

Diagram showing the relationship between IBERDROLA and its interest groups

1. Developing a set of communication and dialogue channels with these groups in order to:

• Communicate the goals, the activities carried out and the achievements reached in the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, environmental and social.
• Receive the assessments and requests from the interested parties.
 

2. Internal analysis and examination of external sources to identify the needs and expectations of these groups.

3. Identification of material or relevant elements for these groups.

4. Focus the activities according to the needs observed, setting goals and achieving progress in the development of this relationship.

IBERDROLA has set up channels for communications with its interest groups and appointed managers for these channels in order to identify the most important issues and to respond to their interests. In consequence, the Company has assumed a commitment to analyse their proposals, consider their viability and timeliness and give them a balanced and reasonable response. For several years this process has been carried out through the implementation of the AA1000 Assurance Standard under the principles of inclusiveness, relevance and response capacity it establishes.