Working together

Since the 1980’s, the idea of human sustainability has become increasingly associated with the balancing of economic, environmental and social responsibilities. This means growing our economy in a sustainable way, creating new jobs and bearing responsibility for the economic decisions we make. Businesses built with sustainable processes and values in place will provide the most value to their shareholders and to the communities in which they operate. We must also challenge the established method of operation: the exploration of new technologies will bring new ways of doing things and new jobs.

It also means challenging businesses, government and individuals alike to join us in taking action daily to bring our energy consumption in line with domestic production and to live a sustainable life. Conserving energy and water, reducing waste, and recycling are all strategies that will bring sustainability to our environment.

Finally, we all, businesses and individuals alike, impact the communities in which we live. We have responsibilities to each other and to society at large to give back, to respect human rights, to provide equal opportunity and fair compensation, to respect health and safety, and to ensure a high quality of life. We have the responsibility to get involved, to participate, to take action.

The human factor 

Sustainability is a call to action for all of us. Since we all stand to lose, we must all stand up and act.

There is not one solution, however—there are ways to take action in our daily lives that, collectively, have the potential to save the planet. In addition to investing in renewable energy sources like wind and solar, we must create internal-combustion engines that run more efficiently and on cleaner fuels. In addition to recycling programs in the office, we must print less and reduce business travel through innovation and technology-based collaboration. In addition to changing our light bulbs, we must change our lifestyles by buying local produce, using less water, driving less and purchasing more efficient vehicles.

As you will find on our Get Involved page, there is no limit to the ways you can live a sustainable life. ACCIONA is committed to sustainability. We challenge you—businesses, governments and individuals—to join us on this journey.

Leading by example

ACCIONA replenishes and preserves nature’s resources every day in its wind farms, solar power plants, water treatment plants and even its corporate offices. We do this by working hard to strike a sustainably sound balance between our environmental, economic and social responsibilities.

On a global scale, ACCIONA is leading the charge toward reducing our impact on the environment and has committed to significantly reducing carbon dioxide emissions through our efforts in sustainable development. In 2008, ACCIONA avoided 5,571,431 tons of carbon dioxide emissions through our global renewable and sustainable developments, improving upon the 5,078,493 tons avoided in 2007. Closer to home, ACCIONA’s Nevada Solar One avoids the annual carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to 20,000 cars.

We are also firmly committed to innovation and technology development while increasing our investment in R&D tenfold between 2005 and 2010. In fact, with innovation and technological advancement in mind, ACCIONA has already created more than 400 new jobs in North America since 2006.

ACCIONA’s North American employees also make a personal investment in sustainability by taking public transportation to work—or riding their bikes—to further reduce their own carbon footprints. Moreover, ACCIONA offices and meeting rooms are outfitted with motion detectors that automatically turn off lights when the room is not in use. Learn more about our corporate commitment to sustainability.

ACCIONA works hard to ensure everyone who works here feels proud to belong and considers its actions a stimulus for professional and personal development. ACCIONA takes that internal commitment and projects it outward, to the communities in which we work and the landowners with which we partner. We build sustainable relationships with our stakeholders and for that our business thrives.