Prague, 16 May 2019: The Czech Business Council for Sustainable Development, WBCSD’s Global Network partner in the Czech Republic, hosted a conference on the latest sustainability trends, risks and possible solutions.
The conference was hosted at EYs office in central Prague, and 25 participants from Czech businesses attended.
The conference included presentations from Alice Machova, Partner at EY Climate Change and Sustainability Services in Czech Republic; Richard Betts, Director, Climate Change and Sustainability Services Leader; and Dr. Miroslav Hajek, Czech University of Agriculture Prague.
Each set the scene to highlight that climate change and sustainability-related issues including biodiversity loss, water shortages and soil degradation are risks that business is already facing, and must be addressed.
As a practical step for helping business to address these risks, WBCSD brought the latest tools on managing and addressing these risks. At the event, WBCSD also worked to help participants understand the best way to communicate their efforts to address these risks to key stakeholders, including investors – through resources like the Reporting Exchange, Reporting matters, and the new ESG Indicator Library and Disclosure Handbook.
As part of the overall event, WBCSD also hosted a workshop discussion with participants on the role of “judgment” in reporting – using the ESG Disclosure Handbook – as a basis for lively discussions amongst participants. Many of the participants indicated that they are venturing into the world of sustainability reporting for the first time, so considering key questions around “why, for whom and where to report: was a valuable exercise for many of them.
Later that week, many participants attended a half-day training on measuring and valuing business impacts and dependencies and subsequently incorporating this data into enterprise risk management systems and decision-making systems through the latest tools and insights.