A study by the UPV/EHU concludes that the main energy companies hide 47% of the damage to biodiversity.

The study notes that energy companies “only clearly expose 23% of the activities that threaten biodiversity”. A study by the UPV/EHU concludes that the main energy companies hide almost half of the damage their activity causes to biodiversity and, in addition, use “liability neutralization strategies” in cases of negative impact.
A study by the UPV/EHU research group on circular economy, business performance and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals has shown that energy companies hide 47% of the damage to biodiversity derived from their activity.
As explained in a statement by the University of the Basque Country, 47 events related to the 30 main energy companies in the euro area have been analyzed (deforestations, bird electrocutions, habitat destruction) and 22 of them are not even mentioned in their sustainability reports.
“European directives oblige large companies to publish documents related to the environment and biodiversity, but the information that must appear in them is not fully defined. Each one decides what aspects to talk about. Therefore, they act freely and soften their image,” says the author of the study, Goizeder Blanco.
In fact, the study finds that energy companies “only clearly expose 23% of the activities that threaten biodiversity”.
On the other hand, it points out that there are also events that are reported in a diffuse manner.
In 14 cases, in 30% of the negative impacts analyzed, it has been detected that the companies use “liability neutralization strategies”.
According to Blanco, the technique they use most often is to highlight advantages and positive actions: “For example, some companies plant oil palms in tropical areas to produce biofuels, thus destroying native ecosystems. On the other hand, in sustainability reports, they divert attention in order to soften it. They emphasize that in other territories they have planted many trees, but this does not solve the deforestation caused by the company with palm trees, among other things, because the plantations are carried out far away from the affected area,” he warns.
On other occasions, he points out that the energy companies argue that “it is not clear what the cause of the extermination is, or they directly blame other actors, for example, the suppliers”.
Source: https://www.diario.red/articulo/actualidad/estudio-upv-ehu-concluye-que-principales-empresas-energeticas-ocultan-47-danos-biodiversidad/20240820195317034163.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=whatsapp&utm_campaign=share_button