REPORTING PRINCIPLES
INFORMATION PERIMETER
Ferrovial is made up of the parent company, Ferrovial S.A. and its subsidiaries. For detailed information on the companies, see the group in the Consolidated Annual Accounts.
In 2020, there were operations that involved changes in the group due to the acquisition of companies, the awarding of new contracts and the start of new businesses. There have also been corporate restructurings. Highlights include the sale of Broadspectrum to Ventia for 465 million Australian dollars and the sale of 50% of TW Power Services for 20 million Australian dollars. For more information, see pages 48-70 on business performance.
CONSOLIDATION PROCESS
The report includes all the companies in which Ferrovial has economic control, meaning a participation of more than 50%. In these cases, 100% of the information is reported. The list of subsidiaries and associated companies can be found in Annex II of the Consolidated Financlai Statements, pages 174-297. Although the Services business is treated as an activity classified as financially discontinued, because it is available for sale, to comply with the requirements of Law 11/2018, non-financial information does include this division in its perimeter, offering a complete vision of all aspects and impacts of the business. Therefore, in cases where material is considered, data from the Services division will be disaggregated.
Also, following the indications of the GRI Guide Sustainability Reporting Standards, Ferrovial provides information on the indicators and
material aspects of “outside the organization”, when the data has sufficient quality, and always separately. Ferrovial considers that the most
relevant impacts are those related to the 407 ETR Toll Road in Canada and the airports in the United Kingdom, companies in which its shareholding is less than 50%. Some indicators of interest associated with these assets are those related to indirect emissions (scope 3), user
satisfaction, and number of passengers travelling through airports.
TRACEABILITY
Ferrovial guarantees the traceability of information related to the Corporate Responsibility scope thanks to a reporting system, which has been available since 2007. This provides detailed information to company level, facilitating partial consolidation by geographical location or business. In 2020, a thorough review of the requested information was carried out to adapt the system to the information requirements of the company’s different stakeholders and the recommendations of the external and internal auditors. The software used has enabled corporate management to gather quarterly information for management and internal reporting to Senior Management.
In 2020, the reporting system collected 643 quantitative and qualitative indicators, in 116 companies, thanks to the collaboration of more than 200 users.
REFORMULATION OF THE INFORMATION
There were a number of changes in the group in 2020 that may affect the comparability of the data contained in the Report, although they are not particularly relevant in comparison to the company as a whole. To guarantee the maximum transparency and comparability of the data, the body of the report shows when an indicator from previous years has been modified or shows significant changes that affect the comparability of the information. The Report takes into account most of the requirements regarding the Non-Financial Information Statement carried out by the National Securities Market Commission.
STAKEHOLDERS
Ferrovial is committed to the transparency of the information it shares with the market, through the continuous improvement of communication channels with all its stakeholders, based on innovative corporate information that, in addition to financial aspects, takes into account the environmental and social variables.
The company considers stakeholders to be individuals or social groups with a legitimate interest, who are affected by the company’s present or future actions. This definition includes both the stakeholders that form part of the company’s value chain (shareholders, employees, investors, customers and suppliers), considered as partners in the development of the business, as well as external stakeholders
(Administrations, Governments, media, analysts, business sector, unions, third sector and society in general), starting with the local communities in which the company undertakes its activities.
This relationship is dynamic since the environment changes more and more rapidly. To a large extent, Ferrovial’s business depends on its relations with the Public Administrations of the countries in which it operates. Ferrovial holds decision-making positions in organizations that promote Corporate Responsibility at a national and international level, such as Fundación SERES, Forética, Spanish Network of the Global Compact, CEO CSR Committee and the Spanish Association for Quality (AEC). In 2020, Ferrovial held the Chair of the Spanish Group of Green Growth and the Chief Executive Officer of Ferrovial became a member of the Executive Committee of the SERES Foundation.
Ferrovial is characterized by absolute political neutrality, developing its activities for both Public Administrations and private clients in the countries where it operates. The company does not make economic or in-kind contributions to political parties or electoral candidates. However, Ferrovial forms part of business or foundation representation organizations for commercial exchange between countries associated with the development of its activity or to the geographical area in which it operates. Through its presence and collaboration with these organizations, the company aspires to contribute to the progress and development of all those fields of action in which it is present. In 2020 the economic contribution to these organizations was around 0.93 million euros, which includes the Association of Construction Companies and Infrastructure Concessionaires (SEOPAN).
Ferrovial’s considerations of the principles related to the content of the report, are explained in the specific section on materiality. For more information on the AA1000, GRI and SASB standards, see page 148of GRI indicators.
MATERIAL ISSUES
Ferrovial considers relevant issues to be all those that can exert a substantial influence on the assessments and decisions of the stakeholders, affecting the ability to meet their present needs without compromising future generations.
A new materiality study was conducted in 2020 as part of Ferrovial’s biennial update of this analysis. Given the exceptional situation arising from COVID-19, some specific reports addressing this issue have also been considered.
This edition of the materiality has been carried out in order to understand the relevant issues not only at a global level, but also in the geographies considered a priority business target. Thus, although only the global materiality matrix is presented in this report, the company is aware of the most relevant issues for each country.
The analysis process was carried out in several phases:
- Identification and validation of relevant issues. By consulting various relevant sources of information (GRI, Sustainability Accountant Standard Board (SASB), World Economic Forum, media coverage, consultations with socially responsible investors, specific sector reports on COVID-19 prepared by prestigious consulting firms, etc.), the main trends and most relevant issues for the sector in which Ferrovial operates were identified. Once the initial list of issues was obtained, it was agreed with the main corporate directors and a final list of 13 issues was determined.
- Determination of internal relevance. By means of an online survey addressed to the company’s managers, both from corporate areas and business lines, they were asked to assess and prioritize the material issues identified.
- Determination of external relevance. The same survey sent to executives was sent to the main stakeholders in the main geographical areas in which Ferrovial operates.
- Prioritization. This is the result of graphically crossing internal and external relevance, represented in the materiality matrix.
According to the materiality analysis conducted, it has been determined that the most relevant issues for Ferrovial are “ Health, safety, and wellbeing of employees and contractors”, “Customer and user satisfaction” and “Innovation applied to the business”.
- Innovation applied to business
- Cybersecurity
- Customer and user satisfaction
- Social impact
- Climate change
- Resource efficiency and biodiversity
- Sustainable supply chain management
- Human Rights
- Good corporate governance
- Ethical behavior
- Career development, diversity and inclusion in the workplace
- Adaptation to the new labor scenario (digitalization, teleworking, new equality laws, working environment-COVID-19
- Health, safety and wellbeing of employees and contractors
