By Ignacio S. Galán, Chairman and CEO of Iberdrola
Inclusive capitalism must be focused on long-term value creation, always building on principles such as ethics and transparency. It can be defined as a more responsible form of capitalism which puts people at the heart of decision making, with the aim of fostering confidence, creating jobs and, more generally, ensuring the well-being of citizens.
It is the essential responsibility of corporations to materialize this concept. This duty derives from our wide involvement in society: We create and support jobs, promote investment, purchase from our suppliers, contribute to public finances, foster innovation and protect the natural environment.
In order to take full advantage of this potential and to ensure that the principles of inclusive capitalism become the driving force of the economy, companies require stable and predictable regulatory frameworks. Such frameworks allow them, in turn, to design and implement responsible and sustainable business models.
We at Iberdrola are convinced that it is possible to do business differently and that this new capitalism -- based on the values of honesty, effort and responsibility -- is possible. Our model rests on a long-term vision, ethics and transparency. We believe in the integration of people and cultures and sharing the economic benefits we generate with all our stakeholders.
True to these principles, we serve the communities in which we operate by making annual investments of 4 billion euros and annual purchases from suppliers totaling 5.4 billion euros. We also contribute 5.5 billion euros per annum to public finances through tax payments.
We offer our customers innovative solutions and, around the world, we have directly or indirectly created 350,000 jobs. We provide hundreds of scholarships to young graduates each year and promote personal and professional development amongst our employees, providing each with more than 40 hours of training annually.
Inclusive capitalism can be defined as a more responsible form of capitalism which puts people at the heart of decision-making. 35 The meaning of inclusive capitalism I would also like to underline the company's policy on equal opportunities and gender equality. In recent years the share of women in Iberdrola's workforce has increased at all levels, and we are now among the top European companies for the proportion of women involved in company governance: our Lead Independent Director and the chairs of all Board subcommittees are women.
We are also implementing different measures to improve personal and professional life balance for employees.
Finally, as an energy company, we understand that fighting climate change is one of the pillars of our corporate social responsibility. Over our 150-year history, Iberdrola has always been focused on clean energy sources such as hydroelectricity and wind, such that we are now the leading wind energy generator in the world. Accordingly, we produce 30% less CO2 emissions per kWh than the European average and we have already met our 30% emissions reduction target for 2020. But we want to go further than this: we have committed to reduce our CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030 (from 2007 levels). Our goal is to become carbon neutral by 2050.
All in all, Iberdrola is firmly committed to our customers (continuously meeting their service expectations), to our suppliers (involving them in our responsible and ethical practices) and to the shareholders who have placed their confidence and trust in us (we create sustainable value for almost seven hundred thousand people, many of whom are pensioners). This is our way of bringing inclusive capitalism to life.