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Introduction
Between climate issues, sustainability innovations and social challenges, CSR is more than ever at the heart of discussions. From Trump's re-election and its ecological implications, to the launch of tools to simplify sustainable reporting for SMEs, follow the news that is shaping the future of our economy.
Discover our 10 CSR news items to better understand the trends shaping a more sustainable world!
Trump re-elected, bad news for the sustainable economy
At a time when the world's most powerful economy has just re-elected a president who is a fervent defender of fossil fuel exploitation, who promises to break again with the Paris Agreements and who occasionally adopts a climate-skeptic rhetoric, public and private ecological and sustainable economy organizations are worried that this will definitively bury the 1.5°C objective.
Indeed, according to Donald Trump, the ecological advances made during Joe Biden's tenure are "harmful" to the American economy, and should be repealed. As a reminder, the United States is the world's leading oil and gas producer.
According to the specialized website CarbonBrief, Trump's policies would cause "an increase of 4 billion tons of CO2 emissions by 2030". Between 2017 and 2021, he had repealed more than 100 environmental laws stemming from the Obama presidency.
New tool to simplify sustainability reporting for SMEs
Gprnt (pronounced "greenprint") is an ESG platform set up by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). It has launched a series of useful tools to optimize the streamlining of sustainability data for SMEs, but also for larger groups and financial institutions.
This simplification initiative meets a strong demand from business players, 40% of whom say they are still unsure how to implement their sustainability reports.
A significant part of the service is free of charge, to encourage the creation of "regional synergies" in the Singaporean ecosystem. In addition, Gprnt's ambition is to expand to the rest of Asia and develop an AI system to support platform users.
When strong growth goes hand in hand with poor mental health among workers
A recent UN report highlights the link between the imperative of economic performance and the deterioration of workers' mental health. Experts go so far as to speak of an "economy of burn-out".
The poorest workers are particularly affected by this phenomenon, according to this report, which follows on from an initial publication that questioned the idea that economic growth would be an effective lever in the fight against poverty.
Today's management methods considerably increase the pressure on workers, accentuating the risk of psycho-social illness and job insecurity. This report recommends changing this work culture in favor of a better distribution of decision-making in the management chain, and greater pay equity.
INSEE focuses on social and environmental indicators
INSEE is thinking of new ways to measure the efficiency of the French economy, beyond GDP, via "expanded" indicators that take into account its social and environmental dimensions. Director General Jean-Luc Tavernier himself held a conference to explain this new approach.
The spirit of this approach is to complement, not replace, traditional indicators (such as GDP) of national economic performance.
One of the aims of these indicators is to highlight the importance of redistribution mechanisms in combating income inequality. For example, these indicators show that "more than half the population (57%) sees its standard of living rise thanks to redistribution mechanisms".
Open letter to save CSRD
180 civil society organizations and business players have sent an open letter to critics of the CSRD. In recent times, rumblings of a postponement or weakening of the sustainability reporting obligation have been heard in certain political and business circles.
Companies such as Décathlon, Ikea, Patagonia, Accor and Nestlé have stated that they "firmly support the European Green Deal", and that it is not a brake on business organizations but, on the contrary, "an essential part of the solution".
For companies that have taken these reporting obligations seriously, postponing or weakening the CSRD would be tantamount to destabilizing their long-term sustainability strategies. At the same time, it would disadvantage these players in favor of those who do not comply with the imperative to adapt their business models.
What is the regenerative economy?
Afnor (Association Française de Normalisation) has published a reference framework on the "regenerative economy", a term increasingly used by certain economic players and which therefore requires a clear definition to avoid any drift towards greenwashing.
The essential elements of the definition include the need for a business model that acts "for the integrity of living things", and that this model implies "ecological, social and economic prosperity" enabling "the continuous renewal" of energy and resources.
Thus, the 4 paradigms for thinking about the regenerative economy are :
- Neutralizing negative externalities...
- their repair or compensation...
- if not avoidance...
- to give rise to net positive externalities.
EU emissions down thanks to renewable energies
The European Union's GHG emissions will fall by 8.3% in 2023 thanks to the use of renewable energies. This is the most significant drop in decades, excluding pandemics.
By 2023, a growing share of the EU's electricity production will come from renewable energies. This trend will be strongly driven by wind and solar power. The mechanical effect of increasing the share of renewable energies in the energy mix is to reduce the share of fossil fuels. This leads to a greater reduction in emissions.
The European Commission's report notes a net reduction of 37% compared to 1990, while GDP increased by 68%. This represents an encouraging decoupling "between economic growth and emissions".
Only 22% of women in European tech
In Europe, the tech sector is symptomatic of the problems associated with gender inequality in the corporate world. While only 22% of women have found their place, this figure falls even further if we focus on "highly technical roles".
Women mainly occupy junior positions, as many leave the sector after the age of 35. What's more, while women account for 46% of marketing positions, only 17% have leadership responsibilities.
This reflects the persistence of gender-related disparities. On the one hand, within initial training, with a low representation of women in engineering schools. Secondly, in collective representations, where so-called "technical" professions are "assimilated to male professions". Lastly, sexist attitudes in male-dominated workplaces have a dissuasive effect on women's career development.
What balance for the future of teleworking?
Recent decisions by some major groups to force a return to 100% face-to-face working have sometimes generated major protests from employees. Introduced by the exceptional circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, the habit of telecommuting is now seen as a given by many employees.
Between face-to-face and distance learning, there are two opposing benefits. For employees, this is a real advantage for their work/life balance, as well as a guarantee of flexibility. On the other hand, companies emphasize the importance of informal, interpersonal interaction in stimulating employee creativity.
In other words, the future of telecommuting lies in maintaining a balance between the joint benefits of face-to-face and remote working. It's up to management to "get a better grip on this practice".
The French caught between inflation and the desire for sustainable consumption
The Max Havelaar Food Transition Barometer 2024 shows that French consumers are placing great importance on sustainable food, despite the pressure of inflation on their wallets. In particular, the protection of farmers in the agri-food industry value chain is a driving force behind this commitment.
In fact, almost 50% of those polled consider it essential to better remunerate farmers, in favor of a "rebalancing of value sharing and transparency of margins". In this respect, 7 out of 10 French people would like to see greater price transparency between retailers and farmers.
Finally, we learn that 91% of those questioned consume responsibly at least once a month.
The sources
Novethic "Donald Trump's re-election dangerously jeopardizes 1.5°C goal"
Novethic "The burn-out economy: how growth is destroying workers' mental health".
Le Monde "Insee: new tools to measure the performance of the French economy beyond GDP".
Novethic "These economic players want to save the CSRD in the face of threats of a step backwards".
Carenews "Afnor publishes a guide to defining the regenerative economy".
ESG News "EU greenhouse gas emissions fall by 8.3% in 2023 thanks to switch to renewable energies"
Youmatter "What does the low representation of women in tech say about our society?"
Le Monde "The balance between distance and face-to-face work, key to the future of telework".
RSE Magazine "Food: the French don't want to sacrifice farmers".
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