Cellnex improves its score in the Sustainalytics ESG Risk Rating

Climbs to the second place in the telecommunications sector

• As of May 2023, the company has obtained a rating of 11.2 points, improving the previous year’s score (the lower the score, the lower the risk) and consolidating its position in the ‘low risk’ category.
• Since 2018, the company has reduced its ESG risk by 55%, positioning itself among the leading companies globally.

Barcelona, 8 June 2023. Cellnex continues to improve its ESG risk rating in the annual evaluation by Sustainalytics, a subsidiary of Morningstar. The company has reduced its risk by 55% since 2018 (from 24.9p to 11.2p), remaining Industry Top Rated in 2023 and consolidating its position in the top 1% of companies in the telecommunications sector and top 4% worldwide in terms of sustainability.

Sustainalytics’ ESG Risk Rating evaluates the company’s exposure to sustainability risk —the lower the score, the lower the risk— based on ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) criteria, and shows the commitment to sustainability that the company has taken.

The risk rating obtained by Cellnex has gone from 14 in 2021 to 11.2 in 2022 (c.25% year-on-year improvement), which places the company in second position (1% percentile) of all companies assessed in the telecommunications sector. This score consolidates Cellnex in the ‘low risk’ category in terms of ESG for the fourth consecutive year.

Furthermore, Cellnex ranks 443th among all the companies evaluated (more than 15,000) by Sustainalytics in all sectors, confirming the solidity of its ESG actions and improving its position compared to the previous year.

Àngels Ucero, director of Sustainability at Cellnex, highlighted this new ranking, underlining “the substantial improvement that the company has achieved in the Sustainalytics ESG Risk Rating in recent years, resulting from the commitment and good work of all areas of the company in terms of sustainability”. And she added, “ESG criteria are a fundamental pillar in our corporate strategy and this is demonstrated by our fulfilling 100% of the actions planned in our Master Plan during 2022”.

The ESG Master Plan 2021-2025 covers six major strategic lines through 92 actions aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). During 2022, there was 100% progress in planning and 93% progress in implementing the actions defined. This commitment to sustainability is also endorsed by other sustainability ratings such as CDP, FTSE4Good, MSC, Bloomberd or S&P Global.

Additional recognition by Ecovadis

In addition, Ecovadis has awarded Cellnex the Platinum medal for its sustainability objectives achieved. Only 1% of all companies obtain this recognition, which is awarded to companies with a score of between 78 and 100. Cellnex obtained a score of 81 out of 100.

This evaluation reflects the quality of the sustainability management system divided into four main blocks: Environment; Labour Practices and Human Rights; Ethics; and Sustainable Purchasing. Specifically, in terms of the Environment, Cellnex obtained its best score, of 90 points out of 100.

About Cellnex Telecom 

The efficient deployment of next-generation connectivity is essential to drive technological innovation and accelerate inclusive economic growth. Cellnex is the independent wireless telecommunications and broadcasting infrastructures operator that enables operators to access Europe’s most extensive network of advanced telecommunications infrastructures on a shared-use basis, helping to reduce access barriers for new operators and to improve services in the most remote areas.

Cellnex manages a portfolio of around 135,000 sites —including forecast roll-outs up to 2030– in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Poland. Cellnex’s business is structured in four major areas: telecommunications infrastructure services; audiovisual broadcasting networks, security and emergency service networks and solutions for smart urban infrastructure and services management (Smart cities and the “Internet of Things” (IoT)).

The company is listed on the continuous market of the Spanish stock exchange and is part of the selective IBEX 35 and EuroStoxx 100 indices. It is also present in the main sustainability indexes, such as CDP, Sustainalytics, FTSE4Good and MSCI. Cellnex’s reference shareholders include TCI, Edizione, GIC, JP Morgan, CPP Investments, Blackrock, CK Hutchison, CriteriaCaixa and Norges Bank.

About Sustainalytics

Sustainalytics, a Morningstar Company, is a leading Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) research, ratings and data firm that supports investors around the world with the development and implementation of responsible investment strategies.

This publication contains information developed by Sustainalytics (www.sustainalytics.com). Such information and data are proprietary of Sustainalytics and/or its third party suppliers (Third Party Data) and are provided for informational purposes only. They do not constitute an endorsement of any product or project, nor an investment advice and are not warranted to be complete, timely, accurate or suitable for a particular purpose. Their use is subject to conditions available at https://www.sustainalytics.com/legal-disclaimers.

About Ecovadis

EcoVadis provides globally trusted corporate sustainability ratings. Companies of all sizes rely on its evidence-based assessments to monitor and improve the sustainability performance of their companies and business partners. Its scorecards, benchmarks, carbon action tools and insights lead the way to improved environmental, social and ethical practices across 200 industry categories and 175 countries.

For more information:  https://ecovadis.com/