EY: critical link between sustainability governance and business performance

By Deniza Cristian

Jorge Araya is to take over the position of BAT Romania General Manager and Director of the new South-Eastern Europe Area in BAT. Jorge and his Bucharestbased management team will coordinate BAT’s business in Romania and 12 other countries: Italy, Turkey, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, and Kosovo. Before moving to Romania, Jorge was Executive Vice President for Marketing at Reynolds, responsible for all US marketing functions, including consumer, trade, and digital marketing.

A new EY survey of more than 200 companies across 15 countries in Europe has identified a critical link between effective board-level sustainability governance and business performance. The study found that respondents with stronger sustainability governance controls in place were significantly more likely to expect strong revenue prospects.

Of the companies classified as sustainability governance “experts,” 76 percent report feeling optimistic about their performance, compared to just 45 percent of companies categorised as sustainability governance “beginners.”

Experts report being significantly more likely to avoid accusations of “greenwishing”—where green ambitions don’t match up to reality—by actually delivering on their stated climate ambitions. Just 13 percent of beginners report being “very satisfied” with the progress they have made to date in achieving the climate targets they have set, compared to more than half (52 percent) of “experts” reporting satisfaction with progress on their own ambitions. Nine out of ten of these companies reported they were planning to increase investments, including close to a third page 5

(29 percent) planning to “increase a lot.” The vast majority of respondents thought there was room for improvement, with just 7 percent reporting that they felt sustainability issues were fully integrated into their board’s structures and decision-making processes.

“Effective sustainability governance requires boards to be prepared for the rapidly changing challenges of the outside world, including the growing environmental and social expectations. However, competence on environmental and social matters is not enough. Board diversity in terms of knowledge, experience, interests, and perspective helps an organisation navigate in shifting weather conditions by identifying and mitigating risks and leveraging opportunities,” said Massimo Bettanin, EY Romania Climate Change and Sustainability Services Partner.

Viorel Lacatus has been appointed Country Manager at Atenor. He has a strong background on the real estate market and more than 19 years of experience in the industry. His career started at CBRE in 2004, in the office lease department, and in 2007 Viorel was named Head of the Investment Department at CBRE. Between 2008 and 2014, he was part of BNP Paribas Real Estate, as Head of the Investment Department, and in 2014 he returned to CBRE as a Director within the Property Investment division.