It is now well understood that the societal and regulatory context is pushing, or even forcing, companies to act for the environment. Committing to an environmental approach is therefore no longer really a choice, but an obligation. It remains to negotiate it in the most efficient way possible… During the Regulatory Meeting organised by Cosmed on March 25, 2021, Mathilde Guyader, head of its new Environmental Department, presented the key factors to successfully complete the ecological transition of its company.
An environmental approach must, if it is well conducted, make it possible to:
• Control and reduce the impact of the company’s activities on the environment
• Create new opportunities for competitive differentiation
• Satisfy the expectations of stakeholders
• Anticipate future regulatory changes…
The question is: how to carry it out properly?
Key factors for success
Several factors are important to engage in this type of approach:
• The commitment of the management
• The involvement of the teams
• The knowledge of the stakeholders
• The diagnosis
• The definition of objectives and the implementation of an action plan
• The regulatory compliance
• The communication of commitments
Mathilde Guyader has detailed each of them.
The commitment of the management
“Although there is no real hierarchy between all of these factors, the commitment of management is really the essential prerequisite for making the approach credible and sustainable within the company,” emphasised Mathilde Guyader.
This commitment must be formal, and the environmental approach must be part of the company’s overall strategy. This makes it possible to integrate environmental criteria and environmental issues into all decision-making processes.
“Of course, there will always be trade-offs between, for example, economic and environmental …
