Benoit Quignard, director and partner coach Visconti, welcomes today Valérie David, Director of Sustainable Development and Transversal Innovation at the Eiffage Group.

What are the main sustainable development goals to meet the seventeen goals defined by the United Nations?

For Valérie, sustainable development is the most comprehensive in terms of social, societal and environmental approaches. This does not only concern the company but the whole of society. It is very important to understand that sustainable development must apply to everyone. Within this set, there is corporate social responsibility, which, by definition, applies to private actors and to the ECG approach, which is a “compass” of indicators and action plans to bring the company into a sustainable development approach.

Instead of mechanisms, Valérie talks about sustainable development issues. First of all, medium and long-term challenges: the overcoming of global limits. These are limits concerning climate change and the depletion of non-renewable natural resources on the human time scale. To live and to survive on Earth, these limits, which are nine in number, must not be exceeded. And then there are short-term challenges, in particular extreme social inequalities in the world due to the consequences of climate change. These dynamic interactions between the various causes and consequences of climate change have multiple and non-localized sources.

If there were three important facts to remember, what would they be?

From Valérie's point of view, currently the disturbances in ecosystem services, that is to say all the services that nature provides to humans to enable them to live, are the most serious element. Without them, there is no life possible. The ecosystem carbon capture service is now very disturbed because natural carbon capture sinks are degraded or even destroyed. As a result, the carbon content in the atmosphere is increasing.

A few numerical elements?

The carbon concentration in the atmosphere has never been as high as it is today. We reached 412 ppm in 2020. This very rapid increase has never been higher. 85% of the world's wetlands are either destroyed or severely degraded. These areas are salt meadows, seagrass beds... They play a very important role in terms of water capture, but also in terms of carbon capture. One of the other important points is the collapse of colonizing insects (around 70%). However, they are the ones who transport the pollen. This means that the seeds that result from fertilization and provide food for humans and animals have more difficulty being grown. These insects are also victims of climate change, pollution and the reduction of their habitat.

What are the current and future obligations of companies, which concern managers today?

The obligations concern European leaders in particular. Because the European Union stands out today as being the leader in the fight against climate change. In June 2020, the European Parliament voted on the European taxonomy regulation. It is a classification: the objective of the European Union is to classify the share of turnover of companies but also their investment and operational expenses according to their contribution to sustainable economic development, according to a common definition within the twenty-seven member states. It's a first and it's ambitious.

This is based on two climate criteria (reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to the consequences of climate change) and four environmental criteria (preservation of fresh water and oceans, waste disposal, fight against pollution, fight against pollution, circular economy and preservation of biodiversity). Seven sectors are concerned for turnover. It is an important revolution under way.

Guidelines in 2023 and 2024 will complete the taxonomy. It is a regulation so it is the highest level of legal force since it is directly applicable in domestic law. The two future directives will have to be transposed into national law.

These guidelines include: the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive): a directive that will require an unprecedented level of rigor and comparability between companies in the context of their extra-financial performance. All businesses are preparing for this CSRD. Its criteria will make it possible to ensure good extra-financial health in addition to good financial health. So there is a real identity card that will allow investors to know if they want to work with this or that company.

There is a second text, the CS3D (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive), which should be validated by the European Parliament in May 2023. This directive concerns the duty of vigilance; it will impose obligations of results in the hunt for risks with major legal constraints in the event of default. This text is still in progress.

Between the CSRD and the CS3D, the taxonomy has a very interesting completeness for this sustainable economic development to be a leader in the world and to become a Golden Standard in this area.

How is the role of the leader becoming more and more important in the success of this environmental challenge?

Innovation is important, but it all depends on what innovation you are talking about. For too long, we believed that technological innovation was going to get us out of all the wrong places. But innovation is no longer the preserve of the sole specialized laboratory. This is also hidden in collective intelligence and the inclusion of all audiences. It is important to unleash the creativity of all those who want to innovate. With climate change, the variable is important. Cooperating rather than competing is important today. It is not difficult to find executive managers, but it is rarer to meet visionary leaders. Valérie believes that we especially need leading managers, with a real vision for their profession, who are part of a sincere, authentic ecological transition, capable of federating and explaining the company's project, and of galvanizing employees through an enthusiasm to be involved.

What is the feedback on good and bad practices within a company?

The atomization of responsibilities in the company is dramatic. Silos are often mentioned. To move forward you have to trust. This trust makes it possible to identify young talents more quickly and therefore to retain them. It is difficult in certain sectors where recruitment is under pressure, but it is possible when you allow your talents to express themselves. However, the organization of the company must not be too vertical, because trust goes hand in hand with transversality. When you trust, you must therefore agree to break down silos, even if they are practical.

Managerial courage is a rare commodity but very much appreciated because the social body is not fooled and needs leadership. He needs trust, truth, and kindness. And precisely, courage is benevolence. It is because we respect the collaborator that we have the courage to decide while explaining the reasons. Benevolence, managerial courage and trust go hand in hand.