83

Risks and opportunities from climate change management Our energy and petrochemicals businesses are highly conditioned by controls over GHG emissions on both a European and international level, as well as the impact on the climate from the emissions from our exploration and production activities. The management of their impact is regulated through our Carbon Strategy. Regarding climate change, we have identified the following risks.

Water is the source of life and is es- sential to human wellbeing and the environment, besides being a basic right according to the UN. At Cepsa we use considerable amounts of wa- ter in our activities and processes and therefore we manage water responsi- bly, in line with one of the Company s five values. We seek to save on water consumption, use water efficiently, maximise reuse, minimise wastewater resulting from our operations and, in parallel, improving wastewater quality, as we state in our water posi- tioning and strategy.

With regard to discharges from the industrial activity of refineries and petrochemical plants, all effluents from production processes converge in wastewater treatment plants to be subjected to complex physical, chemi-

cal and biological treatments, to en- sure not only strict compliance with the quality parameters required by exis- ting authorisations, but also the highest possible quality in water discharges.

The tables below reflect the main wa- ter figures in the last three years.

The increase in water consumption in Exploration and Production reflects the increase in activities in this area, which in turn has led to a rise in the volume of wastewater.

Wastewater quality has greatly im- proved, since the first analyses and controls, more than a decade ago. However, the variation in the crude oil basket, among other factors, has in- creased suspended solids in Refining for the past three years.

WATER8

(8) The data reported in this section include information from the Guadarranque plant and 5 months for the Montreal plant.

For more information about risks and opportunities arising from climate change management, click here.

ANNUAL AND CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY REPORT 2015