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Sustainability in Business Forum & Awards

Date:09/06/2022 2:30 pm
Location: Grand Hotel Bucharest, Ronda Hall

THE DIPLOMAT – BUCHAREST organizes in June, THE SUSTAINABILITY IN BUSINESS FORUM, followed by the SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS GALA, the second edition dedicated to celebrating and acknowledging the performance of sustainable initiatives, projects and leaders in cross-sectors of Romanian economy in the past year.

The transformation landscape in terms of sustainable processes for all businesses and industry fields demands for a profound self-analysis, financial resources, implementation of digitalization and tech-based solutions. A sustainable company is the one whose purpose and actions are equally grounded in financial, environmental, and social concerns.

What is this year’s corporate VALUE PROPOSITION for SUSTAINABILITY, LEADERS’ APPROACH and ACTUAL ACTIONS to meet the targets?

Meet us in June and FIND VALUABLE INSIGHTS and ACKNOWLEDGE THE PERFORMANCE of leading experts, managers, key opinion leaders and companies in the strategic industries, ACTING in the most pressing aspects of today’s economy landscape.

AGENDA TIMELINE

  • 14:00 – 14:30 Welcome Guests & Official Opening Address
  • 14:30 – 16:30 SUSTAINABILITY FORUM – FIRST SESSION
  • 16:30 – 16:45 Coffee Break
  • 16:45 – 18:15 SUSTAINABILITY FORUM – SECOND SESSION

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS

  • LÁSZLÓ BORBÉLY, State Councilor, Department of Sustainable Development Government of Romania
  • GABRIEL IVAN, Country General Manager, CHEP Romania
  • BOGDAN BADEA, President of Board of Directors at Hidroelectrica SA
  • VALER HANCAS, Corporate Affairs & Communication Director, Kaufland Romania
  • BERNHARD GEHLERT, Senior Vice President, Commercial Director, Bosch Automotive SRL (Blaj)
  • ANDREEA NEGRU, Spokesperson, Romgaz
  • ADINA FECLIST, Sustainability Leader Schneider Electric România
  • GAETANO CASALE, Sustainability Consultant, Founder & Managing Partner INNOVA Project Consulting
  • LUCIAN PAVEL, Environmental Department Manager, Klarwin
  • CORINA DOSPINOIU, Head of CSR, Auchan Retail Romania
  • SARAH MARIA JOITOIU, Head of Sustainability eMAG
  • IULIANA TIBA, Director, Environmental Social and Positive Impact Financing, BRD
  • MARIUS POROJAN, Commercial Director, GreenAmbalaje
  • RUXANDRA VODA, Communication Director, Telekom Romania Mobile
  • MIHAELA CROITORU, Managing Partner and Sustainability Consultant, Innova Project Consulting (moderator)

FORUM TOPICS

LEADERS’ APPROACH ON MEETING THE SUSTAINABILITY TARGETS

Overview and status of current regulations and environmental-based compliances in the field of sustainability. The voice of authorities, policymakers, Governmental officials and top managers in cross-sectors, with the aim of an effective dialogue and proficient aligning and actions to international guidelines. Translating global sustainability goals into authorities’ efficient actions and transparent and clear guidelines for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) targets.

SUSTAINABLE ACTIONS IN THE SPOTLIGHT FOR BUSINESSES

In April 2021, the European Commission announced a comprehensive package of measures intended to further promote sustainability, as part of the goal of making Europe climate neutral by 2050. Part of it was the proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the aim of which would be to improve the flow of sustainability information in the corporate world. By this, the economy stakeholders such as investors, companies and general public can take informed decisions with the overall goal of meeting the sustainability targets. Also, the net-zero approaches, decarbonization and the strategies for effective climate leadership are on the top of the agenda.

FINANCING THE TRANSITION TO CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND SUSTAINABLE OUTCOMES

Sustainability is not cheap and easy to implement as a general goal. The EU regulations are stiff and not negotiable. The easy way to make use of the traditional resources may be a short-term solution but it is not viable on a long run. Transition to a more sustainable future needs financing solutions for companies and investors that support both climate, company’s KPIs and society-linked goals. For investors, tools that enable them to assess companies on their sustainability credentials are crucial to their decision-making. And for companies, getting access to the right sustainable finance solutions helps them to meet their targets.

THE RESOURCE SECURITY

The present world and global economy are highly dependent on resources extracted in emerging and developing countries, eco-innovation and cross-sector collaboration are key to reducing costs of resource- and energy-efficient technologies. Improving resource efficiency in these countries is required to achieve sustainable development and green growth. Conserving the resources became one of the main targets on the agenda of companies reflected in the programs run by companies and the solutions to answer the environment-oriented targets, UE compliance and fiscal incentives.

ACTIVE CROSS-SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS TO DELIVER INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS

By translating effective innovation solutions into sustainability outcomes, companies can create products, services, and processes that prove to be good and useful for both communities, the company itself and across industries. All the stakeholders, such as leaders, policymakers, investors, NGOs, private and state-owned companies, tech start-ups are innovators and have an active role in building a sustainable business ecosystem.

