The environment: the new condition for growth

Speakers :

• Antoine Hubert, Co-founder of Ynsect
• Julia Bijaoui, Co-founder of Frichti
• Alexis Normand, Co-founder of Greenly
• Guillaume Morelli, Euronext

Issue

• Accelerate awareness of the importance of an environmental strategy. Indicate a procedure to follow for its implementation.

Key ideas

• Environmental responsibility is not an opportunity but a necessity in a regulatory framework that is becoming stronger, especially in Europe. After losing interest in sustainable development issues, major accounts are now turning environmental issues into business drivers. Investments based on CSR criteria have almost doubled, with more than half of the funds raised in funds based on ESG criteria in 2021, 20% of bond financing and 25% of new loans.
• Environmental topics are multi-criteria and multi-thematic, which makes the question of providing concrete data to measure environmental impact quite significant, in a context where examples of greenwashing are numerous.
• Data in the environmental and CSR fields is therefore becoming as important as financial data. Investors need reliable, transparent and structured indicators supported by managers. Today, companies engaged in collecting environmental data have a real competitive and strategic advantage, especially in financial terms and from an HR point of view, in a context of changing savers' behavior towards savings integrating ESG criteria.

Points of attention or don's

• Not integrating the environmental dimension in the coming months is likely to have a significant impact on business (in 2024, CSR reports will be requested from all European companies with more than 250 employees, i.e. 52,000 companies)
• Incentivize management and employees on environmental objectives in order to spread culture at all levels. At Ynsect, an Impact team of 3 employees has a leadership, training and expertise role and is challenged by an Impact Committee made up of a shareholder representative on the board, a representative of employees drawn at random, a representative of the employees drawn at random, a young generation activist and a scientist.
• The current economic context accentuates the schizophrenia of the consumer, who favors responsible companies but is not ready to bear the resulting additional costs.

Key learnings or do's

• Encourage the harmonization and standardization of measurement tools in order to promote relevant comparisons
• Consider environmental criteria not as a constraint but as a way of aligning the business trajectory with climate challenges, as awareness is much stronger in Europe than in other regions
• Integrate the environmental dimension and its measurement into processes rather than having to transform the business model afterwards
• Consider the governance associated with environmental measurement and how to facilitate monitoring
• Accept, from a long-term perspective, that commitment involves business sacrifices and short-term obstacles. For example, Frichti had to challenge its suppliers to do without plastic packaging at a time when it remained the norm.
• Relying not only on the market but also on policy impetus, especially for green tech companies that have a longer development cycle

Julia Bijaoui: “Today environmental responsibility is not a plus, it is not an opportunity: it is a necessity on an individual basis, if we want to have an impact but also to convince all stakeholders, investors, employees and consumers more generally.”

Antoine Hubert: “Before, large groups were not interested in sustainable development. For a year and a half or two years, we see major accounts or mid-cap companies for whom environmental responsibility is becoming major. It is becoming a decision factor and a major business driver.”

Alexis Normand: ” Today, 25% of global emissions are monitored by major groups or pure players in the transition, and at the same time emissions must be halved by 2030. It is complicated if only 25% of them are followed. There is a question of accessibility and simplification of the process. In my opinion, the generalization will involve the simplification of tools”.

Guillaume Morelli: “We have gone beyond the stage of the societal effect and the stage of good conscience. Today, environmental responsibility is becoming the new normal. In a fairly short environment, I invite you all to integrate this type of thinking. Otherwise, it will have a significant impact on your business.”

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