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Originally published in Southern Company's 2023 Sustainability Summary
Biodiversity and Environmental Stewardship
Southern Company’s focus on biodiversity and environmental stewardship is integral to our identity and summarized in our Biodiversity Principles. Southern Company and its subsidiaries are proud to support the communities we serve. We have a long history of stewarding our environment by protecting and conserving the land and reservoirs surrounding our facilities.
- Southern Company believes that a balanced and healthy environment is central to our commitment to provide clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy to our customers and the communities we serve.
- Given how biodiverse ecosystems underpin all life and human society, we practice conservation, enhance biodiversity and recognize our role in helping our neighbors and communities do the same.
- We understand that prudent use of natural resources is vital to meeting our customers’ needs, and we strive to protect those resources for future generations.
Spotlight: Protecting Our Waterways
Southern Company: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation 20-Year Partnership
Our partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation began more than 20 years ago with a focus on restoring and reviving the populations and habitats of southern birds through the Power of Flight program. The program has since evolved into a portfolio of efforts addressing critical conservation needs including long-term restoration of the longleaf pine ecosystem, recovery of imperiled species and community-based stewardship of forests, rivers, coastal areas and wetlands. This successful alliance has generated and accelerated measurable results and is a leading example of how public-private partnerships can effectively support ecosystems and wildlife across the United States.
Alabama Power: 25 Years of Renew our Rivers
Renew Our Rivers is a community-driven effort aimed at preserving and enhancing waterways across the Southeastern United States. Originating in 2000 as a local river cleanup organized by Alabama Power employees along the Coosa River, it has since evolved into one of the nation’s largest river cleanups. 2024 marks 25 years of Renew Our Rivers and its efforts to help protect water quality along some of Alabama’s most vital rivers, lakes and streams. Since 2000, about 131,500 Renew Our Rivers volunteers have removed 8,351 tons of trash from waterways across the Southeast, making our communities cleaner and safer for generations to come.
Georgia Power: Waters for Georgia
For over 100 years, Georgia Power has used the natural energy of falling water to generate efficient and economical energy for Georgia. Through its Waters for Georgia grant program, the Georgia Power Foundation has provided nearly $3 million in grants to water quality improvement projects that result in measurable benefits to environments and communities across the state of Georgia. The Waters for Georgia program works on focal areas in priority watersheds to provide momentum for widescale restoration and conservation efforts. In 2024, the program provided major grants in the Chattahoochee River basin in Metro Atlanta and along the Georgia coast. Additional consideration is given to projects benefitting majority Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and underserved communities.
Virginia Natural Gas: Elizabeth River Project
In 2023, VNG became the lead sponsor of the Ryan Resilience Series, established by the Ryan Resilience Lab to provide an ambitious mix of interactive programs aiming to educate the public, especially marginalized communities, on the importance of preserving the ecosystem in the Elizabeth River. As part of the revitalization, neighboring wetlands have been restored, but the progress made over decades is now jeopardized by sea level rise. The Ryan Resilience Lab, opened in 2023 as a hub for equitable engagement in environmental stewardship and sustainability, will focus on how people and urban ecosystems adapt to sea level rise.
