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From small and medium-sized businesses adapting their business models to attract young people, to major CAC40 companies criticized for their low ecological investment, to innovative initiatives such as the European Space Agency's Zero Debris Charter, find out more about the 10 news items of the week.
VSEs rely on CSR to attract young people
For small businesses, adapting to the demands of young people can sometimes become a generation clash. To win them over, they tend to emphasize their CSR commitments. Competition from large companies in the job market is pushing them to promote different values. They must now adapt their models to meet the growing quest of newcomers for meaning.
The organization of working hours is also a key issue: VSEs and SMEs seem to have to adapt to the demands of young workers for telecommuting and a better work/life balance.
"Overall, young people are forcing us to think differently about business".
Pierre-Damien Rochette, President of PME,
ODDwashing: CSR Platform highlights abuses
Plateforme RSE is a division of France Stratégie that formulates CSR recommendations. In a recent report, it focuses on the promotion of the SDGs by companies. Although they are integrated into corporate communications, the SDGs are not sufficiently structuring the business models of players in the French economy.
The report states that "barely 20%" of the goals linked to the SDGs will be achieved by 2030 at the current rate. What's more, the biggest criticism levelled at companies is that they focus their communications on their positive impact, while masking what is distracting their strategies from achieving the SDGs.
Thus, Plateforme RSE warns of a practice that "transforms the SDGs into a communication tool rather than a tool for transformation".
The CAC40 pays its shareholders more than the planet.
In the midst of the shareholder AGM season, the NGO Oxfam has compared the amount of dividends and green investments. Their findings show that CAC40 companies have paid out 4 times more to their shareholders than to the fight against the environmental crisis.
Excluding the financial sector, the CAC40 devoted €16.8 billion to green investments, representing 11% of its capital expenditure. Yet the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) recommends a 25% share of capital investment in the sustainable transition sector.
The NGO recommends the introduction of an ecological and social dividend to "devote a portion of corporate profits to the transition".
The CNC puts CSR on the silver screen
On the occasion of the Cannes Film Festival, the Centre National du Cinéma (CNC) announced the creation of a responsible production standard. The aim of the standard is to provide "instructions for use" to support the film industry in its sustainable transition.
Organized into 7 chapters, this "Afnor Spec 2308" framework proposes various strategies to gradually encourage the adoption of responsible practices during film production. Produced in partnership with the French Association for Standardization (Afnor), this framework aims to prepare industry professionals for regulatory obligations, in particular the CSRD.
Currently optional, it could in future be made a condition of access to CNC funding, as is already the case for the introduction of a carbon footprint by productions.
The health of the unemployed as important as that of workers
Against a political backdrop of unemployment insurance reform, work psychologist Dominique Lhuilier has written an article for Le Monde. His message is simple: the health of the unemployed is disregarded by employment policies, and insufficient attention is paid to their well-being. Unemployment is associated with a 60% higher mortality rate than the rest of the population.
In fact, its recommendation is "to consider unemployment as a transition in the service of occupational health". Indeed, the health of the unemployed generally begins to deteriorate in the context of work: intensification, casualization, individualization.
In other words, taking care of individuals during the return-to-work process means ensuring that they return to the job market in good health.
At VivaTech, greentech takes center stage
With 13,500 start-ups present and over 160,000 visitors, the VivaTech trade show was a real success. Many start-ups specializing in the ecological transition were on hand, benefiting from what specialists call "an alignment of the planets".
In fact, there are 2,750 greentech companies in France, and in 2023 they attracted a large number of venture capitalists: €4.3 billion. This represents growth of 26% compared with 2022, when investments totaled 3.4 billion.
This exceptional growth can be attributed to a combination of factors: strong political and regulatory commitment in France and Europe, supporting a growing market that is home to innovative players in a wide range of sectors.
Limiting pollution... even in space!
The European Space Agency (ESA) has launched a Zero Debris Charter, with the aim of eliminating man-made space debris in orbit by 2030. To date, 12 countries and ESA have signed the Charter.
There are currently more than a million pieces of space junk and debris measuring over 1 centimeter in size around the Earth. This represents a major threat to space missions. The challenge is to reduce the time spent in orbit by obsolete spacecraft, and to ensure that they do not increase the risk of collisions, which are always likely to generate more waste.
Removing space debris represents a major challenge in terms of technological innovation, and Europe is a pioneer in this field.
The French competition authority extends a helping hand to sustainable business projects
The French competition watchdog has issued a press release on the recommendations it could make in the area of sustainable development, to help companies comply with competition rules.
The approach is designed as a collaborative dynamic, where companies are invited to present their sustainable projects in advance of their implementation. The competition authority then sends them "informal recommendations". From there, companies either receive approval in principle, or are encouraged to correct or even rethink their approach.
In short, it is a tool for verifying a priori the compatibility of sustainable development projects with competition rules.
The real cost of carbon emissions would ruin major French companies
The Vérité 40 index calculates Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) and adjusts it according to the carbon emissions of major companies. In other words, it's a way of measuring a company's extra-financial efficiency in terms of carbon impact.
The result of these measures is impressive: "half of CAC40 companies would be in deficit if they had to pay their carbon bill".
Using data from the IPCC and the Paris Agreements, the Vérité 40 index calculates a carbon bill, considering a tonne of CO2 emitted at €142. This result is compared with Ebitda, giving an idea of the profitability of companies compared with the real cost of carbon emissions.
The Cour des Comptes (French Court of Auditors) wants to systematize a report on the ecological transition
The Cour des Comptes, France's highest financial court, verifies the regularity of the State's accounts. Its president, Pierre Moscovici, has announced his intention to publish an annual report on the ecological transition. The aim is to publish a report that highlights both climate and financial issues.
On this occasion, he recalls the three current priorities of the Cour de Comptes: public finances, social finances and ecological transition.
The financial court had recently urged the French government to assume its role as "strategist" and "better quantify budgetary efforts" in the area of climate change adaptation.
The sources
Les Echos "VSEs and SMEs face the growing headache of recruiting young people".
Novethic "Faced with the risk of ODDwashing, the CSR Platform formulates its recommendations"
Novethic "CAC40: dividends four times higher than green investments"
Carenews "The CNC guides film productions towards an eco-responsible transition".
Le Monde "It's time to look at unemployment as a transition to health in the workplace".
L'info Durable "Ecological transition start-ups on the offensive at VivaTech".
RSE Magazine "Space: ESA no longer wants orbital debris".
Sustainable news "Cour des Comptes to devote an annual report to the ecological transition".
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