- The Spanish Association for Standardization, UNE, has held the Conference: “Improvement in sustainability reporting”, to mark World Standards Day, coinciding with the visit to Spain of the Secretary-General of ISO, Sergio Mujica.
- The event presented the key role of standards to help organisations in their ESG (environmental, social and good governance) reporting.
- The Managing Director of Industrial Strategy and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, of the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, Jordi García Brustenga, highlighted standardisation as a key factor for Spain's industrial competitiveness.
Madrid, 18 October 2024 - The Spanish Association for Standardization, UNE, held the Conference “Improvement in sustainability reporting” on 17 October, to mark World Standards Day, and coinciding with the visit to Spain of the Secretary-General of ISO, Sergio Mujica. The event presented the key role of standards to help organisations in their ESG (environmental, social and good governance) reporting.
The keynote speakers were Sergio Mujica, who opened the Conference, and the Managing Director of Industrial Strategy and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, of the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, Jordi García Brustenga, who closed the event. Other attendees were Alfredo Berges, Chairperson of UNE; Luis Rodulfo, UNE's vice-president and member of the CEPYME Executive Committee; and Javier García, Director General of UNE and Vice-President of ISO. The session discussed the corporate vision and success stories regarding standards and organisations, such as the collaboration between ISO and CEN and CENELEC with IFRS and EFRAG, respectively, to improve sustainability reporting.
During his speech, Sergio Mujica emphasised the important role of global and ISO standards in responding effectively to the major challenges of the business fabric, such as ESG objectives (environmental, social and good governance) and the SDGs, in line with the ISO 2030 Strategy.
Jordi García Brustenga declared that standardisation and UNE are both engines of competitiveness in Spain's industrial strategy and highlighted the importance of quality in public policies.
The Spanish UNE, European EN standards, and international ISO and IEC standards help organisations further their ESG goals while improving the soundness and reliability of their reporting.
The UNE Report "Standards improve sustainability reporting for businesses", was also presented, the purpose of which is to help Spanish organisations to meet the reporting obligations of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) with regard to environmental, social and governance aspects, as well as the entities that verify this information.
This publication includes a representative compilation of existing ESG standards applicable to all types of organisations, with the aim of promoting their use as a support for sustainability reporting, and for organisations to present information based on these. These standards facilitate the design of strategies, the definition of policies, and decision-taking.
Pablo García, senior manager of Forética, participated in the seminar; Pedro del Pozo, Sustainability Director at UNESPA; María Moreno, Director of Procurement, Technical and International at SEOPAN; Salvador Marín, member of the EFRAG Sustainability Reports Board and Director of the Research Service of the General Council of Economists; José Miguel Tudela, Director of Sustainability and Climate Action at ENAGAS; Paloma García, Director of Standardization Programmes and Stakeholder Engagement at UNE; responsible for the Sectorial Transformation of UNE.
All attendees agreed on the key role of standards as tools for organisations to move forward in ESG matters and, in addition, to comply with the different legislation related to sustainability.
