2023 is a year for ESG attacks of leading photovoltaic companies. As an industry where more than 60% of the market relies on the international market, PV companies can clearly perceive the changes in overseas markets during their overseas journey, especially in the mainstream markets represented by Europe, and the signals of environmental, social and governance (ESG) have become stronger and stronger.
During the year, the European Union enacted new rules aimed at strengthening the company's ability to compete with the European Union. Disclosure of information on climate and ESG. In June 2023, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) published two new standards – IFRS S1 and IFRS S2. IFRS S1 stands for the General Disclosure Standard and IFRS S2 stands for Climate-related Disclosure Standard, which is highly consistent with climate-related financial disclosures (TCFD). The two standards aim to promote the harmonization of global sustainability disclosure standards.
The recognition of the new standard also means that global ESG transparency will gradually increase. In China, ESG has also attracted more and more attention from investors and all walks of life.
In this context, we see that more and more PV companies are integrating ESG factors into their operation and management, establishing a sound organizational structure, setting up ESG special working groups, and continuously enhancing the company's information disclosure in this field to achieve new leadership.
The ESG road of photovoltaic leaders
This year, the photovoltaic companies that have a keen insight into market changes and have made great achievements in the ESG field include: Canadian Solar, Chint New Energy, Jinko Solar, Risen Energy, JA Solar, Trina Solar, Yiyi New Energy, Daqo Energy, etc.
Different from traditional financial indicators, ESG focuses more on evaluating the sustainability of a company's operations and its impact on social values from the three dimensions of a company's environmental, social and governance responsibilities. Behind these three different dimensions, it not only reflects that enterprises create profits, but also show stronger action on major issues related to human well-being, such as environment, health, and green.
ESG Big Three: Canadian Solar, Chint New Energy, JinkoSolar.
As the first PV company to receive overseas market demand and exposure to ESG, Canadian Solar's work in this area is led by Ms. Zhang Hanbing, the company's senior vice president of global marketing, and the company has published its "Sustainability Report" for three consecutive years, which meets the standards set by TCFD, SASB and GRI, and comprehensively demonstrates Canadian Solar's progress in advancing its sustainability strategy from the perspective of environmental, social responsibility and corporate governance.
At the beginning of 2023, Canadian Solar received the highest rating of "Prime" in the ISS ESG Corporate Ratings, ranking first among crystalline silicon PV companies in the world. Among the PV companies, Canadian Solar's ESG work is at the forefront of the industry.
Through continuous practice, Zhang Hanbing's understanding of the concept of ESG can be briefly summarized into three dimensions: what kind of impact does a company have on the environment; what kind of improvement and progress has been brought to society; Whether it meets the requirements of national, local and regulatory authorities in terms of corporate governance, and the degree of transparency.
Zhang Hanbing said that China's photovoltaic industry is based on the global market, so Canadian Solar's practice in this area is also driven by international customers. At the same time, it also requires PV companies to follow international standards in terms of ESG in order to be recognized by the global market.
In terms of corporate governance, Canadian Solar has set up a multinational ESG sustainability working group with a total of five nationalities, set a five-year rolling target, established a comprehensive and standardized carbon emission database, and regularly disclosed core environmental protection indicators to show the company's progress in energy conservation, emission reduction and environmental governance.
According to PV Tech's observation, CHINT's performance in ESG in 2023 is also eye-catching, which not only conforms to market trends, but also combines the company's own characteristics to make a difference.
CHINT released the "2022 ESG Report" in May 2023, released its sustainable development strategy in August, and announced a roadmap in this field, committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The company is based on the five major sectors of green business, green design, green production, green and green information disclosure, implements the green chain, and strives to create a full range of low-carbon products to achieve sustainable production of enterprises.
Huang Haiyan, executive vice president and chief sustainability officer of CHINT Xinneng, said that green production is a whole life cycle concept that runs through design, chain management and manufacturing, and CHINT Xinneng insists on R&D and production of high-power modules, and selects green materials, optimizes product size design, improves logistics efficiency, and actively guides leading companies to join in the construction of green and sustainable development, and continuously improves the intelligent level and energy conservation and environmental protection efficiency of the production workshop.
In terms of implementation, as one of the earliest companies in the industry to achieve mass production of N-type TOPCON modules, CHINT Xinneng is not only in products"Development - Procurement - Production - Sales - Delivery - **"In the whole life cycle, we adhere to the practice of green concepts, continue to implement energy-saving and low-carbon actions in all aspects of production and manufacturing, and make breakthroughs in ESG in the way of "zero-carbon factories" to take diversified energy-saving and emission reduction measures to accelerate the implementation of zero-carbon factories. By the end of 2024, at least 3 zero-carbon factories will be completed, and 8 zero-carbon factories will be fully completed by 2028.
