In line with its announced plans to reduce its indirect emissions and quantify this reduction, VINCI has integrated a 20% target to reduce Scope 3 emissions into its environmental ambition. The Group’s application submitted to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has been validated. The Group’s target-setting strategy aligns with a reduction well below 2°C, and its review by the SBTi guarantees the methodological framework covered by this target: mandatory inclusion of emissions, non-inclusion of offsetting to meet targets.
As an infrastructure builder and operator, VINCI’s activities are directly exposed to the consequences of climate change. It is therefore a priority for the Group to further strengthen the resilience of its activities, and it has gained recognised expertise in this area. Resilience is already an integral part of the risk assessment process for the Group’s projects and represents a major area for innovation to safeguard the structures and solutions put in place for customers.
| Actions taken | Performance indicators | |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed sites | Fixed sites Actions taken – Perform a self-assessment of climate risks on existing sites and a preliminary analysis of climate risks for sites under construction |
Fixed sites Performance indicators – Percentage of fixed sites that have had a climate risk assessment. |
| Bidding | Bidding Actions taken – Use decision-making tools (analysis grids, flow charts) to identify and anticipate project issues in the bid proposal phase. |
Bidding Performance indicators – Inclusion of environmental risks in risk maps and bidding procedures |
The Group plans in advance for any necessary changes to cities and buildings, by incorporating eco-design into its projects, an approach that studies the structure’s whole life cycle. VINCI plays a central role in making new and existing structures more resistant to extreme weather events, ensuring long-term durability and providing innovative construction solutions. VINCI companies are developing expertise in technical improvements, notably to strengthen sea walls, based on scientific scenarios predicting a 50 cm rise in sea levels by 2100, according to the IPCC. In light of their growing frequency, extreme weather events are managed at each stage of a project. VINCI companies are often called on following extreme weather events to restore the normal operation of transport and energy infrastructure.
In 2021, climate change adaptation projects included the expansion and renovation of the fishing port of La Cotinière, on Île d’Oléron in western France, at the request of the Charente-Maritime departmental authorities. GTM Bâtiment Aquitaine, VINCI Construction Terrassement and VINCI Construction Maritime et Fluvial carried out the works, which aimed to increase safety for entry into the fishing port day and night. VINCI was tasked by EDF with the maintenance of the gravel trap on the Buëch river in south-east France. The clean-up aimed to reduce the risk of flooding and silting both upstream and at its confluence with the Durance.
A foresight research group from the Leonard innovation platform focused on climate resilience has been active since 2018. Its panel represents VINCI’s various activities, with support from the startup Resallience, VINCI’s engineering unit focused on climate resilience. In June 2021, Leonard won a public call for projects launched by Ademe on regional resilience. The project involved creating a guide to help regions and municipal decision-makers develop a new standard for ordinary city streets for the post-carbon, post-Covid world. The guide has a heavy focus on transforming mobility, as well as two main action points: soil and land transformation, and transforming land use.
An e-learning module was released to help Group employees become familiar with the concept of resilience and understand the resilience challenges of Group businesses and its customers’ businesses. The Group is also carrying out significant research both internally and with its scientific partners on issues such as adapting neighbourhoods to heatwaves, managing the urban heat island effect, flood prevention, etc.
The business lines are also working to further strengthen the resilience of their activities. In 2020, VINCI Airports developed Resilience Portal, a tool making it possible to assess its airports’ sensitivity to the effects of climate change. This platform is able to provide an initial assessment of a number of weather-related factors (frequency and intensity of extreme temperatures, frequency and intensity of rainfall, prevailing wind directions, etc.). Based on a questionnaire and data processing (weather models from the French national meteorological research centre), Resilience Portal analyses an airport’s sensitivity to risks based on its GPS coordinates. The tool has been used for several projects under development. On some of them, this pre-assessment has in turn prompted studies of vulnerability to climate events based on the RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios used by the IPCC.
A study was launched in 2021 on the climate change resilience of the South Europe Atlantic high-speed rail line. The line’s vulnerability was assessed using the methodology detailed in the paper “Vulnerability and risks: transport infrastructure and climate change”. The climate scenarios applied in the study were RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. The results of the study will be released in mid-2022.
VINCI Autoroutes has conducted a criticality analysis of its national network. For example, the Escota network’s vulnerabilities to climate change, and particularly flooding, landslides and fires, were analysed in 2020. This analysis was based on a review of past events and research on future climate changes.
Lastly, Eurovia is continuing with its work to assess the resilience of its fixed sites in relation to new investments. When building a new plant in Orlando, Florida, Eurovia measured the structure’s hurricane resilience. These analyses involve a study of the site’s climate context, as well as the recurrence and severity of extreme weather events, so that the structure can be adapted to withstand these events.
