ESG criteria have gained relevance within the traditional financial and value creation formulas of companies, as large funds and investors add the responsible behavior of companies to their value metrics for decision-making. “Value generation indicators, such as profitability or equity, are no longer sufficient to estimate the value of companies,” says México Evalúa in the text.
In a more limited sample, which takes into account only state-owned companies with a vertical structure –such as the one that CFE has when participating in all segments of the value chain–, the Mexican electricity company occupies second place in a list of 12 companies, only surpassed by the South African-Ugandan Eskom Holdings SOC Limited, which has given a score of 67.9.
An important difference between the Mexican state-owned company and the rest of the comparable companies is that the CFE does not have any sustainability report under an ESG risk methodology.
The researchers from México Evalúa point out in their report that the lack of transparency and documents related to strategies and compliance with ESG goals has made it difficult to evaluate the company. And the same could happen to investors or credit rating agencies.
The state-owned CFE, which due to its state-owned nature is the electricity company that generates the most greenhouse gases in the country, has already taken some steps forward, but the pace of progress may not be enough. Last January, it published a document in which it outlines its first axes of a policy based on ESG criteria, has incorporated greenhouse gas reduction goals and has included in its latest business plan the mandate to promote new clean generation projects and renewable.
But unlike the other state-owned company, Pemex, the electricity company still does not have reports on ESG parameter indicators or others that allow knowing its performance in terms of its sustainability policy.
“It is obvious that although there are some efforts in favor of the environment, the CFE lacks a structured and robust sustainability policy that can face current challenges and show systematic progress, which has an impact on the corporate responsibility of the company. company”, says the organization in the text presented this Tuesday.
The promotion of a policy that has as one of the main axes the criteria of care for the environment and governance goes in the opposite direction of the path taken by the federal government to increase energy generation via fossil fuels in favor of increasing state participation. and alleviate the high prices of fuels, such as gas.