Detail (en)

Energy is an essential commodity, vital for human development and wellbeing. Energy efficiency is at the very heart of the EDF Group's drive to develop sustainable methods of reconciling quality of life, development opportunities, and climate protection efforts.

There are more than one billion people on Earth that do not have access to electricity. An alarming observation that led EDF and the EDF Foundation to create a structure dedicated to international social responsibility : EDF HELP. EDF HELP works in areas of developing countries that do not have a local electricity company. It supports projects to provide access to essential commodities through energy: healthcare (dispensaries), water (pumps, wells), safety (public lighting in slums and shantytowns), education (schools), and economic development (community cooperatives). It gives EDF employees the chance to volunteer and get involved in international social responsibility initiatives by taking part in development projects or doing their bit in humanitarian emergencies (reconstruction), making the Group's skills widely available.

This means that we support initiatives – both in France and internationally – which focus on energy as a key factor in development aid and poverty reduction.

• Electriciens sans frontières an NGO created in 1986 by EDF employees working on a voluntary basis, ESF operates internationally to promote access to energy and to support local development policies. In 20 years, more than a million people in 35 countries have benefited from its services. ESF is also involved in humanitarian aid in crisis-hit regions.
  
• Droit à l’énergie "SOS Futur": an NGO committed to promoting national and international recognition of the universal right to energy as a basic human necessity. It also acts to tackle extreme energy poverty worldwide.