Madrid, July 17, 2020. The sustainability specialist company SUST4IN has organized the 4^th “Non Financial” Reporting Conference, this time in digital format, in which the importance of transparency in environmental, social, environmental and governance  issues have been debated, and also the practical experience and results of the Non-Financial Information Statements (NFIS) already published in accordance with the Spanish Law 11/2018, which has transposed the EU Directive on Non-Financial Reporting and Diversity (NFRD).now expands the obligation to inform companies with more than 250 employees.

Marcio Viegas, founder and director of SUST4IN, has opened the event and then has given way to the main speaker, Andy Beanland, Director of the Redefining Value at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). Beanland has contributed the global perspective on sustainability reports, with a message in which he has highlighted: “The capitalist system needs to evolve to include environmental and social capital in decision-making if we have any hope of transitioning to a 1.5 degree world. Effective, transparent and reliable corporate reporting and use by mainstream investors will be pivotal in this transition.”

Next, Cristóbal Duarte, CEO of Ecoavantis and Marcio Viegas, have introduced NF Report,  a new platform to prepare Non-Financial Information Statements (NFIS), highlighting the simplicity and technical solvency of the platform, which at the same time helps with compliance to the Spanish Law 11/2018.

The following panelists have offered a critical view on the level of compliance of Law 11/2018 by Spanish companies. Miguel Ángel Soto, Campaign Manager at Greenpeace, pointed out the importance of measuring the impact of the activity and mitigating the risks it causes, and Orencio Vázquez, Director of the Observatory of Corporate Social Responsibility, has highlighted, among other things, the lack of a common structure and some kinds of information. Both agreed on the need for greater regulation and a sanctioning regime in case of non-compliance

Then, the first roundtable has taken place, in which cases and practical recommendations of companies have been discussed. The participants of the table have been Elena Blanco Lozano, Manager of Sustainability and Environment of Enagás, who has highlighted that “transparency and accountability generates trust for stakeholders and drives sustainability”, Gema Esteban, Director de Inversiones and ASG Analyst at Telefónica, who has pointed out that “non-financial” information is now at the same level of importance as financial information, Lourdes Ripoll, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at Meliá Hotels, who has highlighted the need to evolve and provide tractability to the data, and Ana Suárez Capel, Director of Sustainability of Uría Menéndez, who has pointed out the importance of the process of preparing the report.

In the second round table, is been discussed what type of information do investors want and how do they use it in sustainable investments, with the presentations by Javier Garayoa, CEO of Spainsif, who has highlighted that transparency is a key element for sustainable investors, and Julián Romero, President of the Spanish Observatory of Sustainable Financing (OFISO), which has said that “what is material for the investor is the identification, treatment and monitoring of risks and not so much the data”.

To conclude, Marcio Viegas has made the conclusions of the event: “The so-called “non-financial” information is increasingly more important for investors, but also for society in general and for company accounts. It is clear that there is a lack of standardization and, in Spain, a regulatory development of Law 11/2018, but this has not prevented companies from reporting increasingly better and that investors, for example, already invest, vote or divest, based on environmental, social and governance aspects ”.