Recognized sustainable performance

Rexel bases its sustainable development goals on internationally-recognized scientific criteria. Its social and environmental performance is assessed by independent observers and established through multiple extra-financial indicators. In its goals, as in its results, the Group’s great environmental and social ambition is well-known.

A STRONG ENVIRONMENTAL AMBITION

Rexel has officially committed to help limit global warming to well below +2° from now to 2100. The Group is reducing its greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) across its value chain, whether that means its own direct emissions or those of the stakeholders comprising its ecosystem. A total of 600 million tons of CO₂ are at stake every year in the distribution segment of the electrical supplies market.
For more than 15 years, Rexel has monitored the environmental impact of its activities through a demanding sustainable development strategy. In 2010, the Group set its first goals, which it quickly exceeded. In 2018, Rexel set higher goals by publishing new greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, which were validated in 2019 by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a guarantee of international scientific recognition.

A roadmap and two key indicators

During a Capital Markets Day on June 16, 2022, Rexel upgraded its two key indicators for 2030, compared to 2016:

*The large majority of the Group’s total CO₂ emissions are external, i.e., not related to the Group’s direct activity. At the core of these indirect emissions, 93% originate from the use by customers and end-users of products distributed by Rexel.

The goals of the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi)

In 2018, Rexel chose to base its goals on indisputable scientific criteria. This is why the Group committed to an approach validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

REXEL’S EXTRA-FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

Through its social and environmental reporting, Rexel annually assesses its GHG emissions across its value chain. These measurements enable an initial internal determination of progress and verification of adherence to the roadmap in terms of social and environmental performance as well as in terms of governance. This information is double-checked by an independent third-party assessment organization whose role is to rule on the presence of all data required by regulation as well as on the honesty of the data.
Independent organizations assess these same data to provide the Group with extra-financial indicators. These objective marks of recognition enable Rexel to affirm its social and environmental credibility internationally and with respect to all of its stakeholders.

For several years, Rexel’s extra-financial performance has been recognized. The Group is currently featured on the following Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) indexes:

SRI indexes

Other international initiatives

How does environmental reporting work? Every year, Rexel carries out an environmental report of the three scopes of its carbon emissions as part of the Declaration of Extra-Financial Performance (or “DPEF” in French). The reporting reference document created by the Group is based on several recognized international standards, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Version 4 and the GHG Protocol (Greenhouse Gas Protocol). A total of 250 environmental indicators are evaluated thanks to a network of 75 environmental correspondents in charge of collecting, processing, and analyzing the data. All the results are then verified and validated by an independent third-party assessment organization as the law stipulates. Recently, the Group decided to go a step further, adopting quarterly reporting in its six principal countries.

THE VIRTUOUS EFFECT OF SUSTAINABILITY-LINKED BONDS

In 2021, Rexel successfully placed two Sustainability-Linked Bonds (SLB) for a total amount of one billion euros, i.e., the totality of its outstanding bonds. These Sustainability-Linked Bonds are powerful accelerators of engagement and action – and for good reason, since they include penalties if, in 2023 then in 2026, the Group does not reach intermediate CO₂ emissions goals aligned with the 2030 trajectory. With these SLBs, Rexel is raising its standards and expectations even higher, with its sustainable development imperatives now joining its financial commitments in the medium-term.

Discover here all of the Rexel Group’s environmental indicators.

Discover here all of the Rexel Group’s social indicators.

Equal pay index for men and woman

As a company with more than 50 employees, and in compliance with the French law “Professional future and gender pay equality” of September 5, 2018, Rexel must publish an index on the pay gap between men and women.
This index is assessed according to the 4-5 following criteria:
• Male-female pay gap,
• Male-female individual raise gap,
• Male-female promotion gap (only in companies with over 250 employees),
• Number of employees given a raise upon their return from maternity leave,
• Parity between the 10 highest wages.

The minimum score required is 75 out of 100 points. If it is not reached, corrective measures must be implemented. The 2022 scores reveal that Rexel’s commitment in the areas of diversity and inclusion, in accordance with the professional equality agreements ratified with the social partners in 2019 for Rexel Développement SAS and Rexel France, is paying off. These results are a milestone towards the achievement of equal pay, the Group’s ultimate objective.

Discover here the French subsidiaries of the Rexel Group’s equal pay index for women and men.