[UP-TEMPO MUSIC]
More and more large companies...
will be reporting on their sustainability policy and achievements.
This is coming from the European guideline...
Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, the CSRD.
In the sustainability report there are three main themes,
environment, social and governance.
Privately held SME businesses won't be required to report,
but the SME sector might have to deal with the CSRD
through questions from suppliers or customers.
Shirley Schijvens of Schijvens Corporate Fashion...
and Corinne Vonk of Ayvens...
explain how they deal with the CSRD.
Schijvens is a very old family business.
Ever since 1863 we've been producing workwear, corporate fashion,
for all sorts of Dutch companies.
We've always done that in Hilvarenbeek, in Brabant,
and by now we do so in many countries...
countries across the world.
At Schijvens we've...
become a head-tail production business.
This means that the head,
or the design and all of the preparations are done in the Netherlands...
and so is the tail, the logistics.
We do this with about 150 people in total.
The middle is spread out across the chain,
China, Pakistan, India, you name it.
Ayvens is a leasing company,
one of the largest in the Netherlands and in Europe.
We're committed to sustainable mobility...
and actually have the ambition to do much more...
than just leasing cars and we're looking at the entire mobility spectrum.
So we're talking about cars, bikes as well as public transport.
In the past year we won the first CSRD Award in the Netherlands for the SME sector.
What the CSRD is asking of you...
is to report about...
the impact of you as a company on the world, and the other way around,
the impact the world has on your business.
So for example, for my company, the wages in low-income countries...
have an important impact on the textile industry,
but the materials we use do too.
Cotton requires a lot of water.
Polyester is derived from oil.
What can you do about that?
So you'll have to think about that, and that's what you'll report on.
We're a publicly listed business and that means we...
also have to record our sustainability ambitions in our reports...
and we do this according to the CSRD.
As a Dutch entity we present our data to the group...
and they incorporate that into reports according to the CSRD guidelines.
One of the challenges we experience there is that...
the data we deliver in the Netherlands...
can't be translated one-on-one to France,
so conversions are necessary, for CO2 emissions for example,
because different prinicples may apply in France...
than in the Netherlands.
In any case, start by mapping out your chain,
so you get an insight into who you're working with and why.
And not just the first line, but also the entire chain behind it.
That way you'll gain more and more insight...
into what takes place in your production chain.
And then you can set priorities.
In the Netherlands we've conducted a lot of stakeholder interviews...
with customers and suppliers who are also getting started with the CSRD.
What we notice in all those stakeholder interviews is that there...
are actually some very beautiful new initiatives that are starting to get off the ground.
Because by talking to one another...
about what you're working on, what's material to you,
what's important to you,
you also discover your agreements and differences,
but you also see in which matters...
you can start working together...
and improve those initiatives.
In the end it's not rocket science.
You're in the textile industry, so logically there will be a few things...
that are going to come up a lot.
Such as liveable wages in our textile factories...
and not necessarily the wages we pay here in the Netherlands.
Once you start measuring things,
you can also think about how you can improve them.
Two examples of very beautiful initiatives...
that could mean a lot, especially to Ayvens' smaller suppliers,
are the industry-oriented approach from the BOVAG.
They've developed an entire toolbox for all their members...
to prepare themselves for any questions from their suppliers,
such as leasing companies.
Another very good example is the Groen Gedaan Foundation,
which helps its members prepare for the CSRD...
with a lot of information as well as special audit programmes so they...
can easily provide figures and reports about their business.
Collecting data sounds pretty complicated,
but let me give you a simple example.
I just asked our suppliers...
could you please send me your electric bills from the past years?
And please indicate how many items you've produced.
That way I know how much electricity was used per item...
and I can see how many items I've received from that supplier.
So for my report I'll have the exact electricty usage ...
of that supplier.
I did that for all of our suppliers...
and some suppliers say, I also have solar panels,
so I'll be able to tick that box, this is an improvement.
When making agreements with suppliers about...
providing data some very great new initiatives arise too.
For example, producing car tires causes a lot of CO2 emissions...
and by using second-hand tires...
that meet all the safety requirements...
we'll reduce a bizarre amount of CO2.
Think about the fact that the laws being written are...
meant for that better planet, and you are a part of that too.
So try to keep that in mind, it'll make working on something like this a lot of fun.
If you ask me what companies who are just getting started...
can do to prepare for the CSRD?
I think there are three main things they should do.
First of all, just get started.
Two, ask for help.
Not necessarily from all kinds of consultants...
who are eager to help you, but within your production chain as well.
Because you are not alone.
There are many others in the same boat who might be farther ahead.
Use each other's knowledge.
Sustainability is the perfect topic to collaborate in.
Thirdly, keep the CSRD's goals in mind.
That is, it's about making a positive impact.
Where is that impact?
What's an important one to your company...
and where can you make a difference?
And if you put a lot of money and effort into that,
I think you're going in the right direction.
And if you report on that, I think that’s fine, so you're transparent...
towards your stakeholders as well, who'll want to read about that.
That is, in my opinion, the CSRD.