CSR news of 15/07/2024

This week, in CSR news, we will talk about the daily life of CSR professionals and their feeling of powerlessness, the right to disconnect, especially during vacations, responsible mobility leave, and many other topics.

Find our summary of CSR news every week!

‍

Crisis of meaning and feeling powerless among CSR professionals

The new professions of CSR and Sustainable Development are now very clearly identified in the world of work. Now fully integrated into entrepreneurial production chains, a significant number of CSR professionals are experiencing a crisis of meaning that they sometimes go through alone.

“Greenwashing, lack of resources, disappointments and doubts, eco-anxiety”, these are the signs of a certain exhaustion felt by CSR managers. Their profile is generally that of a woman, young, trained in transition jobs, and “who comes up against the inertia of the system”.

Among the testimonies often comes back the feeling of loneliness, which is the source of a certain discouragement: “most people don't care” says Diana, a sustainable transition professional.

‍

Right to disconnect: a foundation of CSR

The right to disconnect, especially during holidays, has become a fundamental element of CSR policies. For managers, the challenge is twofold: first, to fully understand the importance of this right, and second, to implement it effectively with realistic measures that respect the well-being of employees.

This “right” is enshrined in the Labor Law known as El Khomri of 2016, and requires negotiations on this subject between employee representatives and the management of companies with more than 50 employees. The challenge is to protect employees from the stress and professional exhaustion associated with hyperconnection.

Thus, CSR is integrated here in tandem with the challenges of managing technological and digital tools which, while they facilitate and optimize the work of the company, can also prove to be vectors of professional risks.

‍

Extend the leave of absence for employees who travel green?

The association The Climate Mural offers its employees additional leave if they adopt a sustainable means of transport for their vacations. These “responsible mobility holidays” provide an answer to the obstacle posed by the often longer travel time of the least emissive means of transport.

Currently in the testing phase in the association, the device is being tested in order to measure its effectiveness. It is an incentive policy that aims to rethink, on the one hand, our ways of traveling, and on the other hand the role that the company can play in the ecological commitment of its employees.

In other structures, we think of these travel times as opportunities to answer a few emails, or to think about substantive topics. A compromise that, while it does not promote disconnection, ensures a reduction in the carbon impact of vacations.

‍

Participatory CSR: a path to territorial anchoring

Involving your employees in CSR projects, in the form of solidarity actions, allows you to meet local associations, and to anchor your company on its territory. For example, encouraging employees to volunteer with skills or financing skills sponsorship are choices that bring many benefits.

Indeed, in addition to supporting sustainable and responsible initiatives, it gives meaning to the know-how of employees who can invest it in impact projects.

“Instead of starting new battles, why not save time by serving those that are already under way?”. This is the philosophy of this approach, which brings local associations into contact with businesses. Thus, this reinforces its territorial anchoring while creating an impact community that values those who are committed to it.

‍

The mental health of SSE professionals at half-mast

A study conducted by Harmonie Mutuelle's ESS expertise center with 2,735 professionals questions the quality of life at work in SSE structures. The result is quite alarming, since 91% of respondents reveal that they are “affected by mental health issues at work”.

Among them, a majority of two-thirds of professionals say they are stressed, 35% say they have “temporary discomfort” and 33% say they have anxiety. The causes raised by the latter are multiple, but the main one remains the excessive workload.

In response to these professional risks, the “bulwark” cited by 57% of respondents is to increase relationships with colleagues. It can be deduced that a healthy and interactive work environment is an essential point of attention that the management of SSE structures must take into consideration.

‍

The AMF tightens its policy and adopts sanctions

The Financial Markets Authority (AMF) is examining the sustainable investment announcements and promises regularly put forward by asset managers, and “is beginning a repressive turn” towards greenwashing in finance.

In a recent publication, the AMF recalls that the extra-financial field is subject to the same obligations of clarity, accuracy and authenticity of information as the financial field. In other words, objective and measurable indicators must accompany marketing ads in green finance, otherwise the risk of unrestrained greenwashing is increased.

For example, for the first time at the end of June, the AMF signed an agreement with a fund, which agreed to pay €400,000 to the Treasury to “end the investigation” that was taking place because of its dubious communication on sustainability.

‍

Decarbonization of French industry, really?

The associations Climate Action Network and France Nature Environment have published a report in which we learn that the observed decrease in GHG emissions from the French industrial sector is the result of a decrease in production, and not the result of ecological volunteering.

The 7.8% drop in GHG emissions from French industries between 2022 and 2023 calculated by Citepa and widely reported in the media is a bit misleading. Indeed, “half of it is based on the fall in production during this period”.

In particular, cement and steel have suffered from increased energy costs, a less dynamic building sector and Asian competition. Thus, the drop in production has generated a drop in emissions, but is not a sign of decarbonization in the industry.

‍

The $1 billion project to produce green kerosene

The company Verso Energy has announced its project to install, in the Vosges, a “unit for the production of green synthetic fuels” for the aviation sector. It has the ambition to raise 1 billion euros to carry out this business by 2030.

CDAs (Sustainable Aviation Fuels) come from non-fossil resources, and appear to be an alternative to kerosene. The manufacturing process consists in combining hydrogen obtained by electrolysis with Co2 obtained from the surrounding biomass.

For information, the European “ReFuelEU Aviation” standard of 2023 will gradually require airlines to incorporate CDAs in their fuels, to reach a share of 35% in 2050.

‍

Reform of the ISR label, what's new?

The label owned by Bercy Responsible Social Investment (ISR), which currently represents 800 billion euros, published specifications at the end of 2023 to respond to criticisms of being too lax and not sustainable enough in the choice of its investors. This reform came into force in March: what is new?

First, the label displays “exclusions”, that is to say funds that “can no longer invest in certain activities”. They must therefore refrain from investing in unconventional hydrocarbons, as well as in new fossil extraction projects.

Also, the label gives greater importance to the extra-financial performance of companies. Thus, funds that have already been certified must comply with these new features before January 1, 2025. To date, “between one fund out of four and one fund out of two” would not respect the new standard.

‍

To put an end to the weather/climate confusion

The temperatures recorded in recent weeks in France are, for some, an opportunity to question the reality of climate change. In a sometimes conspiratorial tone, many online publications play on the confusion between weather and climate.

The difference between the two is simply in the time scale. Weather is the study of local phenomena, over a short period of time. Thus, temperature, rainfall, wind, pressure etc. are measured in the short term to account for the weather at a given moment T.

On the other hand, climate is data that can be obtained over the long term: in general, climatologists analyze climate phenomena over 30 years. In other words, questioning climate change based on a meteorological observation is like saying that hunger in the world does not exist because your fridge is full!

‍

sourcing

Novethic “When CSR professionals go through a crisis of meaning”

RSE Magazine “The right to disconnect: a pillar of CSR at the time of summer vacation”

Carenews “Responsible mobility leave, a CSR innovation for vacations”

Carenews “How to strengthen your territorial impact through a participatory CSR approach?”

Carenews “SSE facing mental health problems at work”

Sustainable news “Sustainable finance: the AMF still has work to do and plans to adopt sanctions”

Le Monde “Decarbonization: the “difficult mutation” of French industry”

Sustainable news “Green kerosene: one billion in project investment in the Vosges”

Le Monde “SRI label: what has the reform changed for socially responsible investment?”

Green ““It's 15 degrees and they're talking to us about global warming”: what's the difference between weather and climate?”

‍