On the 6th and 7th September, Convene ESG exhibited at Reuter’s 2023 Sustainability Reporting Europe Conference. We’d like to thank Reuters IMPACT Congress London, as well as all speakers, sponsors and attendees for participating in such an important and enlightening conference.
The conference focused on the upcoming CSRD regulations, and how organisations can be prepared to tackle it, and ‘collect, manage and disclose data fit for the CSRD’. It highlighted that many companies are not on track to comply with the CSRD, and emphasised that businesses should prepare themselves for compliance quickly, to avoid the risks of negative publicity and financial penalties.
The conference set out to help companies understand how to utilise systems, processes and frameworks to provide consistent and reliable data. It also sought to explore how sustainability can work together with finance, risk, communication, and legal teams, and how companies can meet regulatory requirements without losing focus as to why reports are necessary.
The varied talks and discussions took place on four main stages, each focusing on important aspects of ESG regulations, including a Sustainability Reporting stage, a Reuters Impact stage, an ESG Investment stage, and a Net Zero stage.
On the first day of the conference, there were several keynote events including a talk on the CSRD’s compatibility with both the GRI and ISSB from policy makers, exploring how to navigate the regulatory changes for 2023 and beyond. There were also keynotes on using business strategy with sustainability data, and on how to collect consistent, comparable and quality data.
There was a keynote talk about how finance drives sustainable business practices, and the importance of sustainability executives working with their financial counterparts. This was a repeated theme throughout the conference; the need for integration between finance and sustainability.
There were panels on identifying the gaps in your current reporting practices, as well as setting up an effective sustainability reporting program. There were also panels furthering the conversation of sustainability and finance working together, and supplying additional information about how to structure annual reports.
An interesting and important workshop on the GRI and the practical ways that companies can prepare for the CSRD and leverage GRI reporting.
Additionally there were presentations on operationalising sustainability and driving performance beyond just regulatory compliance. Presentations also looked at increasing transparency through digitable access to data, as a company's information should not just hold them accountable but also be accessible.
The day ended with a workshop focusing on the future of the industry, looking to discuss the sessions of the day as well as how companies need to be adaptable in the face of instability and possible crises.
On day two of the conference, 7th September, it started with a keynote on mapping out green investment and ensuring investment decisions are made based on consistent, comparable and quality data.
There was another important keynote about not losing sight of the ‘why’ we report, and it sought to explore how real sustainable and transformational change can be achieved.
There was a presentation discussing how to integrate and ensure compliance with impact, balancing objectives and opportunities when dealing with new regulations like the CSRD.
There was also a workshop exploring the CDP, and how to develop and disclose a credible climate transition plan.
There were panels exploring the concept of double materiality, on how to measure the ‘S’ in ESG and on the EU Taxonomy and how to better understand and interpret it. The day ended with a panel highlighting the importance of communications in optimising ESG narratives to show impact and build trust.
Both days of the conference sought to explore the implications of the introduction of the CSRD, what it means for the landscape of regulations, and how companies can best prepare and support themselves in sustainability reporting.
Convene ESG as your Reporting Solution
Convene ESG is an ESG Reporting Software that simplifies your ESG journey, ensuring the compliance, consistency, accuracy, and comparability of sustainability reporting and data.
Our end-to-end approach simplifies and automates much of the process, and will help your organisation not only generate a report, but be able set up and track your ESG goals. Our peer comparison feature also allows you to see which disclosure items your peers have reported on, as well as the best-practice recommendations for your industry.
With Convene ESG, you can collect your data for all the necessary metrics in the upcoming CSRD legislation, ensuring that you are compliant with regulations. This will allow you to further explore your company's sustainability strategies. With various global and regional frameworks also built in to Convene ESG, you will easily comply and report against any other standards without the need to repeat the reporting process.
You can learn more about how Convene ESG can help your organisation meet CSRD requirements here.
We’d again like to thank Reuters IMPACT Congress London for putting on such an informative conference, and for all attendees for participating in important conversations about the future of sustainability reporting.
