Good ESG Practices: Sunlit Strategies

The path to climate neutrality for Croatian companies is paved with significant investments in innovative products, renewable energy sources, tree planting, and employee education, which largely relates to the implementation of sustainability strategies, as well as contributions to the communities in which they operate. There are more and more examples of good environmental, social, and governance, i.e., ESG practices, and some companies have already received the desired certifications, awards, and recognitions for sustainability.

Important for Everyone

Valamar is noted as the first tourism company in Croatia to integrate sustainable development goals into its business model and corporate governance and to publish clear sustainability goals in accordance with the ESG framework. In its sustainability strategy until 2025, there are two main goals: to become a carbon-neutral company and to invest more than €50 million in ESG projects and initiatives. Other goals include producing 15 percent of solar electricity and 100 percent of electricity from renewable sources, protecting and managing the quality of the sea in all the company’s destinations, investing in coastal biodiversity, and protecting eighty thousand trees and hundreds of hectares of greenery around Valamar’s facilities. The company emphasizes the employment and retention of local employees, as well as 80 percent of domestic production and local products in food and beverages, 80 percent procurement from responsible suppliers, and 100 percent of facilities with sustainability certifications. Since 2015, Valamar has reduced its carbon footprint by 70 percent and invested €65 million in sustainability programs. In December 2021, in collaboration with E.ON Croatia, it realized the most ambitious solar power project in the Croatian market, under which solar panels were installed on 26 Valamar hotels and camps along the Adriatic coast. At the beginning of this year, the ‘Easy as One, Two, Tree’ project was successfully completed as part of the ‘CO2MPENSATING by PLANTING’ initiative, marking the end of the first cycle of tree planting in which Valamar employees and guests participated. The Financial Times has included them, as noted in Valamar, on the list of climate leaders in Europe, being one of only six companies from the tourism sector on that list, and at the recently held final conference of the EU project ‘European Tourism Going Green (ETGG) 2030’, their ESG strategy was presented as an example of best practice in the tourism sector.

Sustainable business is particularly important for industries that are the largest polluters, such as cement production, which invest significant money in reducing their carbon footprint. Therefore, significant ecological changes are occurring in that sector.

Set Measurable Goals

According to the sustainability director of Holcim Croatia, Julija Škoro, the company has been implementing its sustainability strategy, set at the level of the Holcim Group, for thirty years.

– We have managed to establish a system whose quality has been recognized by the Ministry of Labor for improving health and safety systems and by HRIO, the Croatian Index of Sustainability for Human Rights. What pleases us most is that we see the results of our long-term commitment in the pride of our employees, in the openness and trust of the local communities in which we operate, and in the long-term relationship of customers towards Holcim. The biggest challenges currently are the obligations of the European Green Deal and further investments. We want to emphasize that we are leaders in the green transition as we initiated the first decarbonization projects back in 1997 – says Škoro.

Holcim is the first building materials manufacturer in the world whose action plan until 2030 and goals until 2050 have been verified by the Science Based Target Initiative, and it has received confirmation that its goals for 2030 are aligned with the 1.5 °C scenario. Another Croatian cement producer, Cemex Croatia, has developed impact management plans for every segment of its business. For example, a detailed CO₂ emission plan has been developed for each production facility aimed at introducing new technologies that can help reduce carbon emissions, and further investments will be in line with climate action plans.

– When we talk about society, community engagement plans allow us to collaborate and multiply the positive impact on the communities in which we operate. If we talk about our people, we apply a comprehensive human resources management process that allows us to monitor the needs of our employees and create a good and safe working experience. In all areas, we have set measurable goals that we regularly monitor and adjust activities according to the realization of performance indicators – says the head of sustainable business at Cemex Croatia, Merica Pletikosić, emphasizing that for every manufacturing industry, the biggest challenges in climate protection activities require significant investments, research, and development to ensure low-carbon operations and ultimately carbon neutrality. Therefore, Cemex Croatia initiated a comprehensive investment cycle aimed precisely at raising the energy and environmental efficiency of its operations to a higher level.

DOP Everywhere

– We are pleased that our efforts towards climate neutrality have also been recognized by the European Union, as a significant part of the investments is financed by funds from European sources – emphasizes Pletikosić.

At the leading pharmaceutical company in Croatia and the region, Pliva, they state that thanks to systematic modernization and improvement of their processes, they continuously raise the standards of environmental protection and responsibility towards the environment in which they operate. Soon, a solar power plant will start operating at Pliva’s location in Savski Marof (this is currently the largest solar power plant built in Croatia), which will meet almost 30 percent of the electricity needs of the company’s production facilities at that location. In addition to the ISO 50001 energy management certification, Pliva also holds the ZelEn certification, which is awarded to companies that have been using exclusively renewable energy in their business processes for years. They apply the zero landfill concept in waste management, which involves separating and processing waste in multiple phases: non-hazardous waste is separated at the point of origin and sorted in Pliva’s recycling yard, while waste that cannot be separated is transported for further processing to an authorized partner. Thanks to the successful application of this concept, Pliva has not disposed of a single kilogram of waste in landfills for thirteen years. It is a member of Teva, the first pharmaceutical company in the world engaged in the production of generics, which issued a green bond of five billion dollars, committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of scopes 1 and 2 by 25 percent by the end of 2025, and also greenhouse gas emissions of scope 3 by 25 percent by the end of 2030.

Although King ICT is a company with an extremely low carbon footprint, it is conducting activities to further reduce it. It is also active in socially responsible business, especially in STEM, which is supported by the fact that it is an ICT company. Its leadership is pleased to say that King ICT is already very close to complete climate neutrality. The company Syntio, which provides professional data engineering services and related products using cloud technology, has been operating socially responsibly since its inception.

– At Syntio, we integrate social values into every aspect of our business to create added value in the future and become better. Change requires time and participation from all organizational groups, which can often be challenging. Open communication and encouraging dialogue about ESG-related activities are also important – says the ESG coordinator at the company, Ivana Azinović, emphasizing that they are most proud of employees who have recognized that investing in ESG is essential and that each of them can contribute to balanced and sustainable business.