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KEY ESG Fall 2024 Sustainability Summit
On Thursday, September 12th, Sustainability Software provider KEY ESG hosted its fall Sustainability Summit in London. Bringing together the KEY ESG team, customers, partners, ESG standard setters, thought leaders, and professionals from the event industry, the Summit was an afternoon focused on the most current topics in ESG and Sustainability.
The event also served as a platform for event organisers to gain insights on sustainable practices, share knowledge, and discuss challenges, enhancing their understanding and implementation of sustainability in their events.
With a packed agenda including customer discussions, workshops, panel discussions, and a roadmap unveiling, the Summit offered attendees a comprehensive look at the current and future ESG landscape.
Customer Perspectives on Sustainability Reporting
The summit kicked-off with a customer discussion with the Founder and Partner of Manna Tree, Gabrielle Rubenstein. Manna Tree is a Vail, Colorado, based private-equity firm that invests in companies that promote human health and wellness. Our CEO, Heleen van Poecke, spoke with Mrs. Rubenstein about the pros and con’s of adhering to standard ESG or sustainability frameworks.
“Although frameworks such as the SFDR and EDCI have helped develop a common language to measure and disclose sustainability metrics across the private equity industry, there are limitations to the approach of standardization. Every investment in the Manna Tree portfolio in some way contributes positively to the social goal of improving human health and wellness, current frameworks do unfortunately not always provide metrics that help contextualize the positive impact these businesses are generating.” Ms. Rubenstein remarked.
This underlines that there is still a way to go for standard-setters and investors to strike the right balance between standardizing ESG disclosures and providing enough breadth of metrics and sustainability topics to contextualize the real impact of business activities.
Science Based Target setting with Dr. Pendar Ostovar of the SBTI
KEY ESG was delighted to also have Dr.Pendar Ostovar, Head of Financial Institutions, Impact and Engagement at the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) join the summit for a dedicated workshop on how companies and investment firms can get started with SBT’s. Through an engaging, interactive presentation, Dr.Ostovar explained the process of setting SBT’s and working with the SBTi to get targets validated. He highlighted that SME’s can also get started on this journey through a process that has been adjusted to fit the SME market.
CSRD Workshop with KEY ESG team
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) regulation is a topic of increasing interest for KEY ESG’s customers. As more than 50,000 companies globally will need to disclose a broad range of sustainability information under this directive, our COO, Anne-Marie Schoonbeek walked the audience through the main requirements of the CSRD and demonstrated how KEY ESG’s software platform can support companies on their CSRD journey.
“As CSRD will be an annual reporting effort for companies in scope of the regulation, the KEY ESG team has focused on building an efficient in-platform process that is repeatable, scalable and auditable and 100% aligned with the latest ESRS guiding principles”.
To learn more about KEY ESG's CSRD solutions, sign up to speak with our sales team here.
Panel Discussion on trends in ESG standards and regulations
The Sustainability Summit was completed with a discussion around the trends in ESG standards and regulations. Amir Sokolowksi, Global Director of Climate Change at the Climate Disclosure Project (CDP), Marcel Mballa-Ekobena, Director of Corporate integration at the IFRS Foundation and Rachel Lowe, Special Regulatory Counsel of Proskauer Rose LLP joined the panel to share their perspectives. With the proliferation of ESG standards and regulations, it was great to hear that leading organisations in sustainability reporting such as CDP and the IFRS foundations are focused on driving interoperability of the variety of standards.
“CSRD is the nr 1 regulation for European and UK companies to be aware of at the moment. The principles underlying CSRD link back to several other standards and regulations such as SASB the CSDDD and the GHG protocol. Meeting the requirements of the CSRD is perhaps the highest bar but at the same time, alignment with this regulation will help companies check a lot of boxes relevant to important stakeholders now and in the future such as suppliers, investors and lenders” described Rachel Lowe when asked what regulations companies should have on their radar.
Mr. Mballa-Ekobena described what is at the heart of the drive behind the alignment of the different sustainability reporting frameworks:
“It is important to remember the end-user when we are going through the exercise of sustainability disclosures. At the end of the day the product needs to serve the end-users and support their capital allocation decisions. Alignment supports the end-user in their decision-making.”
When asked what trends CDP observes with regards to sustainability data disclosures, Mr. Sokolowski described how disclosures have led to a positive feedback loop:
“CDP can see that sustainability data quality has improved, which has created a positive feedback loop. As companies realize that transparency around impact can help them gain an advantage in terms of gaining access to capital and provide them with a competitive edge, the more is disclosed”.
KEY ESG Customer Awards
At the end of the day KEY ESG recognised several of its customers (Montagu Capital Partners, AP MØller Capital, and Trust), with customer awards. We are grateful for their business and continued collaboration.
Final thoughts
The Summit not only showcased the power of technology in simplifying ESG reporting but also emphasized the importance of transparency and collaboration in building a sustainable future. As businesses navigate an increasingly complex regulatory environment, events like this are critical in fostering innovation, learning, and growth in the ESG space.
If you missed out on this year's KEY ESG Sustainability Summit, please join us for our 2025 Spring or Fall Summit. You can register your interest via contact@keyesg.com. Be the first to know about KEY ESG hosted events by following us on LinkedIn or signing up for our Newsletter.
In the meantime, explore how our ESG management platform can benefit your business—request a demo today and get ahead in your ESG journey.
