"Data collection and processing is one of the biggest challenges"

In order to increasingly channel financial flows into sustainable and low-greenhouse gas projects, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) obliges enterprises to also provide non-financial, i.e. social and environmental information. How can the necessary data be collected? What needs to be considered when drawing up a life cycle assessment? This was the topic of the 3rd Sustainability Forum, to which enterprises from the region were invited to Fulda University of Applied Sciences. Other topics included sustainability aspects in lending and embedding the sustainability report in a sustainable cycle.

The third and final Sustainability Forum this year also met with a great response. Last Tuesday, 45 participants from the region learnt all about the topic of life cycle assessment. The Centre for Business Management and Entrepreneurship (FU3) and VR Bank Fulda had invited participants to Fulda University of Applied Sciences. The series of events highlights the challenges and opportunities of sustainability in enterprises and at the same time offers a platform to discuss the topic across all sectors. The idea behind it: to benefit from each other through exchange.

"Small and medium-sized enterprises are also called upon to address the topic of sustainability," emphasised Professor Dr Angelika Sawczyn-Müller at the start of the course. This is because reporting obligations will also be extended to them in the future. "This makes formats such as the Sustainability Forum all the more important for exchanging views on challenges, highlighting practical solutions in dialogue and networking with experts and representatives from various industries," she emphasised.

"With each course, we gain valuable insights into how enterprises can practically implement the complex requirements of sustainability, such as life cycle assessment and reporting in accordance with the CSRD," explained Torsten Hopf, member of the Board of Management of VR Bank Fulda. "As a regional bank, we see ourselves as a long-term partner that supports enterprises not only financially, but also by providing advisory services to help them develop sustainable and at the same time economically viable solutions. It is very important to us to work together to create forward-looking paths for a sustainable transformation of our region."

VR Bank Fulda and Professor Dr Sawczyn-Müller agree that the concept of the Sustainability Forum has been successfully implemented and that the high level of participation from enterprises underlines the relevance of the topic

In her presentation, Professor Sawczyn-Müller then went into more detail about the challenges of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the use of digital technologies. She also presented the results of a recent survey. "With the introduction of the sustainability reporting obligation, companies see their greatest challenge in the collection and preparation of information for the double materiality analysis and the extensive collection of environmental and social data," Professor Sawczyn-Müller gave an insight into the survey results and added: "The results also show that digital technologies, especially specialised software systems, can make a supportive contribution, but some essential basic requirements must be met in the enterprise."

In his presentation, Urban Buschmann, who has been a sustainability manager at FROSTA and other companies for many years, went into more detail on how the environmental impact of a company's activities can be assessed. It is now essential to analyse the entire value chain of products. The quantification of impacts in a holistic system is not limited to environmental issues such as climate, energy, water scarcity and biodiversity. Rather, it also comprises social aspects and governance factors. "From many years of experience, we can say that a holistically organised sustainable enterprise means a high level of motivation among employees, strategic future security and assured legal compliance. Well-organised sustainability does not cost an enterprise any money. On the contrary, it opens up many opportunities and possibilities for success."

The speakers from VR Bank Fulda eG focussed on sustainability aspects in the context of lending. The EU taxonomy makes it clear that banks not only have a responsibility to channel financial flows into sustainable economic activities, but must also fulfil the associated reporting obligations. "The banking supervisory authority is calling for greater integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects into lending," emphasised Marcel Wehner, Head of Division Controlling. And Tobias Abel, Head of Corporate Clients, added that VR Bank Fulda is actively supporting its customers on the path to transformation.

In the final presentation, entitled "Adding value and closing loops", Torsten Gröger from Creart presented an example of how the sustainability report can also be designed in a sustainable way. "The topic of sustainability is too complex to be described in a few words or numbers alone," he emphasised. "Through projects such as it's your part and coffecup paper, we offer people the opportunity to experience sustainability by touching it. We want to make the consumer part of the solution and not part of the problem through bans!"

In view of the great response and the numerous other topics that still need to be addressed, the course organisers agree that the format should be continued next year. The details have not yet been finalised, but the aim is to once again offer a space for exchange and bring together academic research and practical experience in the region.