Our Impacts, risks and opportunities

ESRS E1 Climate change
		Material impact, risk, opportunity	Description	Value chain	Time horizon
Climate change mitigation
	Negative impact	GHG emissions from fossil energy sources used for internal and value chain applications contribute to climate change.	GHG emissions contribute to climate change (contributor to global warming) across the entire value chain.	Upstream, own activities, downstream	Short, Medium
	Potential negative impact	Expanding and upgrading the network leads to emissions and an increase in network losses, which contributes to climate change.	The growth of the network and the heavier load on the network leads to emissions and an increase in network losses. This may contribute to climate change.	Upstream, own activities, downstream	Medium
	Risk	New legislation for climate change mitigation leads to higher costs.	Mandatory measures from laws and regulations may lead to additional investments and costs in addition to previously planned measures.	Own activities	Medium, Long
	Risk	Failure to hit climate targets leads to higher cost of capital.	Inadequate and late accomplishment of climate targets may erode the organisation’s credibility and reputation. In addition, it may lead to higher costs and possible fines.	Own activities	Medium, Long
	Opportunity	The use of innovative technologies in sustainable energy supply delivers an increase in revenue or cost benefits.	The use of new technologies and innovation creates opportunities for storage, supply/demand management and decentralisation in the transition to a sustainable energy supply. These activities may lead to cost benefits, efficiency or revenue growth.	Own activities	Medium, Long
Climate change adaptation
	Risk	Disruptions in vital energy infrastructure lead to increasing maintenance costs or loss of assets.	Frequency and severity of intense weather events may pose a risk to vital infrastructure and result in damage to or loss of assets.	Own activities	Short, Medium
	Risk	Disruptions in the value chain for materials needed for vital energy infrastructure leads to higher procurement costs.	Indirect value chain effects on materials, assets and elsewhere in the energy chain due to disruptions in the supply chain. This may drive up costs.	Upstream	Short, Medium
Energy
	Positive impact	The creation of infrastructure for the purpose of electrification and the use of renewable energy contributes to the energy transition.	Use of renewable sources leads to a reduction of emissions and a shift in the energy mix from fossil fuels to renewable energy.	Own activities	Medium, Long
	Risk	The decrease in gas consumption and the number of gas connections drives up the cost per gas connection and reduces revenue from gas consumption.	The heat transition may cause the financial support for the gas grid to decrease and drive up the costs per connection. Agreements on the financing of the transition are needed in this respect.	Own activities	Medium, Long
	Risk	Rising expenditures for necessary grid investments lead to potential funding shortfalls.	Pressure on profitability and funding sources may restrict investment financing. The rising level of investment creates a structural negative cash flow and therefore an increase in our financing requirements. This will eventually put pressure on our financial ratios and our rating.	Own activities	Long
	Opportunity	Climate agreements increase demand for heat connections, leading to higher revenue.	Supranational, national and regional climate agreements such as the Dutch climate agreement on the heat transition offer opportunities to replace gas with alternative heat sources.	Own activities, downstream	Medium, Long
	Opportunity	Introduction of new technologies leads to increased revenue or cost benefits.	The introduction of new technology such as hydrogen technology and more sustainable transport and mobility offer opportunities for new business and jobs. Alliander is actively researching and developing ways to use these alternatives.	Own activities	Medium, Long

ESRS E5 Circular economy
		Material impact, risk, opportunity	Description	Value chain	Time horizon
Resource inflows and use
	Negative impact	Use of resources contributes negatively to their availability.	The use of resources may lead to depletion of natural resources. In this IRO, Alliander focuses on the procurement of core assets that are essential for its core activities (management of gas and electricity grids). This includes the assets: cables, meters, pipes, transformers and switchgear.	Upstream, own activities	Long
	Risk	Disruptions in the supply chain due to material shortages and/or geopolitical circumstances may lead to increased costs for material procurement.	Prolonged shortages of materials and components due to supply problems and production capacity affect the completion of work packages and inventories, which can lead to pressure on supplier relationships. This may lead to price rises.	Upstream	Short, Medium
	Opportunity	Reuse of materials and components in our own business activities and in the value chain, and collaboration between suppliers and network operators reduce the consumption of (scarce) resources.	By purchasing and using circular materials and components, and forging collaboration in the value chain, we reduce the demand for resources. This may bring costs down in the long term.	Upstream, own activities	Short, Medium, Long
	Opportunity	We reduce our sensitivity to disruptions in the international value chain through wider availability of materials and by collaborating with suppliers and sheltered work providers to repair and overhaul materials. This reduces purchases of new products and creates cost savings.	By repairing and overhauling materials, we reduce dependence in the value chain. This means less procurement and lower costs.	Upstream, own activities	Medium, Long

