Community Investments

Our community relations processes and projects help us develop mutual trust and respect between OMV and nearby communities, thus helping us maintain our social license to operate and create win-win situations for all.

2021 Investments by Main SDGs and by Beneficiaries

Management and Due Diligence Processes

Needs Assessments

Community development investments are always aligned with identified local needs and made in consultation with local stakeholders, as well as in consideration of country priorities with regard to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We prioritize projects with a potential for generating long-term societal value and making a lasting change to beneficiaries’ lives. Community and social investments are aligned with the SDGs and the community needs identified during SIAs, or with broader societal priorities (e.g., by consulting the Social Progress Index¹ The Social Progress Index, developed by the Social Progress Imperative, is a comprehensive measure of real quality of life, independent of economic indicators across countries. More details can be found at: www.socialprogress.org).

We aim to implement our projects in partnership with locally active stakeholders or non-governmental organizations to ensure a maximum social return on our investment. We implement our community development projects as investments, therefore expecting each project to generate a return for our communities or society more broadly. These initiatives often also include knowledge transfer initiatives aimed at building the local technical capacity of potential workforce or supply chain partners.

Prioritization

Key OMV focus areas for our community and social investments are the following:

• Access to basic services
  
• Education, entrepreneurship, and employment
  
• Climate action and circular resource management
  

In addition to the priorities defined by the Group, individual countries or Group companies also identify specific priorities. Thus, for instance, within the Borealis Social Fund, the company has defined three areas of social engagement that contribute to SDGs 14, 6, 7, 4.

Corporate Volunteering

OMV Group employees are also encouraged to personally play an active part in sustainability initiatives, including by volunteering. We offer OMV employees opportunities to actively engage in encouraging responsible and sustainable behavior, and facilitate employee engagement and involvement with charitable partners. Group-wide volunteering activities in line with specific targets are part of our community and social investments. In view of the restrictions imposed by the global pandemic, volunteering by OMV employees was only possible to a limited extent in 2021. Nevertheless, some outdoor activities could be implemented with OMV volunteers as team-building measures. In 2022, corporate volunteering will also be offered to Borealis employees.

2021 Actions

Impact Snapshot: Access to Basic Services for Health, Water, and Food

In 2021, we continued to invest in infrastructure to improve access to basic services such as health care and water. The former is especially important during the current health crisis. Our investments focused especially on underserved groups or areas with limited access to basic services in the countries in which we operate. These investments in basic human needs are also in line with our commitment to respecting human rights.

COVID‑19 Support

During the pandemic, OMV supported the countries and communities where we do business by focusing on enhancing medical preparedness and ensuring the delivery of supplies. For instance, OMV Libya delivered 50,000 COVID‑19 rapid testing kits to the National Oil Corporation (NOC) in Libya. These kits were distributed to the NOC subsidiaries, including AGOCO, Zueitina, and the communities surrounding oil facilities (hospitals, isolation, and quarantine centers).

OMV conducted several activities for the benefit of local health authorities in both Gabes and Tataouine to support them with material and medical supplies during the sanitary crisis with an overall investment of USD 84,000.

Water for the World

Ensuring everyone has access to clean water and a reliable energy supply is an essential part of the world we want to live in. There is sufficient fresh water on the planet to achieve this. However, due to bad economics or poor infrastructure, the United Nations estimates that 2.2 billion people still lack access to safely managed drinking water, especially in remote rural areas. In addition, 789 million people – or 13% of the global population – are living without access to electricity and rely on wood, coal, charcoal, or animal waste for cooking and heating. Furthermore, gains in energy access are being reversed in the wake of the COVID‑19 pandemic.

Since 2007, Borealis and Borouge have provided solutions to this global challenge through “Water for the World,” a joint program to address the global water and energy shortage in rural and urban communities, with a focus on Southeast Asia and Africa. Since its launch, Water for the World has carried out numerous projects across Asia and Africa, including China, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Nepal, Morocco, Myanmar, and Pakistan, benefiting over one million people.

Additional projects contributing to SDGs 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7 can be found on the OMV website.

Impact Snapshot: Education, Entrepreneurship, Inclusion, and Employment

We develop community projects that promote self-sufficiency, job growth, and economic development in the communities impacted by our business operations. Education, entrepreneurship, and employment are key factors in socioeconomic development and positively contribute to numerous other SDGs. OMV has been involved in community and social investments focused on education, entrepreneurship, and employment for many years now. We invest in vocational training, microlending, scholarships, and supplier capacity building.

Tasharok

One key project in 2021 for the education focus area was the Tasharok project launched in Tunisia, which aims to bring positive change to Basboussa and Bouchemma, two communities in the vicinity of Nawara GTP by:

• Enhancing the city’s waste management services in collaboration with the municipality and equipping it with the needed material and equipment
• Collaborating with a local microgrant program for the benefit of Basboussa community members in order create small-scale economic activities to improve their economic situation and support their families
• Bringing people together to organize and support each other to resolve community issues through the creation of a community-based organization acting as a representative for the Basboussa neighborhood

The Tasharok project also supports the basic services focus area to a more limited extent.

