Issue 643 (Week ending 18/09/2024)

Companies across Europe are now beginning to change their behaviour in order to comply with a new directive issued by the European Commission (CSRD). Prior to this, companies opted to become more sustainable for reputational reasons. Sustainability was a concept in which companies could capitalize on to increase brand value

Since January this year, CSRD came into effect across and the EY, and conducting and reporting on your company's sustainable business practices is either already underway, or coming down the tracks. This EU directive falls under three categories; Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). At the moment, it is only applicable to companies with over 250 employees or are listed on the European Stock Exchange, however this is to extend to SME's by January 2026.

The concept of ESG has 3 pillars, 17 sustainable goals (SDG's), 30 global reporting initiatives (GRI's) and 5 Macro sections governing it. For many businesses, assessing and monitoring their sustainability within these frameworks is a time consuming and costly task.

For this reason, CRIF have created Synesgy, a new free sustainable solution that will allow companies to easily assess and monitor the sustainability of their own companies, as well as the companies they do business with.

Synesgy is user friendly, removing the complexities of the principles and frameworks governing ESG. Once the questionnaire is completed, the company will be issued with an ESG score & certificate which can be downloaded and uploaded onto the company's website, or shared with prospective clients and suppliers.

Complying with this new EU directive has many benefits for companies. Your ESG score and certificate can be used to attract potential investors in the future.

It can also be used to retain employees. A company's ESG score will attract potential, qualified personnel to work for them.

Lastly, becoming sustainable will also help companies save money in the long run as they will produce lower waste in energy emissions.

Although, for a short period, complying with this new EU directive and becoming sustainable may seem complex, time consuming and expensive, it will be more beneficial in the long run.

Register today on Synesgy to get started on your sustainability journey, or call us on 01 903 2600.