Madrid, 14 October 2022 – Forética, WBCSD’s Global Network partner in Spain, organized the 10th edition of the “ESG Spain 2022: Corporate Sustainability Forum”, the leading business meeting on sustainability in Spain which attracted more than 1,500 attendees.
At ESG Spain 2022, more than 20 speakers highlighted the importance of accelerating business action in the field of sustainability, of raising ambition to face the current geopolitical and economic challenges and of addressing national trends from an ESG angle.
James Gomme, Director of Equity Action at WBCSD, gave a presentation on equity as a fundamental part of business strategy, sharing findings from the Business Commission to Tackle Inequality (BCTI), a global cross-sector coalition made up of more than 60 organizations and their leaders who have come together to mobilize the private sector to address the critical systemic risk of rising inequality.
The event also focused on environmental and governance trends with the intervention of international thought leaders such as Eliot Whittington, Director of the Center for Industrial Transformation and Policy of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), who presented trends in sustainable business transformation, and Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien, a member of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), who presented the latest advances in sustainability reporting.
The current context of the war in Ukraine and the importance of collaboration between companies, governments and civil society organizations was presented by Maryna Saprykina, Head of the Board of CSR Ukraine (WBCSD’s Global Network partner in Ukraine), and Marta Marañón, Deputy General Director of the NGO Fundación Ayuda en Acción.
In addition, different leading companies shared their vision and insights, including Accenture, Amazon, CaixaBank, Chiesi, ENGIE, ManpowerGroup, MAPFRE, McKinsey & Company, Mutualidad de la Abogacía, Santander and SAP.
Raúl Grijalba, President of Forética and President of ManpowerGroup in Spain, Portugal, Greece and Israel, addressed the importance of promoting ESG in Boards of Directors and senior management, also based on his experiences as the President of the Spanish Business Council for Sustainable Development, made up of Presidents and CEOs of Forética’s member companies.
In addition, Germán Granda, General Director of Forética and Secretary of the Spanish Business Council for Sustainable Development, stated: “As we highlighted in the Forética 2022 Report, sustainability has overcome the systemic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, from which it has emerged reinforced. However, 2022 has brought new sources of challenge that we have analyzed at ESG Spain which will undoubtedly impact the future development of the sustainable development agenda, such as the geopolitical crisis, the climate emergency, the increasing inequalities or loss of biodiversity, among others. From Forética we see how sustainability has passed a point of no return and it is at its best moment to face these new threats.”
His Majesty the King Felipe VI of Spain chaired the Committee of Honor for this 10th edition of the conference, made up of the President of the Government of Spain, Dr. Pedro Sánchez; the President of the Congress of Deputies Meritxell Batet; the President of the Senate Dr. Ander Gil; the President of the Economic and Social Council Dr Antón Costas; the President of the Spanish Confederation of Businesses Antonio Garamendi; the President of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce José Luis Bonet, and the Presidents and CEOs of Forética representing members companies.
WBCSD news articles and insights may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Privacy Policy. All Content must be featured with due credits.