Sustainability is indeed a broad concept. Aside from mitigating the environmental changes caused by the interaction of the industrial world and society with nature, social and governance matters are subjected to increased public and government scrutiny, calling for the promotion of a sustainable performance agenda.
Responsible business and investment – rooted in the 17 SDGs and the ten universal principles of the UN Global Compact – will be essential to achieve transformational change and unite all global stakeholders to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and protect our planet. For companies, successful implementation will strengthen the enabling environment for doing business and building markets around the world.
Such an approach is to be rooted and integrated into our business strategies, culture and daily operations, and continue to be adopted in future years through our engagement in collaborative economies driven by three key pillars: environment, society, and governance.
Environment
The first pillar encompasses protecting the environment and the research and development of technologies aimed at preserving the ecosystem while ultimately ending harmful practices and processes. Preventing the dissipation of already limited natural resources is key to the success of a global strategy for sustainability.
Society
This pillar touches on three main aspects. The first one is the awareness and the enforcement of legislation intended to protect people from any harmful effects of industrial processes. Fair access to basic resources by all levels of society is also vital for the population's physical and mental health. The last aspect deals with activation and allows individuals to embrace environmentally sustainable practices while also educating them and raising awareness among society at large.
Governance
Both private and public entities find themselves compelled to reassess their practices to fall in line with good governance principles. Performance and accountability are becoming increasingly important. Good governance's achievement ultimately fosters sustainability, allowing companies to reduce risks, mitigate crisis, attract new investors, and strengthen the company's equity.
Why do companies need to be sustainable?
Apart from the need to abide by regulatory obligations, corporate sustainability brings with it the added benefit of dramatically raising an organization’s corporate profile, as sustainability concerns are increasingly top of mind for consumers and investors across all industries.
The number of companies worldwide including sustainability in their reporting is also increasing. According to a survey carried out by the Governance and Accountability Institute, 90% of S&P 500 Index companies published sustainability reports in 2019. However, the sustainability reporting principle and the need to demonstrate how a business performs not only from a commercial point of view but also from a wider social perspective is applicable to businesses of all sizes.
It is for this reason that an integrated approach to reporting is to be preferred, as it offers a wider and more comprehensive assessment of a company to its stakeholders and investors.
Sustainability services offered
The transition to a sustainable model may be a complex and time-intense process, requiring the execution of feasibility studies and the evaluation of the risks and impacts of change on your operations among others.
To that end, our multidisciplinary team gauges the environmental, operational, social and financial impacts to better inform the decision-making process of our clients.
• Elaboration of sustainability strategy (CSR);
• Elaboration of sustainability management system;
• ISO 26000 (Social Responsibility Standard) self-assessment;
• Analysis and evaluation of social programs efficiency;
• Establishment of sustainability reporting system (SR), regulation,
automation;
• Sustainability reporting trainings, including GRI certified ones;
• Arrangement and coordination of cooperation with stakeholders during sustainability reporting process;
• Sustainability reporting (sustainability reports, integrated reports,
combined annual and non-financial reports);
• Assurance of sustainability reports;
• Social and environmental audit for IFC and EBRD (environmental and social sustainability standards).
Wayne Pisani | Partner, regulatory, corporate & financial services
Wayne Pisani heads the regulatory and compliance practice within Grant Thornton and leads the financial services tax and regulatory team where he deals with a wide range of asset protection and cross-border regulatory and tax planning engagements for clients ranging from private clients, including family offices and high-net-worth individuals, to NASDAQ listed companies in various industry sectors. He conducts an active consulting practice on the legal and tax implications involved in the structuring of both local and international financial institutions, M&A and project finance transactions.
Wayne Pisani heads the regulatory and compliance practice within Grant Thornton and leads the financial services tax and regulatory team where he deals with a wide range of asset protection and cross-border regulatory and tax planning engagements for clients ranging from private clients, including family offices and high-net-worth individuals, to NASDAQ listed companies in various industry sectors. He conducts an active consulting practice on the legal and tax implications involved in the structuring of both local and international financial institutions, M&A and project finance transactions.He is the president of the Malta Institute of Financial Services Practitioners and a governor of FinanceMalta. He is also a member of the International Fiscal Association, the International Bar Association and the Maltese Chamber of Advocates.
Wayne is also published author and an active thought leader in the financial technology space, making regular contributions at fintech conferences, and has a passion for the security and technological aspects of distributed ledger technology. He is also a joint contributing author to "European Competition Laws: A Guide to the EC and its Member States, the leading legal compendium with respect to Competition law in Europe", published by Lexis Nexis and revised annually.
George Vella | Partner, transaction advisory services
George Vella leads the Transaction Advisory Team within Grant Thornton. George has over 15 years experience in corporate and project finance, research and development, strategic and project management,
At Grant Thornton, George and his team provide a variety of services including financial control, internal audit, evaluation services, assistance in the preparation of business plans, feasibility studies and cost benefit analyses, business valuations, assistance with mergers and acquisitions, project finance and corporate finance advisory services.
Apart from the management and leadership of the firm’s advisory practice, George also still holds various technical roles in high profile advisory assignments, including EU funding projects and applications as well as fund raising for the private sector, both through negotiating bank loans or raising private equity, and through assisting in public equity and bond listing.
Oriana Abela | Partner, Capital Markets
Oriana is a Partner at Grant Thornton engaged in the Transaction Advisory Services, a department specialising in corporate finance.
Oriana specialises in the capital markets division, whereby she assists clients with the raising of debt and equity finance through the local capital market. She has taken a leading role in admitting clients to Prospects MTF, a multi-trading facility of the Malta Stock Exchange, whereby Oriana has raised a total of €36 million for eight clients over the past three years as well as the Institutional Financial Securities Market (IFSM), whereby she has raised a total of €10 million.
Oriana also heads local and cross-border vendor and buy-side due diligence assignments for clients operating in various sectors. Oriana has also accumulated a wealth of experience assisting both local and international clients operating across various industries through the delivery of valuations, business plans, restructuring, projections and pension provision.
Oriana also serves as a member of the ESEF Working Group within the Malta Institute of Accountants (MIA), in addition to sitting on the Professional Accountants in Business Committee.
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The economic implications and repercussions brought on by the COVID-19 global pandemic are deep and far-reaching, affecting the economy of virtually every nation on earth. The virus has caused severe disruptions across numerous sectors from both the demand side and the supply side.
Malta is no exception, and in order to enable Maltese businesses, policy makers and stakeholders to make informed analyses and decisions, it is crucial that they have at their disposal recent and accurate data that allows them to form a representative picture of the perceptions of Maltese citizens.
This survey was thus launched with one goal in mind – to gain an understanding of Maltese behaviour in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak, with respect to:
- Economy
- Social behaviour
- Environment
