Alina Oprea • 16 May, 2023 at 3:18 PM
An ESG strategy is something that every company should have and should implement but setting and reaching the right targets can be challenging. Business leaders say that ESG is continuing to surprise them while having to plan for the unplannable. Panellists also highlighted that ”if you are doing things right, the profit will come”. We report from Romania ESG Forum 2023, an international business conference organized by Green Forum & Property Forum in Bucharest earlier this month.
The second panel discussion of Romania ESG Forum 2023 gathered representatives of some of the largest companies with activities in Romania and beyond who discussed long-term strategies and best practices regarding ESG.
“In the field of ESG, we have challenges every day and we are learning from our mistakes from yesterday to be better tomorrow. ESG is a very wide topic and we are not only focusing on the environment,” explained Sarah Maria Joițoiu, Head of Sustainability at eMAG. The company puts a lot of focus on recycling, for example with Flip, the newest part of the group, which has developed a marketplace for buying and selling refurbished phones - a great way to save carbon emissions, according to Joițoiu.
"We need to take responsibility for our actions and we need to take care of our communities, especially considering that construction is quite a heavy industry with a big environmental impact,” said Aurelia Luca, EVP of Operations for Hungary and Romania at Skanska's commercial development business unit. Skanska Group plans to be net zero by 2045, within the whole value chain.
Panellists agreed that ESG strategies require a lot of work and not only from a group of people in the management that want to do things right. To achieve goals, ESG experts have to work together with the whole company and also partners, clients, and investors to drive change.
“People are very supportive in the field of ESG, they like to share their knowledge. They sit down with you and tell you how they do it. I even have an example from the Czech Republic where one of my friends works in a bank. The ESG people from the banks are meeting once a month to share their knowledge with each other which is something very special, especially in the banking sector,” Lýdia Rosová, Group ESG Manager at Škoda Group added. “The knowledge is out there. You don't only have to rely on your people inside but also look externally.”
What's the situation like in Romania?
Ciprian Stănescu, President & CEO, of Social Innovation Solutions (SIS) thinks that the level of understanding of what ESG means is very low in Romania. “The success story that we have as a company is a promise that, together with our partners, we will support the SME sector. Nobody really knows how it looks in Romania, the data is bizarre sometimes, but we believe that we can create something that corporates and citizens need as well”, stressed Ciprian Stănescu.
“For the last year, we are very proud that we survived the energy crises. We are still a proud partner to our clients, we haven't lost any and I think we are reliable and we can continue to look forward to this energy transition path. In this very rough year, we haven't dropped our investment plan, which is the most important commitment on the ESG path”, explained Livia Stan, Public Affairs Director, E.ON Romania.