Veolia's purpose was developed through a long process of diligent work and unprecedented collaboration throughout the Group, involving the company’s management bodies, employees, the Committee of Critical Friends (external experts), customers and citizen panels. Much more than a text, our purpose is an operational tool that guides our strategy and is steered at the highest level of the company.
Ecological transformation, that is our purpose
Ecological transformation means acting to reconcile human progress and environmental protection.
We develop and implement locally solutions to depollute our vital resources and preserve them from depletion, solutions to decarbonize our ways of living and producing and adapt them to the consequences of climate change.
All over the world, attuned to local cultures, we strive to improve the health and quality of life of communities.
At Veolia, we tackle economic, social and environmental issues as an inseparable whole to the benefit of the largest number of people.”
Veolia is one of the first French groups to define its purpose. Its text is adopted by the Board of Directors on April 18, 2019.
To implement its purpose, Veolia commits on multifaceted performance, which places the same level of attention and requirements on its economic and financial, commercial, human resources, social and environmental performance. It is aligned with the Impact 2023 strategic program.
Veolia produces a shorter version of its purpose with the aim of improving appropriation among all the Group's employees, giving greater focus to its key elements for all its stakeholders and ultimately supporting, strengthening and accelerating its deployment.
The Group commits to new multifaceted performance targets as part of its new strategic program GreenUp 2027.
A confirmed and strengthened engagement with our stakeholders
Our purpose is a compass that helps us set and maintain our long-term course. It connects us and sets us in motion.
Our purpose unites and engages our employees and, more broadly, all Veolia's stakeholders
Just like the formulation of the original purpose, creating the short version was a collaborative effort. All Group stakeholders were involved to achieve a balanced message. The short version was therefore developed with the participation of our internal stakeholders (Board members, Management, employee representatives, Purpose Officers and employees) and our external stakeholders (Critical Friends, members of the +1 stakeholder collective and a panel representing the general public).
This short version clarifies our commitment to ecological transformation. The ambition to achieve the objectives of our multifaceted performance model, which forms the foundation of all our activities
Our purpose drives and supports the transformation of our processes
The purpose underpins the Group's operations and performance and is integrated into the processes of all departments: it is also incorporated into the Group's training tools, such as the 'Ecological Transformation Fresco', a tool adapted to Veolia's business lines to help employees understand the challenges of ecological transformation, the solutions to be implemented and how they contribute to them.
Our purpose drives us towards sustainable impact
Veolia is committed to the objectives of its multifaceted performance, which places equal attention and requirements on its economic and financial, commercial, social, societal and environmental performance through 15 indicators linked to targets. These indicators are regularly verified by independent bodies. In light of all these indicators, the Group adapts and strengthens its actions in terms of resource regeneration, decarbonisation and depollution.
