Green transition to become a must for companies, round table shows
Ljubljana, 1 March - Sustainable business can be an opportunity for companies was a premise at the round table organised by the CER Sustainable Business Network Slovenia, an NGO promoting green transition. Companies will have to adapt to the goals of the green transition to maintain the support of customers, the market and investors.
Ljubljana
Factory chimney, green leaves.
Photo: Anže Malovrh/STA
File photo
Lotrič Metrology that offers measurement systems and calibration services sees decarbonisation as an opportunity, led in part by market demands. The company CEO Maja Brelih Lotrič noted that their services and products promote sustainability as they help increase efficiency.
Kolektor Technologies CEO Rok Vodnik noted that the company sets decarbonisation commitments because of customers, especially in the automotive industry. The company working in mobility, technology and construction sectors aims to decrease their carbon footprint using solar electricity, which helps them be more competitive, Vodnik added.
Sico, a laser cutting provider, is already reusing and recycling materials, said company CEO Marjan Volpe. For them, sustainable business is dictated by demands of key customers that have started to monitor the company's operations and by machinery manufacturers making more energy efficient and durable products.
Companies unable to show that they operate in a green or sustainable way will not get access to financing, said the bank SKB COO Miro Cepec, adding that the businesses will have to focus on reporting, "environmentalist accounting" and educating the staff.
Environment, Climate and Energy Minister Bojan Kumer noted that Slovenia has set ambitious goals in strategies on climate change but has failed when implementing them, which is why the current goals will have to be met. Green politics will have to enter all spheres of society, but it all starts with the individual, Kumer said.
Kumer was pleased that with the ministry reshuffle climate change became a portfolio. The ministry state secretary Uroš Vajgl said that the Environment Ministry is responsible for two thirds of legislation concerning the green transition, which allows them to broaden their work. The first draft of a climate bill will enter public debate in a few weeks.
Janez Potočnik, one of the International Resource Panel presidents, noted that a broader economic, social and cultural transformation will be necessary to meet the sustainability goals. One such example is a change in the concept of ownership, where companies would own products and only offer customer the services, encouraging the production of more durable products.