External event : "Looking beyond financial performance" ecoDa conference
Global challenges like social inequality and environmental sustainability have spurred a deep reflection across the international community on how to rebuild trust in the economy. Policy-makers and business community agree on the need to re-align societal and corporate interests, thus ensuring the sharing of the costs and the benefits of the transition to a sustainable economic paradigm.
As recognized by the EU in its 2030 Sustainability strategy, as well as by the UN SDGs, one of the cornerstones for a successful transition is developing common qualitative criteria and benchmarks to ensure that economic growth is delivering societal progress. Financial performance is a necessary but not a sufficient element of success in a market economy. We need to define sustainable societal outcomes and then measure progress against them in a holistic and integrated way. These metrics should form part of the fundamental enablers to drive the much-needed change in business models, so that financial growth is not an end itself, but a means to link successful business and prosperous communities, considering whether wellbeing today is being achieved at the cost of depleting resources for tomorrow.
The most critical contribution any business makes to society is transforming ideas into products and services that solve problems and meet needs. The measure of this contribution must take into account companies’ footprint on the community and in the environment where they operate, which cannot be captured by shareholder value alone. Long-term value creation entails considering non-financial factors that can have implications for the ability for a business to operate and be successful”.
Agenda
13.00: Registration & Sandwich lunch
14.00: Welcoming speech: Jan Wesseldijk, ecoDa’s Chair
14.10: Keynote address: (tbc)
14.20: ROUNDTABLE 1: THE NOTION OF GLOBAL PERFORMANCE
Global performance is a concept which broadens the spectrum of factors taken into account in a company’s strategy. It provides business decision-makers with a framework to ensure long-term sustainability by gradually achieving synergies that maximize the gains for the company itself, the environment and society. Moderation: Maija Laurila, DG Justice, European Commission
Félix Torres, L’Institut de l’Entreprise: “The new combination of financial capital, human capital, global performance and collective raison d’être”;
Nina Lazic, Finance Watch (tbc)
Jean-Christophe Georghiou, the Assurance Policy leader for PwC in Europe: “What indicators for global performance?”
Lutgart Van den Berghe, Leader of The Corporate Governance Dialogue at ecoDa: “The board’s role in challenging more the shareholders without being put in a mediation role”
Fianna Jurdant, Senior Policy Analyst, OECD
15.45: Short break
15.55: ROUNDTABLE 2: TOMORROW’S SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS ACTS TODAY
For a successful and inclusive transition to sustainability, corporate governance and decision-making must be structured so that directors can transparently and effectively take into account the future impact of their decisions.
Moderation: Yannick Jadot, European Parliament (tbc)
Mario Abela, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), “A Global Perspective on Governance: What we know”
Karina Litvack, Non-Executive Director, Eni S.p.A., “How boards can oversee their companies’ climate transition strategy: launch of the World Economic Forum’s Climate Governance Initiative - Principles for Non-Executive Directors”
Philippe Joubert, Founder, Earth on Board / Former Deputy Managing Director of Société Générale
Anna Daroy, Interim Director General, the British Institute of Directors
Nadia Theuma, Executive Director Paragon Europe and IoD member Malta, “Importance of sustainable leadership”.
17.20: Improving governance and internal oversight – WBCSD Presentation by Mario Abela (WBCSD)
17.40: Concluding remarks: Jan Wesseldijk, ecoDa’s Chair