Environmental sustainability as a corporate pillar

Doing business sustainability means reconciling three aspects of the way of doing business: respecting the environment, valuing people and transparent business management. These three aspects are contained in the term ESG, which refers to the three dimensions of sustainability: Environmental, Social and Governance. Combining the corporate world and the world of sustainability gives rise to the concept of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), i.e. that form of voluntary responsibility of a company that stops looking merely at profit and also focuses on the environmental and social impacts generated by its activities. In this regard, many companies today have already included CSR in their corporate strategy but it has not always been so, it is in fact a relatively recent trend.

Until the 1990s, sustainability had simply an environmental and, above all, product-related meaning. In contrast today, the concept of sustainability also embraces the social sphere and above all is no longer only linked to a product or a product line, but extends over the entire organisation: from products to processes, from logistics to the choice of suppliers, and even to the relationship with customers and employees. The concept of sustainability is constantly evolving but, regardless of this, many companies today deal with the issue without being aware of it. In fact, over time, companies have started to adopt sustainability measures without labelling them as such. In order to achieve concrete results, however, it is important to give sustainability a formal structure in the company and to conduct an in-depth analysis in order to be able to account and monitor for improvement, with the support of dedicated figures such as CSR Managers.

Defining a sustainability strategy is not easy. After defining the company's vision and mission and understanding who will be the owner of the KPIs that need to be achieved, we move on to the next two steps: the materiality analysis and the impact calculation. The materiality analysis focuses on identifying the most significant issues for the company and its stakeholders. These issues may vary depending on the industry, company size and stakeholder expectations. For materiality analysis, stakeholders must be involved in the identification of topics and prioritisation. In this context, for companies obliged to draw up the sustainability report, the new standards of the EFRAG will already indicate which topics are relevant for specific sectors. Companies will therefore no longer be free not to include certain key topics in the materiality matrix.

The calculation of impacts, on the other hand, involves assessing and quantifying the environmental and social impacts generated by the company's activities. For example, one can calculate greenhouse gas emissions, the amount of waste produced, the use of water resources or impacts on employee health. The calculation of impacts helps the company understand the areas where it has the greatest negative or positive effects, allowing it to set specific and measurable targets to improve performance and reduce overall impact. After calculating impacts, reducing them as much as possible and compensating where reduction is not possible, one must move on to reporting. The phase of reporting is very delicate and it is recommended to rely on reporting standards, such as the GRI, the SASB or the new European ESRS standards.

How can businesses contribute to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda goals? What is their role in this context? What tools are available to reduce their impact? To answer these questions, and more, we launched the project Pillole dall'Oasi: la Digital Academy by 3Bee for Sustainability Professionals, realised in collaboration with Neutralia and Italian Tech Academy. A course composed of 12 modules dedicated to training on topics related to business sustainability, with the involvement of 23 experts from the world of research, innovation, business and finance. An opportunity not only for training, but to join an exclusive community to receive monthly updates on the latest news from the world of sustainability. Do you want to make your commitment to protecting the environment tangible and ensure the best training for your employees?