In a new study, our colleagues at the Rome Business School, in collaboration with other experts, investigate a prescient topic: sustainability and corporate social responsibility.
Though the focus is on Europe, such salient issues are also a top priority for Cyprus. These findings are analysed in more detail further below. Based on the study, it appears that, on a global scale, we are witnessing an increase in regulation and, in general, a strong expansion in compliance, corporate responsibility, and Environmental, Social and Governance ESG i. In fact, Deloitte estimates that ESG services will grow to trillion in with a cumulative annual growth rate of Further, by putting human rights and ecological transition at the centre, the new EU Corporate Social Responsibility Directive aims to influence and change the way companies operate, helping them transform their mission and governance so that they take into account the social and environmental impact of their operations.
In this context, quality systems and standards such as Geographical Indications can play a key role in promoting corporate sustainability, the zero-emission economy, and the circular economy. But despite the significant growth of ESG initiatives globally, more and better data and evidence on the real positive effects of these, especially in relation to respect for human rights and the environment, still need to be produced to better demonstrate the correlation between regulation and real outcomes.
In the case of Italy, the authors state that new compliance mechanisms have been included for the public administration sector, with a series of reforms aimed at ensuring the proper adoption of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan NRRP with reporting and coordination tasks between the EU Commission and the national government, simplification of bureaucracy and strengthening of administrative capacity.
Climate change is a financially significant risk for publicly traded companies and ranks high on the list of investor concerns GIEC, It is therefore important to migrate to new consumption and production systems that have sustainability at their core. For this reason, in the European Union established mandatory reporting criteria for large companies and SMEs that will be listed starting in The new ESG framework thus provides a more compelling argument for circular transition.
