ΠΕΡΙΓΡΑΦΗ

ESG has become a strategic imperative for organisations globally, with many of them committing to ambitious ESG targets that reflect priorities in their industry. The global community expects the business world to be accountable to the environment, the society and the way it operates internally, from a governance perspective. The hype around ESG creates these pressures and needs for accountability, hence becoming the driver for legislators to impose regulatory requirements in order to achieve accountability at the desired level. Therefore, this training will introduce, analyse and interpret the approach of incorporating ESG aspects in the business model and operations of an organisation. Through examples, it will assist participants in successfully defining and applying ESG regulatory expectations.

ΣΚΟΠΟΣ ΣΕΜΙΝΑΡΙΟΥ

By the end of the seminar, participants will be able to:

• Describe to other colleagues or relevant professionals what sustainability is and why it is being implemented
• List the benefits and goals of sustainability as set out by supervisory authorities (EU and global)
• Identify and classify the opportunities on how to embed ESG considerations and sustainability in the organisation
• Apply regulatory expectations relating to sustainability
• Implement initial governance actions to provide a framework of incorporating ESG considerations into an entity
• Demonstrate the ways in which sustainability can be implemented to the benefit of their organisation
• Support the benefits of sustainability for their organisation
• Encourage the implementation of sustainability in their organisation.

ΣΕ ΠΟΙΟΥΣ ΑΠΕΥΘΥΝΕΤΑΙ

The training is aimed at participants from medium to large corporate and retail companies, including shareholders/stakeholders, Board of Directors members, and senior management personnel. It is specifically designed for decision-makers responsible for strategy setting, risk management, investment, financial and non-financial reporting, and anyone seeking to enhance their knowledge of ESG issues.

ΠΕΡΙΣΣΟΤΕΡΕΣ ΠΛΗΡΟΦΟΡΙΕΣ

Agenda

Grasping the meaning of sustainability (45 min)

• What is sustainability?
• Where it all began

                    o Historical milestones

                    o Paris Agreement & UN SDGs (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals)

                    o European Union Green Deal

                            - Inc. brief touch on EU Taxonomy and Corporate sustainability reporting Directive (CSRD)

                    o Cyprus Resilience and Recovery Plan

What does sustainability mean to your business? Part 1 (1hr & 15 min)

• Catching the wave – Commencing your ESG journey (case studies)

                    o What are others doing? How did global companies commence their ESG journey?

                    o The importance of setting ESG strategic priorities

• Riding the wave – How did other evolve? (case studies of more developed ESG journeys)

                    o Implementing sustainable practices throughout the business operations

                    o Strong performance on ESG makes businesses more resilient to emerging issues and more stable

                    o Unlocking growth opportunities for businesses

What does sustainability mean to your business? Part 2 (1 hr & 30 min)

• The importance of giving back

                    o Sustainable investing opportunities and implications of ESG in the economy

• Group exercise – fictional case study

Communicating with stakeholders (1 h)

• Greenwashing & socialwashing

                    o Definitions or lack thereof

                    o Case studies

                    o Proposal for new regulation on Green Deals

• Regulatory reporting

                    o What is the essence of regulatory non-financial reporting?

                    o Types of regulatory non-financial reporting

                    o What does the future hold for regulatory non-financial reporting?

The importance of ESG for investors (1 hr)

• ESG Due Diligence
• ESG considerations in Valuations
• ESG considerations in M&A

Concluding remarks (30 min)

• Overall conclusion and synopsis of next steps
• Achievement of training objectives
• Questions and answers.