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By Simon Pitsillides
Sustainability focuses on meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the next generations to meet their own needs in the future.
As we transition to a green economy, businesses around the world are finding ways of being profitable and, at the same time, contributing to sustainability development.
Most importantly, businesses are also benefitting from the transition to a green economy, by adapting their products and services.
There are two critical questions a company or organisation should be asking:
How will you benefit from the transition to the green economy (do you have an action plan)?
Are your competitors better prepared, gaining a competitive advantage?
There are many challenges a business or organisation has to take into account.
For example, competitors will gain a competitive advantage if they are better prepared or are preparing for:
• Changes and stricter regulations regarding emissions, adjusting their products and services accordingly;
• Changes in buying patterns and investment decisions taken by newer generations, which are overwhelmingly pro-sustainability;
• Stricter stock exchange rules (World Federation of Exchanges WFE fully aligned with GRI standards);
• The EU Directive: Large companies must report non-financial information;
• Investors who want to see that a company is well-prepared for the foreseeable future;
• Ever growing supply chain pressure.
Companies are choosing to do business with corporations that can provide sustainability-related information and data and can demonstrate that they are aware of environmental, economic and societal risks, taking continuous action.
These companies are looking for long-term, sustainable relationships.
The solution:
The FBRH GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) standards-certified and IEMA (Institute for Environmental Management and Assessment) approved course is the first step in taking a structured, all-round, methodical approach to keeping a business or organisation competitive and sustainable in the foreseeable future, as well as maintaining and increasing its value.
The course is the first step to take in order to future-proof your business.
This 2-day course teaches participants how to take solid, focused sustainability action ASAP, by preparing a GRI Standards Sustainability Report on corporate social responsibility (CSR), environmental social and governance (ESG) and sustainable development goals (SDG).
The report will include:
1. Identifying the most important impacts and risks to a business (economy, environment, society);
2. Employing the best ways to proceed with stakeholder engagement. Stakeholders are the entities or people you are affecting with your operations and who may, in turn, hold you back or stop you from reaching your objectives;
3. Learning how to take meaningful action;
4. Assessing and benchmarking against companies in your sector. Identifying the sustainability trends in your sector and helping you understand how or if competitors are gaining a competitive advantage by being better prepared;
5. Creating an action plan.
Why FBRH Consultants?
FBRH Consultants, a UK Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) certified and an Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) training partner, can help with sustainability reports and help entities internalise the process by helping them progressively gain the know-how to prepare as much of the sustainability report is possible in-house, and thereby minimise costs.
Established in 2001, FBRH has provided services and training to major multinationals. Since 2008 FBRH has project managed the preparation and communication of over 40 CSR reports for major corporations based on the GRI standards.
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an international independent standards body that helps businesses, governments and other organisations understand and communicate their impacts on issues such as climate change, human rights and corruption.
We ensure that participants on the course gain maximum value, before the course with pre course preparation, during the course with hands-on exercises, assessments and benchmarking (What makes a first-class report? How do you take solid, focused sustainability action ASAP?), and after the course with the FBRH mock exam, which has been carefully designed to help participants reinforce the knowledge they have gained through the training.
In addition to GRI and IEMA certified training, FBRH also offers comprehensive sustainability reporting services, which include:
1. Helping you form an effective Sustainable Development Team that can make all the difference in your efforts to protect the environment and maintain and increase the value of your company;
2. Consultation in developing a sustainability decision-making structure;
3. Facilitating a materiality workshop in order to identify key business risks and opportunities, and benchmark against companies in your sector;
4. Facilitating stakeholder engagement on how to best engage with your stakeholders and gain valuable insights;
5. Building processes needed to gather data;
6. Building benchmarking procedures on how your report will be continuously evolving /improving and ranked among the top reports in your sector;
7. Report Write-Up: delivering a report that is well written in easy to understand English, to address a global audience
Simon Pitsillides is Managing Director of UK-based FBRH Consultants, a Chartered Marketer and a Fellow of the UK Chartered Institute of Marketing, a Global Reporting Initiative Nominated Trainer and IEMA Approved Trainer
www.fbrh.co.uk
