As part of their flagship customer event, inTouch24, CCH Tagetik hosted a Sustainable Business Think Tank in Lucca, Italy, on Friday, May 17, 2024.
The venue, Palazzo Pfanner, provided an evocative backdrop to the ideas circulating at the immersive conference track. Experts, academic professors, and analysts explored every aspect of sustainability, from strategy to ethics to profitability. Just as the seventeenth-century palace has been preserved and respected across generations, how can businesses help protect their surroundings and values to contribute to a better environment for all?
This article covers some of the facts, thoughts, and questions raised on this subject at the CCH Tagetik Sustainable Business Think Tank.
Why should companies and investors care about sustainability?
Aside from the moral duty that companies arguably have to be more sustainable and help protect our society and natural environment for future generations, there is also a clear economic case for companies to care about the cause.
$ 44 trillion
is the economic value generation dependent on nature (World Economic Forum figure), and
$ 10 trillion
is the financial cost from nature loss by 2050 (Rexburgh figure, est. in 2020). While
~60% of GDP
is at least moderately dependent on ecosystem services (UBS Sustainability and Impact Institute research).
What role should technology play in leading the change?
Sustainability is more than just ESG compliance; companies are increasingly required to report on various ESG measures. For many businesses, especially those juggling complex ESG reporting requirements in multiple jurisdictions, technology is not just practical; it is essential.
Information is a corporate asset, and when evaluating an IT solution for sustainability reporting and disclosure, companies need to consider the following:
- Timeliness
- Reliability
- Auditability
What’s more, corporate management performance tools like CCH Tagetik give leading organizations tactical insight into how they are delivering against ESG targets, helping leaders to build ethical, profitable businesses that respect the planet and its people.
There is not a solution suitable for everyone, but each context has its own suitable solution. Digital governance must be managed and not taken for granted.
In December 2022, the UN announced the so-called ‘Paris Agreement for nature’, a landmark pact agreed upon by almost 200 countries that aims to arrest extinctions by conserving 30% of land and oceans by 2030. According to this agreement, to accelerate progress, technologies should be focused on three areas:
- Tracking global biodiversity
- Synthesizing vast quantities of existing and incoming data, and
- Enhancing traceability and accountability
Every year, CCH® Tagetik inTouch gathers hundreds of CCH® Tagetik customers, partners, and finance leaders from around the world in Lucca, Italy, to explore the state of CPM technology and connect with the global finance community. The Sustainable Business Think Tank is a valued part of the event agenda.
You can read more about CCH Tagetik’s ESG & Sustainability Performance Management solutions here.
Find out what steps Wolters Kluwer, the parent company of CCH Tagetik, is taking to become more sustainable in its Annual Report here.
