Does your company have projects registered under UN Clean Development Mechanism?
None
Does your company have a publicly available commitment to respect human rights? If so, please provide a link.
Yes through the Code of conduct of EDF Group and Ethics and the conduct charter of EDF Energies Nouvelles
http://www.edf-energies-nouvelles.com/wp-contenu/uploads/2013/05/2014-01-02_EDF-Group-Code-of-Ethics_20-pages.pdf
http://www.edf-energies-nouvelles.com/wp-contenu/uploads/2013/05/charte_ethique_2012_eng.pdf
In 2013, the EDF Group committed to “not tolerate any human rights violation, fraud or corruption in any of its companies or suppliers”
Cf DDR : EDFreference document 2015 § 3.2.3.2 Respect of human rights p168-169
https://www.edf.fr/sites/default/files/contrib/groupe-edf/espaces-dedies/espace-finance-en/financial-information/regulated-information/reference-document/edf-ddr_2015-va.pdf
Regarding EDF suppliers, they have to sign the following charter
https://www.edf.fr/sites/default/files/Lot%203/FOURNISSEURS/ACHAT%20RESPONSABLE/charteddedffournisseursv2042014.pdf
EDF signed the UN Global Compact in 2001 and report at the “advanced level”; 14 societies of the EDF Group including EDF Energies Nouvelles have also joined the UN Global Compact
https://www.unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/participants/3136-EDF
https://www.unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/participants/29551
Does your company identify its salient human rights issues and does it have a due diligence process to manage them? If so, please list the issues and describe the due diligence process (key steps include: impact assessment, integrating & acting on findings, tracking responses & communicating how impacts are addressed).
Human rights have been identified as a key issue in our materiality matrix (cf DDR p144)
The EDF group has a responsible purchasing approach with an assessment of suppliers including human rights including audits and a follow up of the corrective measures if necessary (cf DDR p176-177)
EDF considers the impacts on human rights in its investment screening criteria, particularly in countries deemed at risk and in all important projects (cf DDR p177)
In its projects regarding renewable energy, EDF Energies Nouvelles applies the Equator principles and undertake environmental and social impact assessments for each project.
What criteria does your company use to identify communities that may be affected by renewable energy projects it is involved in?
EDF has just issued 6 objectives of social responsibility
https://www.edf.fr/en/the-edf-group/responsible-and-committed/corporate-social-responsibility
One of them is called “a consultative approach for each new project” and will soon be implemented in EDF entities
https://www.edf.fr/en/the-edf-group/responsible-and-committed/corporate-social-responsibility/a-consultative-approach-for-each-new-project
How does your company consult with affected communities (on impact assessments, resettlement, benefit sharing plans, etc.)? Please describe what form consultations take and when they are carried out in a project’s cycle.
See for example the consultation process in the hydraulic project of Nachtigal (Cameroon)
http://www.nachtigal-hpp.com/index.php/information-des-parties-prenantes.html (in French)
http://www.nachtigal-hpp.com/index.php/stakeholders-informations.html (in English)
Does your company ensure its consultations include the perspectives and respect the rights of all affected community members (including those who may be marginalised for reasons of gender, social status, age, religion, wealth or income or other considerations)? How is this ensured?
One of the most emblematic hydraulic project conducted by EDF has been the Nam Theun project that is now a case study by the World bank
http://www.worldbank.org/projects/P049290/nam-theun-2-social-environment-project?lang=en (cf p 29 §3.6.2 social impact mitigation)
Under what circumstances does your company commit to seeking an affected community’s free, prior & informed consent to a project? Please provide examples of projects where free, prior & informed consent was sought (if applicable).
For each project EDF or EDF Energies Nouvelles conduct a environmental and social assessment in which impact on communities is a key issue.
What is your company’s process for obtaining and evaluating free, prior & informed consent?
Process to be developed with our new objective on consultation
What steps does your company take to ensure that its own personnel, private security companies it contracts with, and/or government forces providing security to its projects, respect the rights of workers and community members, including those who may oppose its projects?
Security staff is one of the key populations that need to be trained to ensure that they respect human rights. This question has to be dealt with in each project code of conduct.
Does your company have a grievance mechanism in place at each project site for affected communities and workers to raise concerns about local impacts, including human rights abuses? If so, were affected communities involved in the design of the grievance mechanism, including its set-up and the types of remedies it provides?
First of all, EDF has put in place an ethics reporting system to allow employees and other stakeholders (customers, suppliers, third parties) to register any requests or complaints. This system is the subject of a quantitative annual report (cf DDR p169)
Most of the new projects have also a specific mechanism:
2 examples regarding hydraulic projects:
- Nachtigal Hydro power company in Cameroon
http://www.nachtigal-hpp.com/index.php/gestion-des-requetes-et-des-plaintes.html (in French)
- UHE SINOP in Brazil
http://www.uhesinop.com.br/fale-conosco/ouvidoria/
http://www.uhesinop.com.br/downloads_fotos/115/foto35103.pdf (see p 7 in Portuguese)
Please provide any further information regarding your company’s policies and practices on human rights that you think is relevant.
EDF has developed, together with the association Entreprises pour les droits de l’homme a e-learning module on business and human rights that will be available for all employees of the EDF group in French and English.
http://www.e-dh.org/fr/formation.php
Case study related to this company *DISCLAIMER: This has been collected by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre and is not part of the company's answer to the questionnaire
Laos: Nam Theun 2 Dam
In November 2004, Friends of the Earth, Proyecto Gato, and 56 other NGOs filed a complaint to the French National Contact Point (NCP) against EDF for their non-compliance to the OECD Guidelines in their development of the Nam Theun 2 dam. The NGOs accused EDF of not conducting a detailed environmental impact assessment. EDF responded to this complaint, and stated that the dam would bring economic opportunities to the local population. The French NCP concluded that there was no violation of the OECD Guidelines but gave recommendations to EDF. The NCP encouraged the company to continue to implement compensatory measures, and suggested that when operating in countries with weak environmental and social laws, companies should apply internationally recognised good practices they abide by in their home countries. In 2007, EDF, the World Bank, and the Laotian government had promised to double the income of those families who were displaced by the dam, within four years.
However, International Rivers has since accused Nam Theun 2 Power for not properly consulting the affected villagers. The project was allegedly preventing the locals from accessing water and was destroying critical food sources. They also found that the 6200 people who were displaced, and though they now have better local infrastructure, still struggle from the loss of their traditional livelihoods. Environmental NGOs urged international development banks to review their support for the Nam Theun 2 dam. The World Bank’s rating for the project’s overall implementation progress is now “moderately unsatisfactory” and the level of overall risk is “high”.
For further information see International Rivers