3.3.3.2 Land recycling
Land recycling refers to developing property on obsolete land that has been restored and repurposed because it no longer serves its previous purpose or the buildings on it have fallen into disrepair. The notion of recycling applies when activity has stopped or is planned to discontinue in the near future. Examples of land to be redeveloped include abandoned industrial facilities, dilapidated housing, polluted land, and obsolete office complexes or shopping areas (see paragraph 3.4.3.1, “Actions to reduce impacts”, page 256). VINCI Immobilier has set a target to generate more than 50% of revenue through land recycling by 2030. This commitment is demonstrated through actions in the areas of soil remediation, resource conservation and avoiding land take. Significant progress was made towards this goal in 2023, with 70% of VINCI Immobilier’s revenue generated through land recycling.
Furthermore, VINCI’s Environment Division and Leonard, the Group’s innovation and foresight platform, are jointly leading a foresight programme, launched in 2022, focused on land recycling. A working group has been set up with experts from Group divisions to consider the different ways in which VINCI could advance in this area. The discussions underscored that the Group has all the expertise needed to implement land recycling in an operational and integrated manner to support regions. A set of documents was distributed in June 2023 to all employees, including a catalogue listing in house expertise and solutions for the entire value chain of a land recycling project.
As projects built and managed by VINCI have a direct or indirect influence on natural environments, preserving these environments plays a key role in the Group’s design, construction and operations processes. Throughout the project life cycle, the Group’s priority is to have as little impact as possible on natural environments, while adapting to emerging ecological and climate challenges. VINCI provides solutions that address these issues, such as water management (water treatment plants and processes), and ecological restoration and transparency (reconfiguring stream and river channels, wildlife crossings, etc.), while continuing its innovation programme to bring relevant, effective solutions in all stages of a project.
To this end, by 2030 VINCI pledges to:
In 2023, VINCI business lines followed their road maps that take natural environments into account and sometimes adjusted their targets. To support them in these endeavours, several VINCI companies have forged partnerships with the scientific community and non-profit organisations (see paragraph 3.1.5, “Dialogue with stakeholders”, page 232) to inform their programmes with accurate expertise.
A governance approach for biodiversity preservation has been in place for several years to coordinate the Group’s commitments (see paragraph 3.1.1.1, “Internal governance”, page 223). A Biodiversity Task Force, comprised of about 90 ecology experts and environment managers from VINCI’s different activities, meets three times a year. It is responsible for monitoring the regulatory environment, developing scientific expertise, analysing risks, promoting initiatives and sharing best practices.
VINCI is continuing its support for the voluntary initiative act4nature international, launched by the French organisation Entreprises pour l’Environnement and many other partners. VINCI’s action plan covers five main points (https://lc.cx/IkkKOE) and was approved by the act4nature international Steering Committee, made up of representatives of environmental NGOs, scientists, government authorities and business networks. Progress on road map implementation is reviewed regularly and publicly disclosed. Several Group entities are also involved in act4nature programmes at the national level. For example, ANA, the company that manages the airports in Portugal, became a signatory to act4nature Portugal, an initiative from the Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD) Portugal. The Road France Division and the Earthworks, Maritime and River Works delegation (Networks France Division) of VINCI Construction are recognised members of the Entreprises Engagées pour la Nature – act4nature France programme, supported by the French Office for Biodiversity and the Ministry of the Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, for their action plans to promote biodiversity.
Group businesses take steps to prevent environmental incidents, reduce noise and light pollution and improve air quality in both the construction and operating phases. In accordance with regulations (Law 2017-399 of 27 March 2017 on the duty of vigilance of parent companies and subcontracting companies), VINCI’s duty of vigilance plan details the structures in place to prevent any harm to the environment (see paragraph 4.4.3, “Tailored actions to mitigate risks and prevent serious impacts”, of the Group’s duty of vigilance plan, page 286). All Group business lines also conduct employee training and awareness initiatives (see paragraph 3.1.4.2, “Training and awareness”, page 231).
| Actions taken in France | Performance indicators | |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental management plan | Environmental management plan Actions taken in France–Define environmental management indicators as well as a governance system and responsibilities for environmental management |
Environmental management plan Performance indicators–Percentage of business lines having implemented an environmental management plan |
| Training | Training Actions taken in France–Develop business -specific training and awareness tools |
Training Performance indicators–Number of hours of training devoted to the environment |
• Preventing environmental incidents
As the Group’s business activities could be responsible for pollution and environmental incidents, its environmental ambition aims to prevent these events by systematically implementing an environmental management plan. Procedures and measures planned in case of an environmental incident are outlined in the Group’s duty of vigilance plan (see paragraph 4.4.3, “Tailored actions to mitigate risks and prevent serious impacts”, of the Group’s duty of vigilance plan, page 286).
