Excellence in sustainability isn't always visible. It comes from deep within.

• On World Environment Day, it’s an opportune time to look at how ACCIONA invests in the planet.

ACCIONA in Australia is part of a global family of businesses that proudly counts environmental performance among its great strengths.

Carbon neutrality, high rankings in Europe for sustainability, ad campaigns featuring poetic slow-motion footage of the turbines that replace open-cut coal extraction: all these things are the visible signs of a business that has staked its credibility on improving the planet’s health.

But how do we make good on those public promises here in Australia, where much of what we do is seen as the more traditional work of building the nation’s infrastructure? Our people pour concrete, they drive heavy vehicles, drill piles, install rail and complex control systems, and perform an infinite array of unique and technical roles.

But we know we’re making a difference. The difference is not always a thing you can capture. It’s not always a tagline or a slogan or a logo. The difference we make is the accumulation of a wide range of new approaches. Electrification and alternative fuel systems. Reducing emissions by up to 60% in our SMP2025. Doubling the use of recycled products and halving the waste destined for landfill. Transitioning to a hybrid fleet, which has saved 66T of CO2 since implementation. Designing systems that use energy more efficiently. 

Sometimes the difference between sustainable infrastructure and the old ways is knowing you have improved the ease of people’s lives: the functionality and sense of community that adds up to sustainability through the life of the project, not just during construction.

Every step of every project is an opportunity. How could this thing be done in a way that improves human and environmental outcomes? Has it been this way all along through lack of imagination? Could I do this better?

Here in Australia, the path from carbon neutrality to the actual regeneration of natural systems will be guided by leaders and their plans. But ultimately, it will the product of countless individual ideas and actions. 

The outcomes that really matter can be hard to see. But visibility is only one measure of success.

So be it building public transport systems, generating renewable electricity, constructing motorways or water treatment plants, we know we’re making a difference and on the right path.

#InvestInThePlanet