The main goal of the regional meeting, that took place on April 5th, has been the impact of COVID-19 in several areas that fall within the framework of influence of CSR, such as sustainability, social cohesion, digitalization, ESG risks and actual trends in social responsibility, that will define future actions at a global level, both in public and private sphere.
Leading personalities in the field of sustainability and social responsibility at a national level, have participated in the regional stakeholder meeting, who have been unravelling during the event how the pandemic has changed priorities of companies and society in general, which has resulted in the appearance of new trends that are leading to a radical change in the present and future reality at a global level:
- Alberto Andreu Pinillos, President of DIRSE, Spanish Association of Sustainability Managers (ESG), has presented the conclusions derived from the study realized by this Association together with EY Spain, about the impact of COVID-19 in the sustainability priorities of the companies. He revealed that business priorities have changed considerably. Issues related to health and security of workers have become priority.
- Jesús Pérez Mayo, representative of Foessa Foundation, has explained the impact of COVID-19 in social cohesion. He talked about the increase in social inequalities, including gender gap and social exclusions, which threaten to deepen and make chronicle the social fracture with the most vulnerable sectors.
- Paula de la Cal Floría, CSR Project manager of SERES Foundation, has offered attendants a vision about pros and cons of digitalization, and about the relevance of digital competences for businesses and to reduce inequalities in all areas of society.
- Francisco Javier Garayoa, General Director of Spainsif, a reference platform in socially responsible investment, has shown the evolution that socially responsible investment (SRI) has had in post pandemic era, highlighting the fact that SRI has followed the opposite path to the economic framework of the covid. In 2020 it grew in Spain by 21%.
- Ricardo Trujillo, Social Impact and Human Capital Director of Forética, has focused in the actual trends in corporate social responsibility and sustainability issues at a global level, among which he declared that the pandemic has generated new forms of relationship with the supply chain. Where before the important thing was the “just in time”, now it prevails how we can generate resilient solutions to unforeseen situations, such as those we have experienced during the pandemic, and how we are also increasingly responsible for our impacts on human rights throughout the value chain.
All of these personalities have emphasized the way, pandemic derived from COVID-19, has radically changed the priorities of people, society and companies.
