If you haven’t managed to get your ESG (Environment | Social | Governance) efforts off the ground, then help is available. John Kirwan, from the Ibec Academy, looks at the first steps required.
Ibec is now providing a consulting service geared specifically to companies like you, that need help in navigating what can prove to be a daunting journey. You are certainly not alone. Running your business is likely already consuming all of your bandwidth, and so setting aside time for something that might at first appear like an add-on regulatory requirement, might be tempting to postpone for now.
If your business has 250 employees or more; generates annual net revenues of at least €50M, or has a balance sheet asset value of at least €25M, and you have not started or developed your ESG program, then you must act swiftly to meet your CSRD obligations. There are 50,000 companies in the EU that fall into this net, many of whom have already got their ESG strategy in order since the thresholds came into effect in financial year 2024. SME’s that fall short of the thresholds have an opt-out option until financial year 2028, however, there is no better time to act than now. The EU is committed to robust enforcement of the requirements, meaning there is no time to lose in developing some momentum.
Our experts believe that your company can deliver on your obligations while ensuring ESG is not a “program”, rather a fully integrated part of your business strategy that can deliver real value and ultimately improve growth, and positively impact the bottom line.
We will get you up and running on the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive), starting with facilitating a DMA (Double Materiality Assessment) to establish where the risks to your business exist. We will then help you formulate your strategic direction to mitigate the risks while ensuring this is in alignment with your commercial and operational strategy. We can guide you through the reporting requirements and ensure you are following the EU mandatory reporting rules.
We understand that for this to work, the ESG message needs to come from the top down in organisations. Some companies “assign” the responsibility to an already busy individual with little support or experience in the area. To realise the full benefits of an effective ESG strategic fit, it requires the whole company to take ownership and ensure this becomes part of the business fabric and not an add-on that can turn into a distraction from your core commercial goals.
For further information and contact details, please look at our brochure at Ibec Consulting by clicking on ESG.
For further resources on the topic of sustainability and ESG, check out the Ibec CSRD and Climate Action Toolkits here.