COVID‑19 Support

The ongoing global COVID‑19 pandemic has presented our societies with challenges that are unprecedented in our lifetime. OMV helped mitigate the social and economic impacts of the pandemic by helping to ensure access to remote schooling. The project “CAPE 10 – House of the Future and Social Innovation” has been part of OMV’s social investment portfolio since 2018. Under the auspices of the CAPE 10 project, OMV supports the Max & Lara project for children, which aims to influence the behavior of socially disadvantaged children and young people in a positive way. Children and young people are particularly affected by the COVID‑19 measures in view of homeschooling and the lack of IT equipment.

In 2021, OMV donated laptops and EUR 25,000 to JUHU!, an association supporting disadvantaged young people. This contributes to ensuring that children and young people in need of help have access to free education and counseling services. The association’s goal is to reduce social exclusion and poverty due to educational disadvantages and to prevent students from dropping out of school. In addition, single parents are relieved by being provided support, even in family crises.

Additional projects contributing to SDGs 4, 5, 8, and 10 can be found on the OMV website.

Impact Snapshot: Climate, Energy, and Circular Resource Management

Climate and environmental changes inevitably affect communities and their livelihoods, health, and opportunities around the world. We can no longer afford to tackle the social challenges the world faces without recognizing the depth of the effects environmental changes have on people and their well-being. Climate change, sustainable energy access, and environmental protection are key priorities in our community and social development efforts. A total of 702,560 trees were planted in three countries, sequestering 81.4 kt CO₂ in Austria, Romania, and New Zealand.

Shabwa

In 2021, OMV Yemen funded a large-scale internal distribution power network in the Shabwa governorate by supplying electrical components. This involved procuring materials to support the local community’s access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all. The project benefits the neighboring communities by providing access to the power grid to nearby villages by supplying network components. Thus, OMV Yemen built a good relationship with local stakeholders with a project benefitting more than 7,400 people.

Romania Plants for Tomorrow

OMV Petrom completed spring planting as part of the “Romania Plants for Tomorrow” campaign, the largest privately funded forestation initiative in Romania. About 2,350 volunteers contributed to planting almost 600,000 seedlings on a total area of 125 hectares. The forestation activities were carried out in 41 localities in 18 counties and were supported by six non-governmental organizations recognized for their contributions to environmental protection. The forestation activities scheduled for 2021 started in March and were split into two seasons: spring and autumn. In the second year of the “Romania Plants for Tomorrow” campaign, 640,000 seedlings will be planted on an area of 129 hectares.

Project STOP – Stop Ocean Plastics

In 2017, Borealis initiated Project STOP (Stop Ocean Plastics). This program, co-founded with SYSTEMIQ, aims to achieve zero leakage of waste into the environment and to recycle more plastics. Project STOP focuses on the regions with the highest leakage rates and, with the support of industry and government partners, works hand in hand with cities to create leak-free, low-cost, and more circular waste management systems. In the process, Project STOP also creates community benefits, including jobs in waste management and a reduction in the harmful impact of mismanaged waste on public health, tourism, and fisheries.

Project STOP uses a “system enabler” approach, whereby a team of experts works with the local government, communities, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to build institutional capacity and support financial and business planning, behavior change, technical expertise, project management, and recycling valorization.

Project STOP’s initial city partnership was in Muncar, Indonesia, with two subsequent partnerships begun in the Indonesian cities of Pasuruan and Jembrana. The project’s achievements by the end of 2021 include:

• Creating 226 new full-time jobs in waste collection, sorting, organic processing, and management and administration
• Providing waste collection services to 260,000 people, for the first time in their lives; collecting 20 kt of waste (including 2,700 t of plastic)
• Developing a financially transparent process for transferring funds
• Building necessary infrastructure (five new material recovery facilities)
• Supporting the development of a Waste Management Master Plan for the Banyuwangi Regency
• Building a curriculum to train government workers, based on the lessons learned from Project STOP

Despite COVID‑19-related challenges, the implementation of Project STOP in Muncar was completed by the end of 2021 and handover to the local municipality took place in mid February 2022. Full handover will only take place once all key performance indicators have been achieved and a financially sustainable system is ensured. During 2022, the Project STOP team will remain available for support and advice, if needed.

The partnerships with the cities of Pasuruan and Jembrana are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022. When all three city partnerships are complete, Project STOP will reach 450,000 people and prevent 45 kt of waste (including 5,700 t of plastic) from leaking into the environment every year.

Additional projects contributing to SDGs 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 can be found on the OMV website.

Outlook

We will continue supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals through a number of community relations and social investment projects worldwide, working closely with communities in the vicinity of our operations. For instance, we plan to expand Project STOP to cover a wider region in Indonesia. Once this four-year expansion is finalized, Project STOP will have provided waste collection services to 2 mn people, established 1,000 new jobs, and created systems collecting 25 kt of plastic waste annually, keeping it permanently out of the environment.

In 2022, we will review our prioritization of focus areas in line with our sustainability strategy and define common Group-wide areas. We will also continue our ongoing social projects to meet the needs of people in the communities where we do business.