The main theme for the entire year will be risks and opportunities. Risks, because there are more factors causing them in an unstable external environment than in previous years. The ability to identify them early and assess their effects can save us many unpleasant surprises and excessive costs.
The unpredictability of the environment will require the use of different scenarios to assess risks. After all, no rational person would claim to be able to predict the future. We do not know exactly what combination of events will trigger the circumstances in which we will have to act. In such situations, it is best to use an analysis based on two or three scenarios.
The same scenarios will help us identify development opportunities for companies related to sustainable development. When it comes to opportunities, I see two related tasks that we should complete. Firstly, in most companies I know, opportunities are neglected and no one deals with them in a systematic way. Sustainability departments focus on identifying and assessing impacts, while risk management departments are very careful to deal with what they were set up to do, i.e., risk. And that's how it should be. Identifying development opportunities is the domain of management, R&D, marketing, and sometimes production. In many companies, people working in these organizational units have only a superficial knowledge of sustainable development. As a result, they may miss out on many fairly obvious opportunities.
The second challenge related to opportunities is our (sustainability specialists') insufficient ability to communicate about them. Mentioning that there is a potential opportunity related to decarbonization or reducing the gender pay gap is usually not very convincing, and these opportunities are therefore overlooked. But showing savings in energy costs or reducing employee turnover are concrete examples, especially if we can prove them with projected figures. An additional difficulty is usually the inability to use examples from other companies in our industry, because companies are extremely modest and sparing in their communication about opportunities.
The second major topic we should study this year is due diligence. If you don't understand it yet, I recommend starting with the theory, i.e., reading (very simple and understandable) UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Now that we have covered the theory, I suggest we move on to practical exercises. It is worth starting with identifying, assessing, and prioritizing the negative impacts we have on the environment and people through our operations. Then, let's consider how to eliminate or reduce these impacts, or prevent them from occurring in the first place. Once we have completed the tasks related to our operational activities, let's also tackle those in the extended scope, i.e., let's get started on the value chain.
Some of us prefer listening to reading. Therefore, I recommend two sources of lectures. The first is Frankly Speaking, a podcast hosted by Richard Howitt (new episodes every two weeks). And the second is Outrage + Optimism, a weekly podcast hosted by Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac, and Paul Dickinson. The former will provide you with a wealth of interesting opinions on due diligence and reporting from a mostly European, but often global perspective. The latter helps you look at sustainability from a systems thinking perspective, while inspiring you with fantastic examples of actions taken by companies and organizations around the world.
The curriculum for the coming school year will, of course, include many more subjects, such as transformation, biodiversity, and practical classes on configuring IT tools to support data monitoring. But there will be time to write and talk about that later. The most important things will be risks and opportunities, as well as due diligence 😊
P.S. (1) I would like to remind you that the day after tomorrow, September 3, 2025, the Polish Association of Listed Companies is organizing webinar on public consultations on simplified ESRS drafts. Last chance to register. If you are from a SEG member company, participation is free of charge.
P.S. (2) There is just over a week left to submit your report for the competition. Sustainability Reports organized for 19 years by the Responsible Business Forum. The deadline is September 9, 2025. If you have spent several months creating your first (or subsequent) report in accordance with ESRS or GRI standards, it is worth taking a moment to enter the competition. Take a look to the page that describes in detail how to fill out the application.
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