AGENDA TIMELINE

  • 18:15 – 19:00 Networking Cocktail & Gala Dinner
  • 19:00 – 20:30 AWARDS CEREMONY

JURY

  • RAMONA JURUBITA, Country Managing Partner, KPMG Romania & Moldova
  • ILINCA PANDELE, Senior Consultant, Team Leader Econet Romania, AHK Romania
  • COLIN LOVERING, Co-Founder, Lovering & Partners Business Performance Consultants, Chairman of British-Romanian Chamber of Commerce
  • MIHAELA CROITORU, Founder, INNOVA Project Consulting
  • MONICA MOVILEANU, Partner, ESG Leader, PwC Romania
  • SORIN ELISEI, Director and Leader of Sustainability Practice, Deloitte Romania
  • ALEX LAIBAR, Executive Director, Circular Economy Coalition CERC

The SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS GALA is dedicated to the performance and commitment proved to the development of sustainable initiatives, projects and leaders in business sectors across the Romanian economy in order to highlight even more the paramount importance of acting in a sustainable way no matter the industry or region.

The SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS GALA aims at pushing in a strong manner on the economic stage the need to promote the leading companies, leaders, managers and projects as FRONT-RUNNERS IN SUSTAINABILITY.

For this year’s edition, the WINNERS will be elected following ONLINE Nominations and PUBLIC ONLINE VOTING.

  • Successfully meeting the sustainability objectives/targets
  • The innovative and new approach of the project/initiative
  • The commitment and perseverance in promoting and leading sustainable projects in the company and industry
  • The scale-up potential of the initiative/project at the level of company and industry

NOMINATION PROCEDURE

  • April 15. START OF All categories nominations entries. Companies and individuals can submit their nomination choices on the online forms.
  • May 15. Deadline for nominations entries. The nominating procedure will be closed after this date and late entries will not be considered for Sustainability Awards 2022 edition.
  • May 16. All nominations entered in the competition will be submitted to Jury.
  • June 9. The WINNERS’ announcement and Awarding Ceremony.

AWARD CATEGORIES

PROJECTS – Judged by Jury Members

  • Game changer in sustainability
  • Sustainability front-runner in the industry
  • Educational project in sustainability
  • Smart sustainable concept
  • Sustainability partnership of the year
  • Social value initiative in sustainability
  • ESG investor of the year
  • Circular economy innovation of the year
  • Best sustainable finance solutions provider
  • Waste and resource management project of the year
  • Sustainable supply chain of the year
  • Technology for good award
  • Sustainability ambassador
  • Leadership in sustainability
  • Personality of the year in circular economy

PROJECTS – Judged by Online Voting

  • Brand of the year in sustainability
  • Net-zero carbon strategy of the year
  • Sustainability reporting & communications

Applicants can be nominated or self-submitted.

Winners will be selected by a panel of experts, according to the following criteria:

FOR COMPANY AWARDS

  • Sustainability strategy: Demonstration of forward-looking ESG/sustainability strategy integrated with business strategy by Integrating ESG considerations into the core corporate strategy and explain how they relate to their businesses and operations
  • The commitment and perseverance of promoting and leading sustainable projects in the company and industry
  • Corporate governance: Strong involvement and commitment from management in leading the organization to manage sustainability risks and opportunities and achieve its sustainability goals
  • Identifying and engaging key stakeholders as well as address the material ESG issues concerned by stakeholders
  • Creating value through social performance. Community contributions and development engage with local community to understand their needs and concerns with an aim to prevent and solve problems contribute (e.g., time, money and other resources) in the areas of environmental protection, employment opportunities, education, health, culture and heritage, sport and technology development & access
  • Creating quantifiable value through environmental performance (e.g: Climate Change: identify and mitigate significant climate-related issues; monitor and mitigate carbon emissions; finance environmental impact; Pollution & Waste: monitor, manage and mitigate emissions (SOx, NOx and PM), hazardous and non-hazardous waste, spills and sewage; Use of resources: promote sustainable and efficient use of energy, water and other raw materials; Natural capital: protect, conserve and enhance biodiversity & land use, ecosystems and other natural resources; Environmental opportunities: create opportunities in clean tech, green building, renewable energy)
  • Successfully meeting the sustainability objectives/targets

FOR PROJECT AWARDS

  • Setting out clearly its sustainability vision, strategy, management approach with action plans and initiatives to implement its strategy
  • Setting sustainability targets or key performance indicators (KPIs)facilitating comparative information on economic, environmental and social performance, supported by reasonable length of explanations of the underlying changes * specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound
  • Setting ambitious but realistic goals in relation to available resources.
  • The project’s goals and outcomes have been clearly documented.
  • The project/initiative serves as a good example for other institutions.
  • The innovative and new approach of the project / initiative
  • The scale-up potential of the initiative/project at the level of company and industry
  • Successfully meeting the sustainability objectives/targets

FOR INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

  • The awardees must have made, and continue to make, a unique and outstanding academic or societal contribution to sustainability in general or to a sustainability-relevant issue in particular.
  • Outstanding contribution in sustainability projects in the past 12 months. Disclosed actions taken with quantifiable results, scope of impact, targets and future plans of the initiatives
  • Demonstrated innovation & value addition
  • Testimonials