"No Step Back in Sustainability": Applus+ Analyses Four Key Areas to Advance Towards a Sustainable Future

María Victoria Escuredo, Director of Consultancy, Environment and Occupational Risk Prevention in Spain for Applus+, was a key participant in the event, along with Antonio Calvo, Director of Sustainability at Redeia; Beatriz Arribas, Sustainability Senior Manager at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Iberia; and Ángel Fraile, Head of Sustainability Planning and Stakeholder Management at Endesa. They all agreed that we cannot take a single step backwards in sustainability because its worth "will be equated with financial value."

María Victoria explained the four major variables affecting sustainability and companies’ approach to it:

1.  Regulation: Led by the European Union at the global level to create a more sustainable economy based on transparency and stakeholder dialogue, with new reporting models and regulations, including the CSRD Directive and the Environmental Taxonomy, which are shaping a greener and more transparent economy and cover the entire business value chain.
2. Nature: Biodiversity plays a vital role, and companies must assess and mitigate their impact on ecosystems and fight climate change in line with the commitments of the Kunming-Montreal Agreement and Spain's Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR). Applus+ supports this goal by assessing and disclosing the impacts of its operations and providing crucial environmental planning and management services.
3. Innovation: The development of emerging technologies related to data management, solutions for the energy transition and consumption efficiency, forecasting models... Applus+ has been a pioneer with artificial intelligence tools such as AmbiensQ, a sustainability technology platform that allows for real-time capture, visualisation and processing of our clients' data generated by a smart grid, including the calculation of their carbon footprint, their contribution to the SDGs, their sustainability reports and the prediction of their emissions, among other variables.
4. Talent Management: The need for professionals specialised in sustainability that enable companies to adapt to a changing and increasingly demanding landscape. Sustainability has generated new professional profiles, talent shortages and the need for knowledge updating. At Applus+, we have strengthened our sustainable services with the acquisition of several companies specialised in renewables, environmental monitoring, HVAC optimisation and energy efficiency, and we offer constant training and professional development opportunities to our employees.

The speakers emphasised the need to demand more from Administrations, although they recognised that SMEs will find it difficult to adapt to the current regulatory requirements on sustainability, something that does not affect large companies as much because they are ahead of the legislation. There is still much to be done to combat greenwashing; everyone agreed on the need to communicate their progress effectively, constantly, transparently and truthfully. "We need to enhance the value of what we do beyond legal compliance. Large companies have the responsibility to be at the forefront, but also to tell the story well," stated the representative from Redeia.

For over 40 years, Applus+ has been providing services that drive sustainability and enable companies to define their strategy, assess their impact and improve their management to contribute to the SDGs and respond to current trends in the three facets of sustainable development: environmental, social and governance.

We adapt to changing regulatory and market dynamics, ensuring continued positive impact and lasting value creation. We are an essential part of what speakers consider crucial for a more sustainable future: "We need to build partnerships across the value chain. Only by collaborating can we move forward and survive."

Discover more about our sustainability services at: https://www.applus.com/global/en/what-we-do/solutions/environment-management-services