KEY ESG Fall 2024 Sustainability Summit
On Thursday, September 12th, Sustainability Software provider KEY ESG hosted its fall Sustainability Summit in London. Bringing together the KEY ESG team, customers, partners, ESG standard setters, thought leaders, and professionals from the event industry, the Summit was an afternoon focused on the most current topics in ESG and Sustainability.
The event also served as a platform for event organisers to gain insights on sustainable practices, share knowledge, and discuss challenges, enhancing their understanding and implementation of sustainability in their events.
With a packed agenda including customer discussions, workshops, panel discussions, and a roadmap unveiling, the Summit offered attendees a comprehensive look at the current and future ESG landscape.
Customer Perspectives on Sustainability Reporting
The summit kicked-off with a customer discussion with the Founder and Partner of Manna Tree, Gabrielle Rubenstein. Manna Tree is a Vail, Colorado, based private-equity firm that invests in companies that promote human health and wellness. Our CEO, Heleen van Poecke, spoke with Mrs. Rubenstein about the pros and con’s of adhering to standard ESG or sustainability frameworks.
“Although frameworks such as the SFDR and EDCI have helped develop a common language to measure and disclose sustainability metrics across the private equity industry, there are limitations to the approach of standardization. Every investment in the Manna Tree portfolio in some way contributes positively to the social goal of improving human health and wellness, current frameworks do unfortunately not always provide metrics that help contextualize the positive impact these businesses are generating.” Ms. Rubenstein remarked.
This underlines that there is still a way to go for standard-setters and investors to strike the right balance between standardizing ESG disclosures and providing enough breadth of metrics and sustainability topics to contextualize the real impact of business activities.
Science Based Target setting with Dr. Pendar Ostovar of the SBTI
KEY ESG was delighted to also have Dr.Pendar Ostovar, Head of Financial Institutions, Impact and Engagement at the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) join the summit for a dedicated workshop on how companies and investment firms can get started with SBT’s. Through an engaging, interactive presentation, Dr.Ostovar explained the process of setting SBT’s and working with the SBTi to get targets validated. He highlighted that SME’s can also get started on this journey through a process that has been adjusted to fit the SME market.
CSRD Workshop with KEY ESG team
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) regulation is a topic of increasing interest for KEY ESG’s customers. As more than 50,000 companies globally will need to disclose a broad range of sustainability information under this directive, our COO, Anne-Marie Schoonbeek walked the audience through the main requirements of the CSRD and demonstrated how KEY ESG’s software platform can support companies on their CSRD journey.
“As CSRD will be an annual reporting effort for companies in scope of the regulation, the KEY ESG team has focused on building an efficient in-platform process that is repeatable, scalable and auditable and 100% aligned with the latest ESRS guiding principles”.
To learn more about KEY ESG's CSRD solutions, sign up to speak with our sales team here.
Panel Discussion on trends in ESG standards and regulations
The Sustainability Summit was completed with a discussion around the trends in ESG standards and regulations. Amir Sokolowksi, Global Director of Climate Change at the Climate Disclosure Project (CDP), Marcel Mballa-Ekobena, Director of Corporate integration at the IFRS Foundation and Rachel Lowe, Special Regulatory Counsel of Proskauer Rose LLP joined the panel to share their perspectives. With the proliferation of ESG standards and regulations, it was great to hear that leading organisations in sustainability reporting such as CDP and the IFRS foundations are focused on driving interoperability of the variety of standards.
“CSRD is the nr 1 regulation for European and UK companies to be aware of at the moment. The principles underlying CSRD link back to several other standards and regulations such as SASB the CSDDD and the GHG protocol. Meeting the requirements of the CSRD is perhaps the highest bar but at the same time, alignment with this regulation will help companies check a lot of boxes relevant to important stakeholders now and in the future such as suppliers, investors and lenders” described Rachel Lowe when asked what regulations companies should have on their radar.
Mr. Mballa-Ekobena described what is at the heart of the drive behind the alignment of the different sustainability reporting frameworks:
“It is important to remember the end-user when we are going through the exercise of sustainability disclosures. At the end of the day the product needs to serve the end-users and support their capital allocation decisions. Alignment supports the end-user in their decision-making.”
When asked what trends CDP observes with regards to sustainability data disclosures, Mr. Sokolowski described how disclosures have led to a positive feedback loop:
“CDP can see that sustainability data quality has improved, which has created a positive feedback loop. As companies realize that transparency around impact can help them gain an advantage in terms of gaining access to capital and provide them with a competitive edge, the more is disclosed”.
KEY ESG Customer Awards
At the end of the day KEY ESG recognised several of its customers (Montagu Capital Partners, AP MØller Capital, and Trust), with customer awards. We are grateful for their business and continued collaboration.
Final thoughts
The Summit not only showcased the power of technology in simplifying ESG reporting but also emphasized the importance of transparency and collaboration in building a sustainable future. As businesses navigate an increasingly complex regulatory environment, events like this are critical in fostering innovation, learning, and growth in the ESG space.
If you missed out on this year's KEY ESG Sustainability Summit, please join us for our 2025 Spring or Fall Summit. You can register your interest via contact@keyesg.com. Be the first to know about KEY ESG hosted events by following us on LinkedIn or signing up for our Newsletter.
In the meantime, explore how our ESG management platform can benefit your business—request a demo today and get ahead in your ESG journey.
