Posted
June 2019
In late May, our CEO Mattias Iweborg delivered a keynote address at the Annual Award Ceremony for the Estonian National Business Responsibility and Sustainability Index. The ceremony is a major event for companies in Estonia working with corporate responsibility issues. Mattias spoke about the business case for sustainability and was followed on stage by prominent speakers such as the Estonian president.
For the past six months, Enact has been partnering with the Estonian consultancy Sustinere to deliver sustainability services to the Baltic region, as well as the Nordics. And much is currently happening in the field of sustainability in Estonia. A more strategic approach to sustainability aspects is emerging among Estonian businesses even beyond the front-runners. Many companies still do not recognise the risks arising from not performing well on sustainability indices and failing to live up to consumer expectations, public pressure, regulatory, supply chain and investor requirements. Hence, there is still an opportunity to stand out in the region and improve the brand position on the market. In fact, less than 10 Estonian companies are reporting in accordance with the GRI standards and only a few have worked strategically with the SDGs and the UN Global Compact.
So far, Nordic and foreign brands operating in Estonia have been among the front-runners, along with listed and state-owned enterprises. However, Estonia also boasts good examples among local companies, SMEs and family-owned businesses, many of which are exporters or subcontractors in global supply chains with a strong incentive to meet customer requirements. Another strong driver for corporate responsibility in Estonia is employer branding and building attractive organisational cultures. Millennials are particularly interested in the topic, both as consumers and employees. Read more about our Estonian partner Sustinere here: http://sustinere.ee/en.