Anticipating and adapting

The growth of large urban areas is a major phenomenon typical of the modern world.
More than half of the world's population is already living in cities and this trend will continue.
It makes the response in terms of economic efficiency of the city, social balance, sanitation, environmental challenges and ecological footprint more complex.

Urban growth

Annual urban growth rate 1990-2006

Urban growth is placing increasing pressure on limited natural resources. The requires a sustainable development strategy for cities - now one of the most robust realities of the actual implementation of sustainable development. It requires a global vision that takes into account the interactions between urban management aspects previously considered as distinct realities.

The increasing awareness of climate change is accelerating this process, because energy needs related to housing, transportation and waste disposal are major causes of the production of greenhouse gases. A significant percentage of these sectors is related to urban planning and management choices.

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Veolia Environnement is a preferred partner of leaders of large urban districts for inventing and applying sustainable solutions for the management of modern cities.

Growth prospects of urban areas

For the followings reasons :

  • more than 150 years experience of managing urban public services. As a result, we have optimized technical, social and environmental management, but more importantly we have accompanied the infrastructure construction process and helped define frameworks for the regulation of major public services (water, sanitation, waste management, public transportation, energy management);

  • a strategic vision integrating these various activities into a single business of providing services to the environment for more than 10 years now, which identify technical, contractual and commercial convergences. In particular, this approach has enabled us to anticipate the multi-dimensional aspects of climate change and evaluate carbon savings, enabling us to give appropriate solutions;

  • a worldwide experience in 68 countries across all continents, with an extremely broad range of economic, social, environmental and climatic conditions. This obliges us to continuously change our models and this adaptation, then, enriches our level of knowledge and our ability to innovate;

  • a contractual model based on long-term partnership, rooted in locality and based on a clearly defined balance of responsibilities between the private manager and the public and political authority. Consequently, it shares major characteristics with the concept of sustainable development.
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The development of the Group is based on our ability to convince our future clients of our competence in managing environmental services better than they can.

This model is based on our economic performance and our environmental expertise. But it also requires an ability to control the social transformation that accompanies outsourcing in a peaceful manner. Finally, it requires an ability to ensure that local populations accept our actions in the short and long term.

With this specific model and its four basic pillars (economic, environmental, social and societal), we have been able to naturally integrate sustainable development into the heart of our strategy. We believe that our performance in this field is an essential element of our commercial credibility, our ability to set out ourselves aside from our competitors with less expertise, and more generally in creating value.

A more urbanized world with a greater awareness of the need to control environmental damage related to urban and industrial activities is favourable to the development of our services. Quantitative needs for environmental services are increasing, and technical and organizational difficulties are strengthening the need for expertise and experience.

Degree of commitment of Veolia Environnement