It is All about the People – Now and in the Future

A New Year message from Stefan Crets, Executive Director at CSR Europe

The European Union has set a clear direction for the future of Europe with the Green Deal and the NextGenerationEU programme: if we want to overcome the existential threat posed by climate change and reach the targets of the Paris Agreement, we need to transform our economies and societies and design a Europe that works for everyone.

In 2021, we have seen the debate on climate action reaching new heights with a wave of pledges made by industry leaders, financial institutions, and governments at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow. However, as highlighted by Moody’s in a recent report, there is a lack of preparedness for the coming disruptions to workforces, supply chains, communities, and consumers caused by the transition to net-zero. Furthermore, a transition that fails to account for societal implications – like for instance the current increase in the inflation rate and energy prices, together with persisting barriers to the fruition of sustainable products and services - will exacerbate inequalities within and between countries.

In Europe, the transition towards carbon neutrality by 2050 is going hand-in-hand with a renewed effort towards social inclusion, education, and employment embodied by the European Pillar of Social Rights and the Just Transition Mechanism. More recently, in a proposal for a Council Recommendation, the European Commission remarked that “a fair transition towards climate neutrality in the Union by 2050 will ensure that no one is left behind, in particular people and households most dependent on fossil fuels and most affected by the green transition, and notably those already in vulnerable situations”. This very ambitious but also rather voluntary agenda requires action from all stakeholders to succeed, in an approach based on dialogue and collaborative effort that is uniquely European and will contribute to strengthening the Old Continent’s position and transformation vis-à-vis the rest of the world.

If Europe wants to lead the transition in line with its European values and welfare state experience, its leading companies must be ready to tackle within Europe the challenges of employability, social inclusion, and care for their employees, customers, communities, and stakeholders:

How can we prepare for the climate and green transition and shape it in an inclusive way?
What will define corporate leadership when people’s well-being, empowerment, engagement, employability is the key challenge?
How can we leverage the unique European multistakeholder approach of dialogue into a joined action, in which each stakeholder engages practically on a common vision and direction for Europe?

The scale and magnitude of the effort ahead, therefore, requires not only individual commitments to net-zero but also collaborative action from all stakeholders. Over the past years, CSR Europe has been emphasizing the need for leadership through collaboration and this approach resulted in the creation of successful multi-stakeholder and cross-sector collaborative platforms, like for instance, Drive Sustainability, Responsible Trucking, and the Together 4 STEM. This is what impactful sustainability efforts are about: engaging others and understanding that individual targets and approaches alone, however ambitious and disruptive they may be, will not be enough to advance on the wider sustainability agenda.

That is why, in 2022 we will focus our efforts to support our members and partners in their transformation to contribute to the targets set in the Paris Agreement and safeguard – or better yet – improve the level of social inclusion and promote an equitable society.

Sustainability is not about compliance, nor about standards, taxonomies, reporting requirements, or due diligence and risk assessments: these are only means to an end. The standards industry, the ongoing discussions, and evolutions of normative and regulatory frameworks should be evaluated according to the impact they bring about and the possibilities they create for us to tackle together the real issues and bring about a people-centered change. An example of such an approach can be found for instance in our Reflection Paper on the European Human rights and Due Diligence Regulation.