Conference Matters 143

INTERVIEW

SUSTAINABILITY VENUENL INITIATIVE

'It's better to create your own standard'

ESG is gaining in popularity and is increasingly influencing business operations in the entire conference chain. However, the sector-specific interpretation of these regulations is still being developed. By acting as stakeholders in live communication today, businesses can ensure a workable, collective transition, according to Angelique Lombarts and Elvira Wilthagen. Last year, Angelique Lombarts wrote an article entitled ‘ESG is here and is here to stay’ for Con ference Matters international. The title makes it clear that introducing European regulations regarding environmental, social and governance is irreversible. Businesses have to record their ESG policy and report on it annually with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directives (CSRD). The exclusive this year is for listed companies. From the 2025 financial year, all large companies are obliged to publish an auditor-approved report in accordance with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) on top of their usual financial report. In this case, a large company has to meet at least two of the following crite ria: have a net turnover of more than €50 million, have more than €25 million on the balance sheet and/or have 250 or more employees. In 2026, the listed SMEs will also be obliged to report. Getting started as a chain This year, Lombarts urges companies and organi sations that do not fall into the above-mentioned categories to get started immediately. “First, By Edwin Nunnink, Photo Serge Ligtenberg

there’s chain liability, which means that compa nies obliged to report can request information about their suppliers’ ESG policy. At some point, it will surely become a requirement for doing business. There’s another important reason for chain part ners to act now,” says Wilthagen, together with Lombarts, founders of consultancy organisation ELAN - ESG in Hospitality. “The general regula tions have almost been finalised, but there’s still a lot of development to be done in the sector-specific interpretation. This is definitely a challenge in hospitality because you’re talking about a whole range of very different activities. If you act now, you can still have a lot of influence on the final sector-specific interpretation. It’s better to create your own standard than to have to conform to the general rules.” This also applies to individual companies in the chain, Lombarts and Wilthagen explain. The ESG transition - if you call it that - isn’t just a learning curve. As a leader, you can help establish the standard. “I’m convinced that this also has business advantages,” adds Lombarts. “Companies will be more likely to do business with you, especi ally the younger generation, which often prefers to work with a B Corp certified company. That’s certainly an advantage given the current tight labour market.” VenueNL Sustainability Initiative In the Netherlands, ELAN is co-initiator of the VenueNL Sustainability Initiative together with GSES, developer of an international sustaina bility performance monitor, and meeting plat

form, Publique. From November 2024, a number of leading Dutch conference locations will be measuring their sustainability efforts. It’s a multi-year project with a focus on collective progress. It assesses which of the ten theme specific standards in the ESG/CSRD benchmark the participants are jointly making progress, not who is the most sustainable. Existing legislation The first takeaway from this initiative is that companies already have a lot of the information they need, but it hasn’t been organised yet. In addition, assuming that companies will

face completely new regulations is a miscon ception, as ESG is based on a wide range of existing legislation. To support this statement, Wilthagen and Lombarts follow up with a spon taneous summary: “minimum Energy Label C for non-monumental buildings, GDPR, HACCP, pro visions in various collective labour agreements, the whistle-blower scheme, CESOP, etc.” Even more important is Lombarts’ preferred topic: the number of women CEOs. Since the gender quota hasn’t changed much in practice, the Nether lands has had the Diversity Quota and Targets Act since 2022, which states that at least one third of the supervisory board must consist of women

and at least one third of men. “In our country, the quota is limited to the supervisory boards of listed companies. In that regard, the Netherlands still lags behind bordering countries Belgium and Germany,” Lombarts notes. There’s no legislation yet, but the ELAN founders describe a development that throws a shadow: ‘true pricing’. The aim is to show the hidden costs of products and services by factoring their impact on the environment and society in the purchase price. “That could come into play when a participant considers coming to a conference. Does the price justify what I get from participating in the confe rence?” explains Lombarts.

'ESG is based on a wide range of existing legislation'

16

17