Once upon a time, business growth and sustainability used to ride on independent tracks. They were even often in conflict with each other. However, today things have changed: within the current economic system, businesses cannot afford to ignore the pressure from society at large and, consequently, avoid responsibility vis-à-vis their shareholders, customers and, more in general, stakeholders. In practice, businesses have to find new and original ways to stay in the market. This is what Enel’s CEO and Managing Director Fulvio Conti underlined, during the Group’s second Sustainability Day held on February 15, at Endesa’s headquarters in Madrid, Spain; an event attended by some of the world’s best experts in corporate responsibility, among whom Mervyn King, President of the Global Reporting Initiative, who chaired the proceedings. Madrid sent out a confirmation that is, at the same time, a warning: on one hand, sustainability linked to environment, society and governance is achieving increasingly greater importance for businesses, the market and the economy; on the other hand there can be no future without a constant and shared commitment to this issue.
A CRUCIAL FACTOR OF CHANGE
Endesa’s President Borja Prado welcomed the participants in Sustainability Day and opened the proceedings by stating that “Enel and Endesa have a common understanding on sustainability issues”, and mentioning several operating fronts in which this shared awareness manifests itself: from electric vehicles to electronic meters, from CO2 capture and storage to smart grids. In his speech, Conti went back to last year’s Sustainability Day in Rome, to then talk about the measures taken by the company to face the global economic situation and with regard to the development of the electricity sector.
According to Enel’s CEO, sustainability plays a crucial role in guiding the change. Support for ethical values, transparent behavior and respect for the individual and the environment today is an objective and duty that help promote “success for our business and the community in the broadest sense of the word.” Conti also stated that it is necessary “to understand sustainability principles during everyday work, by turning them into cornerstones of our activity”; as well as to become aware that “integration of business and sustainability is both a process and a goal, at the same time.” For energy utilities in particular, sustainability means making sure that “tomorrow’s energy is abundant, at reasonable costs and environmentally friendly.” This goal urges the businesses to “invest in the research and development of all the best solutions that are being tested today,” as well as to constantly converse with stakeholders, governments, and institutions and heal the energy divide that, to this date, makes it impossible for 1.5 billion people worldwide to use electricity in their everyday life.
THE ECONOMIST’S SURVEY
“The world wants it, society demands it. Businesses that would like to survive should work sustainably.” This is how Vânia Somavilla put it. Head of Environmental Issues and Sustainable Development of Vale, a Brazilian mining company, Somavilla was one of the more than 280 top managers polled by The Economist during the preparation of their report on “The Sustainable Future: Promoting Growth through Sustainability.”
Presented in Madrid by its editor Aviva Freudmann, the survey consists of a synopsis of sustainability at the global level. Thanks to the contribution of senior executives from all the main economic sectors in Western Europe, Asia-Pacific, and North America, the report provides an overview of the actual role played by sustainability in today’s economy.
The survey shows that the concept of sustainability is no longer just a slogan, but has acquired citizenship rights also in the context of traditional business. The global financial crisis and the consequent need for transparency from businesses and governments require that sustainability already be considered as a duty to stakeholders as well as a long-term business commitment. Most importantly, thanks to the survey, we now know that sustainability is spreading from developed to developing markets, in which as many as 45% of businesses in transitional economies intend to start publishing sustainability reports during the next two years, against 19% of businesses in developed countries.
THE CLIENTS WANT IT
The Economist Intelligence Unit points out that, while it is the clients that drive the pursuit of sustainability objectives, the main obstacles seem to come from short-term financial pressure. Then, a lot remains to be done: the widespread adoption of a reporting method that is shared at the global level represents, for example, a necessary and urgent step towards the full development of Corporate Social Responsibility. However, the data makes one hope well for the future. As Vânia Somavilla put it: “Sustainability and transparency have certainly become a part of our reality.”
