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This week, dive into the heart of CSR news. From the historic election of former IPCC member Claudia Sheinbaum to the presidency of Mexico, to the French legislative battle against eternal pollutants, to the challenges of CSRD for businesses and the controversies over carbon credits, each event illustrates the crucial issues of our time.
Discover how initiatives and debates are shaping a more sustainable and inclusive future, influencing policies, economies and societies across the globe.
Former IPCC member elected President of Mexico!
Former IPCC scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum is the first woman elected president of Mexico. She won with a 30% lead over her rival, carrying an ecological, social and inclusive program . She opens up the prospect of a Mexican political renewal.
She has been a member of the IPCC since 2007, and as such is an expert on climate issues. A specialist in energy issues and mitigation of the climate crisis, she has been involved in these issues for many years.
Her program includes an increase in the minimum wage and a marked expansion in access to education. In addition, she is promoting egalitarian policies aimed at ensuring women's safety through dedicated budgets.
What job do you need to manage the CSRD?
With the first reports being prepared for publication next year, the countdown is accelerating for companies involved in CSRD. The question is: which professions should be in charge? CSR managers? financial managers? communicators?
In other words: who should be in charge of the materiality of extra-financial issues? Arbitrating on this subject is already expressing a certain point of view on the company's strategic objectives.
In large companies, CSR managers have traditionally been in charge. However, CSRD involves accounting issues that bring finance departments on board. We are therefore seeing the formation of a "CSR and finance binomial". Ultimately, communicators take on the fruits of this labor.
Junk" carbon credits benefit greenwashing
The NGO Corporate Accountability has warned of a widespread practice among major international players such as Disney, Volkswagen and Air France: the purchase of carbon credits to finance "potentially worthless" projects.
In other words, the mechanism enabling companies to offset their emissions by financing responsible projects would be ineffective. Worse still, it would also serve to greenwash these groups, which also communicate on their alleged ecological actions.
"These trends are extremely worrying," says Rachel Rose Jackson, head of the NGO, referring to a device worth nearly $2 billion worldwide.
The State invites CSR into the tourism economy
CSR labels have existed in the tourism sector since the early 2000s. The Direction Générale des Entreprises (DGE) has just made them state labels. As a result, "Qualité Tourisme" and "Tourisme et Handicap" are now state-approved trademarks, and are enshrined in the French Tourism Code.
From now on, the "tourisme et handicap" label will be managed by Atout France, which intends to accentuate its importance and impact among players in the sector. The aim is to promote inclusive initiatives and tourism professionals committed to making their services accessible to all.
"Quality Tourism" has become "Destination Excellence", and has renewed its sustainable development criteria. It will require a concrete commitment to reducing the environmental impact of tourism activities.
47 venture capital funds want to clarify the notion of impact
The United For Impact movement brings together 47 so-called "impact funds", who are urging Europe to provide"regulatory adjustments" around the definition of impact. According to them, the SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation) may enable ESG performance to be measured, but it does not attest to the positive nature of a company's CSR impact.
In other words, this movement wants to put an end to the confusion that exists between accounting and sustainable approaches, which are lumped together by article 9 of the SFDR: "Article 9 is about ESG, not impact. The regulation encourages companies to report on their environmental policy, but there's nothing to say that their activity produces a positive impact, creating confusion between impact funds and ESG funds".
Unions and employers divided over the duty of vigilance
Adopted by the EU Council on May 24, the Duty of Vigilance requires companies to monitor their social and environmental impact both upstream and downstream of their value chain. It applies to companies with over 1,000 employees and worldwide sales in excess of €450 million.
Its adoption is divisive. The CFDT, for example, welcomes the more demanding European extension of the duty of vigilance, which "recognizes the essential role of trade unions in drawing up the vigilance plan". The Medef, on the other hand, is critical of a situation that would result in a "distortion of competition" harmful to European companies.
Emmanuel Daoud, a lawyer specializing in CSR litigation, describes the directive as "a guide towards the adoption of a sustainable model", putting us ahead of tomorrow's standards.
The climate crisis will be an economic crisis
A study recently published by the National Bureau of Economic concludes that the cost of inaction will be much higher than expected. According to them, a 2°C increase in global warming would lead to a 50% drop in world GDP. These lost billions will have a direct impact on people's standard of living, "equivalent to that seen at the peak of the Great Depression" in 1929.
This overturns the widespread belief that climate has no effect on economic performance. Taking into account the consequences of extreme climatic events on a global scale changes the picture, and enables a systemic projection of the effects of climate change on the global economy.
Such an inversion of the "cost-benefit ratio of the fight against climate change" will perhaps modify the strategy of the major international groups, who will see decarbonization as a long-term investment .
Impact 40/120, the sustainable economic performance index
Impact 40/120 is an index recently launched by Impact France in March 2024. Based in France, it rewards the "most promising" companies that stand out for their CSR commitments. According to Caroline Neyron, Director of Impact France, it "recognizes companies with a positive impact on the environment or society".
The underlying idea is to move the cursor on entrepreneurial performance, by measuring more than just financial valuation. The criterion used to compare companies is the "positive impact generated".
Finally, the notion of innovation is not techno-centric, since the index also values social innovation and low-tech innovation.
Senate votes to ban eternal pollutants
A new legislative step has been taken with the text of a law aimed at restricting the use of per- and polyfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS). These highly toxic and persistent chemical compounds are found in many everyday products and are widely used by industry.
The text aims to introduce a "polluter pays" tax of €100 per 100g. However, the "saucepan lobby", led by Seb, has managed to evade these obligations, which now concern almost exclusively cosmetics and textiles.
From now on, the text will have to be voted on as it stands by the National Assembly before it can be promulgated, the final stage in a political battle scheduled for September.
Sustainable finance: Enerfip passes the 500 million mark
Enerfip, the responsible and participative financing platform, has been working to promote sustainable projects since 2014. With energy transition as its main investment area, it has passed the 500 million euro mark .
To date, 50,000 people have financed 438 projects (wind, photovoltaic, hydroelectric...) through which the carbon impact of investments is "divided by 10" according to Enerfip.
In addition to energy, the initiative's projects also focus on soft mobility and solutions linked to the ecological transition. These "have helped reduce CO2 emissions by 300,000 tonnes", claims the platform.
The sources
Novethic "Claudia Sheinbaum, former IPCC scientist, and Mexico's first female president"
Novethic "CSR, finance, communication: who should drive CSRD in companies?"
Sustainable info "Major global companies buy carbon credits that are probably worthless"
Carenews "The "Qualité Tourisme" and "Tourisme et Handicap" labels become state labels"
Les Echos "European venture capital funds call for clarification of the notion of impact".
Le Monde "A European directive strengthens companies' duty of care".
Sustainable news "Impact 40/120: "It is possible to reconcile economic performance and positive impact".
Vert "Senate votes to ban PFAS in textiles and cosmetics: "now things will speed up""
Carenews "Responsible investment platform Enerfip raises more than 500 million euros".
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