Our commitment to environmental security drives us to actively engage with schools, advocacy groups and community stakeholders to build capability and advance shared priorities.
Through these collaborative relationships, we help build more resilient and thriving communities while protecting our shared environment for future generations.
Performance Metric
Metric | Description | UN Sustainable Development Goal | 2023 North America Result | 2024 North America Target | 2024 North America Result |
Employee Volunteer Hours | Hours logged by employees volunteering on company time | TBD | New metric for 2024 | No target set | 629.5 hours |
Connecting in Communities
Our commitment to innovation and technology is a core part of our customer and sustainability strategies. We seek to apply our expertise and creativity to solve challenges for our own operations, our customers’ operations and for society.
Community Workforce Development
The water and wastewater services industry is facing an inevitable shift: more well-trained professionals are needed to join the industry and workforce as others choose to leave it or retire. Without qualified individuals to ensure state and federal standards are met for drinking water and wastewater, communities risk failing to provide an essential public health service to their residents and local businesses. We prioritize nurturing our talent to preserve essential knowledge and ensure the smooth transfer of expertise. By proactively planning for the future, we can ensure the continuity of exceptional service and improvement in our operations.
Community Outreach and Volunteerism
Our commitment to environmental security goes hand in hand with supporting vibrant, healthy communities. We build lasting relationships with our neighbors and partners based on our core values of transparency, sustainability and social responsibility. Our vision is to create an inclusive future where everyone feels respected, empowered and heard. As part of the global program Veolia Cares, each employee is allotted a paid volunteer day to volunteer for a cause that is meaningful to them and aligned with the goals, purpose, values and business priorities of Veolia. We are beginning to track performance and expect it to accelerate.
Access to Essential Services
As part of our ongoing commitment to providing affordable basic services, Veolia launched an Affordability Program for its most financially vulnerable water utility customers in New York. Under this program, qualified residential customers will be able to access bill discounts of up to 25%, with additional benefits such as boosted rebates on certain water-saving appliances. Veolia’s Affordability Program is designed to create a financial cushion for customers facing hardships that could prevent their ability to stay current on paying basic expenses. With permission from the New York State Public Service Commission (NYSPSC), Veolia extended the program across its New York utility service territory, covering more than 500,000 residents.
Government Affairs, Stakeholder Engagement and Alliances
Given that partnership and alliances are critical to achieve sustainability at scale, we engage with a broad network of stakeholders across all levels of government, industry and academia. Our stakeholder engagement programs are designed to ensure meaningful engagement with partners to advance our strategic business priorities, including the GreenUp Strategy.
Our stakeholder engagement program is led by the executive vice president of government affairs, stakeholder and purpose and is overseen directly by our regional CEO. In 2024 we created dedicated positions for local, state and federal government affairs staff as well as broader stakeholder engagement while expanding our commitment to stakeholder engagement in each business unit. This new team brings together a broad mix of skills and experiences across industry, environmental, government, legal and policy roles.
All stakeholder and alliance memberships go through a formal review process conducted by the regional leadership team to evaluate alignment with Veolia’s values, ensure active engagement and avoid conflicts of interest. Each organization is assigned an executive sponsor and an account manager to ensure that we take part actively and maintain alignment across the company. Through this structure, we provide regular updates to leaders and make strategic decisions about levels of engagement.
