Claudia Griech, E.ON: "Sustainability comes with a cost"

The impact of the ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) approach on a company's financial performance and reputation is not seen very quickly because sustainability comes at a cost, but a cost that companies like E .ON. are willing to pay it, says Claudia Griech, general manager of E.ON Energie Romania

His Majesty stated yesterday, during the Romanian ESG Summit 2023: "The impact can be seen, indeed, a little further,

but he comes at some point. From the customer's perspective, sustainability comes at a cost, because you have to be willing to make investments, whether we're talking about investments in cybersecurity or technology. But somehow, over time, these things turn out to be appreciated by customers. We are conducting a study at the level of Romania, which shows that the world is becoming increasingly concerned about sustainability and expects energy suppliers to play an active role in this direction".

Claudia Griech also said: "For the E.ON group, ESG is not something that was born recently. Since 2018, we have had the commitment of the E.ON group, through which we oblige ourselves to a responsible attitude, to look very carefully at the environment, at natural resources, at the partners we work with. In 2020, sustainability has become one of the core pillars of E.ON Global's strategy, and as an energy supplier, I think it's only a matter of responsibility to be concerned about sustainability. So it's somehow already in our DNA, we have ESG principles at the group level

as part of the decision-making, planning, reporting process. We have been publishing the sustainability report since 2019. As far as Romania is concerned, in the last two years, there has been an "awakening" in this direction. I think the pandemic period also helped us a little, or the fact that we live with the reality of the war on the border. I think that, now, humanity is much more concerned with the state of well-being, with its own health, with the health of the planet. We are starting to achieve some things".

• Bogdan Pîrvu, Evolor: "We went through a series of changes, with a very strong focus on ESG implementation"

In the last two years, since the Evolor company was taken over by ROCA Investments, we have gone through a whole series of changes, with a very strong focus on the implementation of ESG principles, said Bogdan Pîrvu, CEO of Evolor, at the Romanian ESG Summit 2023 , adding: "Last year we started an ESG strategy that we are successfully implementing. We are at the beginning, only last year we started to take steps, we have a well-structured plan that we follow and measure".

Bogdan Pîrvu emphasized that the company's financial performance is very good, also related to the fact that the company included the ESG component in its strategy. Bogdan Pîrvu specified: "Our business volume increased by 21% in 2022, compared to 2021, and in the first semester of 2023 we are 32% above the result from the same period last year, which means that our strategy, as it was built, it was good. Its impact is maximum and can be seen quickly".

• Alin Ioaneş, Rombat: "There is a wrong perception that ESG only means transforming into a much greener company"

It is extremely easy to discuss ESG, it is extremely easy to have ESG strategies, but their implementation is done with people, by the respective company's team, according to Alin Ioaneş, ROMBAT CEO. His Majesty declared at yesterday's event: "I think that, as long as the team does not resonate with what we put in this strategy, we will never have the expected result. So, I think we should somehow start the other way around, from the organizational culture, from the values we identify in the company, after which we have a plan for structuring actions in the ESG area. Many times there is a wrong perception that ESG only means turning into a much greener company, but the idea of turning it into a sustainable company also means human resources, and CSR and many other things. As a result, in this whole process, those who lead the company are responsible for giving the signal and making sure that things go in a certain direction. I believe in this example of the manager who leads by example".

Alin Ioaneş also stated that the current investments are extremely important for the performance in the coming years, and from this point of view, it is very important that in the management of a company there is support in this area.

"Sustainability is not possible without profitability, and in the times we live in, certainly not the other way around," concluded the Rombat official.

• Tulia Căşvean, Transavia: "Without flawless implementation, no strategy gives results"

In Transavia there is no sustainability department or someone engaged in sustainability, Tulia Căşvean, director of communication at Transavia, said yesterday, stating: "We have 2,400 employees in sustainability because we have already internalized the fact that without a flawless implementation, no kind of strategy does not yield results. We do things exactly the way they should, and that means we take care of people, both our employees and consumers or the communities in which we are present. We take care of the environment, animals, we take care of the way we run the company".

Tulia Căşvean recalled that, in the last two years, the company she represents paid much more attention to green energy, making "the largest investment in green energy in the food sector, in Romania", from its own funds, and at the same time it oriented quite a bit towards cybersecurity.

Tulia Căşvean emphasized that "there is no sustainability without profitability, and vice versa, and Transavia is living proof that sustainability and economic success can go hand in hand". His Highness explained: "After constantly investing somewhere between 25-30 million euros every year, at least in the last ten years, last year we recorded the best profitability of all 32 years of existence. A profitability that places us in the top of profitability at the national level of the sector, but also at the European level. And we didn't do that by raising prices, because prices are regulated by the market. We did this through discipline and through the sustainability part that we implement every day. We have a "zero loss" policy, which means that we take care of any kind of resources on the one hand, and on the other hand we have a circular ecosystem. We take care of the land, the water, we have sewage treatment plants, and in this way we have practically zero losses. Last year we had a waste recovery rate of over 99.5%. This is actually where our very good profitability comes from."

• Lucian Enaru, Schneider Electric: "An ESG component is not only appreciated by investors, but demanded by them"

Schneider Electric is one of the companies globally recognized as a champion of sustainability, Lucian Enaru, Schneider Electric Country General Manager, said yesterday, noting that the company he leads has several main directions that he assumes, embodied in 12 precise indicators , which he follows every year, both globally and locally.

Lucian Enaru explained: "For example, the use of resources. We all want to use resources as sustainably as possible. Whether we live in or use a premises, whether it's an office building, an apartment or a factory, or whether we manufacture something. This translates into a carbon footprint. And not only for our own operations, but also together with our partners, we want to measure and reduce the carbon footprint in every cycle of product use, whether it is our own product, whether it is the products of our partners or suppliers .

At the moment, there are new investments in Romania, which aim to be net-zero from the beginning, from the moment of construction or investment.

In Mr. Enaru's opinion, an ESG component is not only appreciated by investors, but is required by them, so that a company "must pay the necessary cost, and the benefits that follow are significant".