Madrid, September 18th, 2024. – The ‘LBG España’ Group (currently formed by the following companies: Abertis, ACCIONA, AGBAR, Bankinter, BBVA, Grupo DKV, Enagás, Endesa, Ferrovial, Gestamp, Globalvia, Grupo Santander, HEINEKEN, Hijos de Rivera, Iberdrola, IKEA, Inditex, MERLIN Properties, Redeia, Samsung and Serveo) published its ‘2023 Annual Benchmarking Report‘ (available -in Spanish- by clicking here ), that analyzes the community investment of the companies belonging to the Group.
Among the most relevant data, is the increase in community investment made by these organizations. In 2023, they invested 592 million euro in community initiatives: 16.8% more than in 2022. This growth reflects the importance that, despite European legislative changes, community investment continues to have for the companies in the ‘LBG España’ Group.
The ‘LBG España’ Group follows the progress of the European CSRD Directive and its Sustainability Reporting Standards, to strengthen the ‘Community Investment’ section within the LBG/ONLBG social impact measurement framework it promotes. The next step that’s under study for this framework to evolve, is the inclusion in it of business activities: this way, homogeneous metrics could be used to measure initiatives that go beyond community investment.
Among the main milestones achieved by the initiatives carried out in favor of the community, the following predominate:
- 35,4 million direct beneficiaries
- 4.099 organizations benefited
- 111,78 million euro raised through the ‘multiplier effect’ (indicating additional resources devoted to an activity or project, raised by the company and contributed by third parties)
- 278.811 paid hours dedicated by employees to social causes, during their working day
- 80.846 hours of volunteering carried out in employees’ free time
Measuring social impact continues to be an important part of our business strategy, with the following impact results:
- 4,5 million direct beneficiaries experienced an improvement impact
- 1,4 million had an awareness-raising impact
- 0,1 million direct beneficiaries had a transformational impact
These three Sustainable Development Goals are the most relevant in terms of economic contribution rankings and alignment:
- SDG 4 – Quality education (36.2%)
- SDG 10 – Reducing inequalities (9.4%)
- SDG 3 – Decent work and economic growth (7.4%)
According to Victor Manz (Impact Director of MAS Business and Head of Coordination of the ‘LBG España’ Group): “In 2023, the ‘LBG España’ Group has grown with the incorporation of two new organizations. On the other hand, adapting to the European legislative changes represents a great challenge for Spanish companies. In the ‘LBG España’ Group, we work on aligning community investment to these legislative changes: we want to continue providing value, working on adapting the LBG/ONLBG social impact measurement framework that we promote and moving towards a closer alignment of community impact with business.”
About the ‘LBG España’ Group
The ‘LBG España’ Group was created in 2007 as an initiative of the Sustainability consulting firm MAS Business, to promote a homogeneous measurement among different companies when managing, measuring and communicating their social activities.
This community of companies committed to society and the planet is made up of leading organizations in the financial, energy, real estate, consumer, infrastructure, insurance and telecommunications sectors.
About MAS Business
MAS Business is a Sustainability consulting firm, with over 20 years of experience. It offers Impact and ESG Strategy services.
It coordinates the ‘LBG España’ Group and the ONLBG Technical Committee, promoting a common framework for measuring social activities, for which it has developed the online measurement platform masimpact.