- The 10th edition of 'ESG Spain 2022 - Corporate Sustainability Forum' addresses the importance of increasing ambition and accelerating business action to meet the challenges of sustainable development.
- International experts from the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development analyzed the consequences of the impact of the war in Ukraine on companies' sustainability agendas and the trends that will shape ESG today.
- ESG Spain 2022 - Corporate Sustainability Forum' has established itself as the benchmark business meeting on sustainability (environmental, social and good governance) with more than 20 high-level speakers and 1,500 attendees.
ESG Spain 2022: Corporate Sustainability Forum', organized by Forética, held its 10th edition today, consolidating its position as the benchmark business meeting on sustainability (environmental, social and good governance) in Spain, with more than 1,500 attendees. In this forum, more than 20 speakers have highlighted the importance of accelerating business action in sustainability, from the highest ambition that allows us to respond to the important challenges we face in the current geopolitical and economic context, addressing key national and international trends from the ESG angle.
The event was attended by international opinion leaders, distinguished for their contribution to corporate sustainability, such as Eliot Whittington, Director of the Center for Industrial Transformation and Policy at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, who analyzed the main trends in sustainable business transformation with a focus on public-private collaboration at a global level, and Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien, member of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), who addressed the latest advances in sustainability reporting on the road to the homologation of a single global standard.
The current context of geopolitical crisis caused by the conflict in Ukraine and the importance of collaboration between companies, governments and civil society organizations to face reconstruction has been analyzed by Maryna Saprykina, Head of the Board of CSR Ukraine, and Marta Marañón, Deputy Director General of the Ayuda en Acción Foundation.
For his part, Raúl Grijalba, Chairman of Forética and President of ManpowerGroup in Spain, Portugal, Greece and Israel, addressed the importance of strengthening the strategic vision of ESG on Boards of Directors and in senior management, as Chairman of the Spanish Business Council for Sustainable Development. Spanish Business Council for Sustainable Developmentcomposed of Presidents and CEOs of Forética's sponsoring partner companies.
For his part, Germán Granda, CEO of Forética and Secretary of the Spanish Business Council for Sustainable Development, states: "As we highlight in the Forética Report 2022, sustainability has overcome the systemic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, from which it has emerged strengthened. However, 2022 has brought new sources of concern that we have analyzed at ESG Spain and that will undoubtedly have an impact on the future development of the sustainable development agenda, such as the geopolitical crisis, the climate emergency, the increase in inequalities and the loss of biodiversity, among others. At Forética we see how sustainability has passed a point of no return and is at its best moment to face these new threats".
Business transformation from an ESG perspective
ESG trends from the business angle in terms of governance were introduced by Jaime Silos, Director of Corporate Development at Forética. An intervention in which senior representatives of companies have addressed the importance of integrating the new sustainable governance in the strategy of companies as a factor of competitiveness, with the participation of the General Director of Chiesi Spain, Giuseppe Chiericatti; the CEO of ENGIE, Loreto Ordóñez; and the President of Mutualidad de la Abogacía, Enrique Sanz Fernández-Lomana.
In environmental matters, the promotion of business action in this area was addressed by the Capitals Coalition's CEO, Mark Gough, who emphasized the role of companies in managing risks related to natural capital. Accelerating action in environmental matters is also something that companies are working on with specific actions to carry it out. This was highlighted by Alfonso Serrano, EU Wireless Director at Amazon; Lara de Mesa, Global Director of Responsible Banking at Banco Santander; Joseba Eceiza, Partner and leader of the McKinsey sustainability practice; and Cristina Ricaurte, Director of Solutions, Innovation and Sustainability at SAP; together with Ana Herrero, Project Director at Forética.
Social leverage as a fundamental part of business strategy was analyzed by James Gomme, Director of Equity Action at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), who explained the main keys to the work of the Business Commission to Tackle Inequality (BCTI) under his leadership, a global cross-sector coalition of more than 60 organizations and their leaders who have come together to mobilize the private sector to address the critical systemic risk of growing inequality. James Gomme shared the stage with Ana Millán, Director of Responsible Business at Accenture Iberia; Severiano Solana, Director of Strategy and Sustainability Monitoring at CaixaBank; Montse Moliner, Director of Sustainability at ManpowerGroup; and Mónica Zuleta, Corporate Director of Sustainability at MAPFRE; along with Beatriz Laso, Head of the Social Impact Cluster and Head of Relations with the Third Sector at Forética.
The meeting was also attended by Antón Costas, President of the Economic and Social Council, Antonio Garamendi, President of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) and José Luis Bonet, President of theSpanish Chamber of Commerce.
In this tenth edition, the forum took the format of a live television program from the sets of Atresmedia, broadcast through a digital platform via streaming, and hosted by Mónica Carrillo, news anchor at Antena 3 Televisión. The meeting was followed by more than 1,500 people. The strategic approach to sustainability from the perspective of Atresmedia was addressed by its CEO, Javier Bardají.
His Majesty King Felipe VI presides over the Honorary Honorary Committee of this 10th edition, made up of the President of the Spanish Government, Mr. Pedro Sánchez; the President of the Congress of Deputies, Ms. Meritxell Batet; the President of the Senate, Mr. Ander Gil; the President of the Economic and Social Council, Mr. Antón Costas; the President of the CEOE, Mr. Antonio Garamendi; the President of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, Mr. José Luis Bonet, and the Presidents and CEOs of Forética's sponsoring partner companies.
More information about the event at: http://foretica.org/esgspain/
Program and speakers: https://foretica.org//esgspain/programa-agenda-2022/