ESRS S1 Own workforce
		Material impact, risk, opportunity	Description	Scope	Time horizon
Employment terms and conditions
	Positive impact	Good working conditions and terms of employment contribute to employee well-being.	Good working conditions and terms of employment contribute to physical, mental and social well-being, which has a positive effect on productivity, sickness absence rates and work atmosphere.	Own activities	Short, Medium
	Positive impact	Alliander’s growth leads to job creation.	Alliander’s growth due to the energy transition generates additional demand for workers and, consequently, jobs.	Own activities	Short
	Negative impact	Health and safety incidents lead to (fatal) injury to workers.	Workplace incidents may cause workers to suffer (fatal) injuries.	Own activities	Short
	Risk	Shortage of available (technical) personnel in the labour market leads to higher costs.	Insufficient availability of suitable technical professionals in the labour market prevents us from getting the work done. This makes attracting and retaining well-trained (technical) personnel more challenging and expensive.	Own activities	Short
	Risk	Personnel safety incidents lead to sickness absence, damage to our reputation, damage claims and fines.	Personnel safety incidents may occur while working on power grids. Safety incidents lead to sickness absence, damage to Alliander’s reputation, damage claims and fines.	Own activities	Medium
Equal treatment and equal opportunities for all
	Positive impact	Equal treatment and opportunities for all contributes to employee well-being and development.	Equal treatment and opportunities (including training opportunities) contributes to the well-being and development of all employees. Training plays an important role in this subtopic. Providing training to all employees has a positive effect on their development and employability, as well as on the company’s performance.	Own activities	Short, Medium
	Negative impact	Inappropriate behaviour in the workplace may lead to a reduction in employee well-being.	Inappropriate behaviour in the workplace has a negative effect on employee well-being, health and productivity.	Own activities	Short, Medium
	Risk	Insufficient diversity and inclusion leads to loss of talent and higher employee benefit expenses.	A lack of diversity and inclusion causes underrepresented groups to not feel ‘at home’ at Alliander, which may lead to a negative impact on their well-being and productivity. This may result in the loss of talented employees due to high staff turnover, which results in higher employee benefit expenses.	Own activities	Short, Medium

ESRS S2 Workers in the value chain
		Material impact, risk, opportunity	Description	Value chain	Time horizon
Employment terms and conditions
	Negative impact	Poor working conditions in the value chain lead to a reduction in the well-being of workers in the value chain.	Poor working conditions lead to physical and mental stress and social discomfort, which has a negative impact on productivity, absenteeism and the work atmosphere.	Upstream, downstream	Short, Medium
	Risk	Inadequate compliance with standards on working conditions in the value chain may damage our reputation and lead to higher costs.	Risks relating to working conditions in the value chain. These risks include human rights violations, unequal treatment and forced labour. This may damage our reputation and lead to financial losses.	Upstream, downstream	Short, Medium
Other workers’ rights
	Risk	Violations of workers’ rights and human rights in the value chain may lead to liability or fines.	Modern slavery or other forms of forced labour and child labour or involvement in such practices in the value chain may damage our reputation and lead to legal problems and fines.	Upstream, downstream	Short, Medium

ESRS S4 Consumers and end-users
		Material impact, risk, opportunity	Description	Value chain	Time horizon
Privacy
	Negative impact	A breach of confidentiality of our customer data relating to the operation of our power and gas grids may lead to unauthorised use of their personal data.	Privacy breaches for consumers may lead to unauthorised use of their personal data.	Downstream	Short
Personal safety of consumers and/or end-users
	Potential negative impact	Potentially unsafe conditions in the infrastructure (our power and gas grids) may cause injury or death to customers or passers-by.	Unsafe conditions may negatively affect the health and/or safety of customers and/or passers-by.	Downstream	Short, Medium
	Risk	Safety incidents related to the operation of our power and gas grids damage our reputation and lead to damage claims and fines.	Safety incidents for local residents/passers-by may occur during work on power and gas grids. Safety incidents damage Alliander’s reputation and lead to damage claims and fines.	Downstream	Short, Medium
Access to products and services (energy security for customers)
	Positive impact	Customers get access to power and gas, leading to an increase in their well-being.	Access to energy has a positive effect on customer well-being.	Downstream	Short, Medium
	Risk	Power and gas supply disruptions lead to damage claims.	Disruptions may occur due to external factors such as weather conditions and due to the focus being on expansion. This leads to financial losses and possibly claims.	Own activities, downstream	Short, Medium, Long
	Risk	Growing pressure on limited grid capacity, resulting in increasing waiting times, may lead to damage claims.	Grid capacity is under increasing pressure due to growing demand for connections and power consumption. This leads to longer waiting times for new connections or grid expansion. As a result, affected parties may file damage claims.	Own activities, downstream	Short, Medium
	Risk	Cyberattacks threaten power operations, leading to damage claims and costs related to the attack.	Alliander's business processes are extensively digitalised and increasing cybersecurity threats create a risk of the energy supply being shut down. Hackers hack vital infrastructure and demand a ‘ransom’ to lift the hack.	Own activities	Short, Medium, Long
	Opportunity	Innovative solutions improve access to power and grid management, leading to higher revenue or lower costs.	Innovative technologies make it easier to access power and optimise grid management. These improvements lead to higher revenue (access) or lower costs.	Own activities, downstream	Medium, Long

ESRS G1 Business conduct
		Material impact, risk, opportunity	Description	Value chain	Time horizon
Corporate culture
	Positive impact	A good corporate culture adds to employee well-being and motivation.	A good corporate culture leads to higher job satisfaction and well-being, because a good corporate culture ensures a balanced workload and a positive work environment.	Own activities	Medium
	Risk	A poor corporate culture may result in potential wrongdoing, which will damage our reputation and increase costs.	A poor corporate culture results in damage to our reputation and possible wrongdoing with financial consequences.	Own activities	Short, Medium, Long
Protection of whistleblowers
	Positive impact	A known whistleblower policy promotes transparent operations, leading to the prevention of wrongdoing.	A known whistleblower policy has a positive effect on safety, trust and ethical behaviour and helps to prevent misconduct. The whistleblower policy applies to employees and other Alliander stakeholders.	Own activities	Short
Corruption and bribery
	Potential negative impact	Potential corruption and bribery incidents contribute negatively to transparency and honesty in the industry.	Potential corruption and bribery incidents can negatively affect ethical standards inside and outside the organisation. It may also damage our reputation.	Upstream, own activities, downstream	Long