Sustainability as a key factor in the future of companies

Sustainability is a key issue in the future within the strategies of all types of companies. In 2015, a global consensus was reached on the need to meet the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to safeguard the planet and have a productive development that respects the planet, and Spanish companies are increasingly focused on this line. 

The concept of Sustainability was the focus of the start of the 4th day of the IMEX Internationalisation Week 2022 Fair that Madrid is hosting during these days in various venues. In this context, the José María Cuevas Room at the Madrid headquarters of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organisations (CEOE) served as the setting for the round table entitled 'The business commitment to Sustainability', which showed that the concept of Sustainability is vital for the future planning of any type of company. 

The event was opened by Antonio Garamendi, president of the CEOE, who was accompanied by Jaime Ussía and José Terreros, president and director of IMEX respectively. 

José Terreros and Antonio Garamendi kicked off the event by introducing the subject and thanking the attendees, especially a delegation from the Embassy of Equatorial Guinea, led by Ambassador Miguel Edjang Angue himself. 

Antonio Garamendi welcomed everyone to the home of all entrepreneurs, who "represent the business and productive fabric of Spain" and thanked the work of IMEX, which is the first and most important international business and foreign trade fair held in Spain and a very important entity in terms of business internationalisation. 

The CEOE President highlighted that internationalisation has gone from representing 22% of Spain's GDP to 34% in this latest stage of economic recovery. From 50,000 internationalised companies, the figure has risen to 150,000. The vector of large companies has served to guide the rest, as Garamendi recalled.

The CEOE President reminded that in today's global and digitalised world, globalisation and sustainability are key concepts.  

The president of the employers' association pointed out that sustainability is basic and that companies must take into account the 17 UN SDGs and manage them. Collaboration must be essential to implement the SDGs, especially the 17th: strengthening the means of implementation and revitalising the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.

Garamendi wanted to highlight Spain's role as a fundamental country, especially in cooperation with Latin America. "For us, Latin America is a major asset and Spain is also a great bridge," said the president of the employers' association. 

Antonio Garamendi also pointed out that "talent management is very important". He explained that it is difficult to achieve the agreed goals if training for digitalisation and sustainability is not promoted. "We have to manage talent in order to have people to carry out these objectives," Garamendi said. 

In this sense, he highlighted the work of IMEX as very important and offered the CEOE as a permanent partner and collaborator; he also advocated the business commitment to sustainability and national and international sustainable development. 

Then, the round table 'The business commitment to sustainability' began. Fernando Laviña-Richi, CEO of IMEX, was the moderator, with the participation of Gema de la Rosa, Director of Sustainability and Environment of AENOR, Mónica Oviedo, Head of Sustainable Development and Agenda 2030 of the Iberdrola Group, Álex Belaustegi, member of the Executive Committee of Ingeteam Corporate Development, and Lourdes Moreno, Head of Sustainable Financing of Corporate Banking at CaixaBank. 

Fernando Laviña-Richi explained that the main idea is to connect the SDGs with the reality of the management of companies and their business strategy and, alluding to the great importance of Sustainability in the future of companies, he gave way to the speakers.

Gema de la Rosa took the opportunity to indicate that AENOR helps social transformation by generating trust between institutions and society itself. The Director of Sustainability and Environment at AENOR indicated that the framework towards sustainable development helps to identify goals for action. AENOR seeks to guarantee the trust and commitment of organisations in this line, and the organisation establishes the platforms of trust and renewal of the commitment to sustainability (through certifications, development of projects or models of sustainable development and good governance).

For her part, Mónica Oviedo wanted to highlight that Iberdrola is the leading energy company in many areas and that it has a great pioneering capacity in renewable energy, a commitment that it has been developing for more than 20 years. For the company's Chairman, Ignacio Sánchez-Galán, sustainability is vital for the future of companies. 

"It is difficult for companies that do not include sustainability in their strategy to survive in the long term", said Mónica Oviedo. 192 countries unanimously approved the 17 SDGs in 2015 and now the need for the private sector to commit to these 17 SDGs is recognised, as the head of Sustainable Development and Agenda 2030 of the Iberdrola Group remarked. 

For Mónica Oviedo, the SDG compass leads to five steps to guide the private sector on this path and thus increase its contribution to sustainability and the protection of the planet. The first step is to learn about the SDGs and the 169 targets that fall under these goals. The second step is to choose which of the 17 SDGs a company can contribute to. The third step is to choose very ambitious targets to achieve these goals (in this case Iberdrola chooses the 7th goal, clean and non-polluting energy, with an ambitious challenge to reach 90 gigawatts of renewable energy, as a major commitment to the 2030 Agenda; and the 13th, on the fight against climate change), the fourth step is to integrate sustainability into the company's strategy and the fifth is to publicise the activity and disseminate what is being done to achieve the SDGs.

According to Mónica Oviedo, Iberdrola has a much lower emissions intensity than the rest of the sector, but it continues to work on radically reducing levels in the coming years, having to innovate in order to do so. 

Alliances are necessary and the collaboration of suppliers and SMEs is needed to reach the goal, as Mónica Oviedo reminded us, who also indicated that only 26 of the 169 goals contemplated in the 17 SDGs are on track, which is why the collaboration of all is needed.

Monica Oviedo also pointed out that behind the 2030 Agenda is innovation as a fundamental pillar, because if things are not going to be done differently, it will not be possible to achieve the goals set. "Without innovation we cannot reach the 169 goals," she said. 

Lourdes Moreno, Head of Sustainable Financing for Corporate Banking at CaixaBank, wanted to convey that financial institutions and CaixaBank are "fundamental pillars of the transition so that companies see us as support and accompaniment". The responsibility of financial institutions is key to accelerating a low-emissions economy. "Financial institutions are here to help and to convey that sustainability is a concept to be embraced by our companies, whatever their size, and this affects all types of companies," said Moreno. The representative of CaixaBank indicated that this is an opportunity, not an obligation, and that it is important to embrace the principle of sustainability to better position ourselves in the market in order to be better prepared to respond to the demands of the official regulator in the coming years.

"CaixaBank approaches sustainability in a strategic way," said Lourdes Moreno, who stated that they are there to accompany customers in this era, constituting a new challenge with respect to sustainability, something that affects all links in the value chains and companies of all sizes. 

"Sustainability is important for consumers, investors and large companies affect the entire value chain, while financial institutions are fellow travellers in all this change", said Lourdes Moreno. 

The head of Sustainable Financing for Corporate Banking at CaixaBank stated that Sustainability is an opportunity to position oneself in the market and that it is necessary to be prepared not for what is coming, but for what is already here. She indicated that it is not enough to cover the dossier. 

Meanwhile, Álex Belaustegi, member of the Executive Committee of Ingeteam Corporate Development, explained the work of his company, which has 4,000 employees in 23 countries. Ingeteam is an expert in electrical energy conversion and, as Belaustegi pointed out, Sustainability is in the company's "founding DNA". "We are aligned with the 17 SDGs and 169 actions", explained the Ingeteam representative. 

Belaustegi pointed out that there is a need to finance the projects and the intense endowment for the required business activity. His company is very focused on renewable energies, which accounts for around 78% of its activity.