In addition, CHINT is also actively seeking partners to jointly research and promote clean energy technologies, participate in sustainable development initiatives, and strive to achieve the global green energy goal. Recently, CHINT Xinneng has won ESG awards from Forbes China, Bloomberg Green Gold, Southern Weekend and other platforms, and has been selected as a typical case of national green factory and green chain management by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and announced its commitment to join the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI), and also took the lead in joining the United Nations Global Compact's "Forward Faster" initiative.
JinkoSolar, another leading PV company, has played a leading role in the sustainable development of the entire industry. A closer look at Jinko's ESG report reveals that the company is pragmatic, and the management attaches great importance to the identification and management of material issues. The disclosure of ESG information will be carried out from the two dimensions of "importance to economic, environmental and social impact" and "impact on stakeholder assessment and decision-making" based on overall industry trend analysis and internal and external stakeholder surveys.
For example, on the topic of "Product Life Cycle Management", JinkoSolar conducts an objective and comprehensive environmental impact assessment from material selection, design, manufacturing, and the entire product life cycle. In terms of details, the details are also considered, and the topic mentions that in the use of materials, recycled materials and plastic recycling will be included in the procurement consideration; Incorporate low-carbon and environmental protection considerations into product design, and carry out integrated thinning and weight reduction projects.
At the same time, it will adhere to low-carbon production and lean management, and increase the proportion of clean energy in the manufacturing process by using self-built rooftop photovoltaic power stations and purchasing green electricity, so as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It can be said that the "last mile" of the photovoltaic green chain has been opened up by formulating the "Specifications for the Use of Circular Packaging Materials", promoting the use of packaging materials, and exploring the best reuse methods at the end of the product life.
Heterojunction faucets and polysilicon faucets: Risen Energy and Daqo Energy.
Risen Energy, a leader in heterojunction (HJT), has also made great efforts in terms of ESG, releasing its first corporate social responsibility report as early as 2020 and continuing to make efforts in the following three years.
Among them, Risen Energy has rooted the ESG concept in product strength, and the company has not only launched ultra-low-carbon and ultra-high-efficiency heterojunction Fuxi Hyper-ion modules, but also vigorously promoted alloy steel frame technology that is in line with the general trend of energy conservation and emission reduction in the country and industry, opening up new ideas for low-carbon emission reduction in the photovoltaic industry.
In December 2023, Risen Energy's heterojunction Fuxi series modules obtained the French carbon footprint certification, and set a new low in the industry carbon footprint certification value (376.).5kg EQ CO2 KWC), which highlights the low-carbon advantages of Risen Energy's heterojunction Fuxi products, and provides more choices and guarantees for end users in low-carbon and complex environments.
Zhuang Yinghong, Global Marketing Director of Risen Energy, said: "As a product driven by the company's dual carbon emissions, HJT Fuxi products have the leading characteristics of 'one high and one low (high yield and low carbon emissions)', which not only has higher power generation and lower LCOE, but also brings more emission reduction and carbon value. ”
In addition, Risen Energy continues to be enthusiastic about public welfare, and uses the company's advantages in products and services to actively carry out various community feedback and public welfare and charity activities to help the sustainable development of the community. At present, Risen Energy has been donating books for 7 years, and has donated 31 Haifeng libraries across the country, covering nearly 30 schools in Guizhou, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Gansu and other places.
In addition to the cell and module sectors, we have noticed that leading polysilicon companies are also focusing on ESG. As of 2023, Daqo Energy has released ESG reports to the outside world for three consecutive years, and the company has carried out 12 highly important topics from three major aspects: environmental, social and corporate management, divided into 12 highly important topics: corporate governance, anti-corruption and integrity, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, climate change, renewable energy development and utilization, water resource management, talent development, labor rights, product safety, product quality, and product innovation and research and development.
Daqo Energy has built a first-class ESG governance structure with the board of directors, chief financial officer, and ESG working group as the core, and continues to promote the in-depth participation of the board of directors and senior management in the ESG risk assessment and management process, promote cross-departmental cooperation and full participation, and continuously improve its ESG governance level.
The company has carried out work in greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, recycling and reuse, among which the wastewater discharge intensity has been reduced for four consecutive years. At the same time, Daqo Energy continues to promote various environmental protection technology transformation projects, improve energy management, promote energy conservation and consumption reduction, actively respond to climate change, promote the efficient use of clean energy and renewable energy, and form a mutual promotion of economic value and environmental protection value.
Finally, one thing is certain, the ESG development of PV companies has just begun. With the blessing of ESG, Chinese PV brands will be more comfortable in the international market, and at the same time, it will also bring a new pattern to the industry, and PV Tech will continue to pay attention to and report.