Vetico helps companies with growth ambitions while looking to grow itself. However, with growth comes more responsibility, such as taking ownership of our sustainability performance. We take our duty seriously, setting up robust policy rather than sticking to honeyed words. We’ve already taken the first steps.
Organizations with more than 50 million euros in turnover and at least 250 employees are required to comply with CSRD guidelines (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) from 2025 in order to combat greenwashing and promote transparency. We, too, are required to report on our sustainability performance. “Vetico is making sustainability an integral part of its operations,” says interim sustainability advisor Ruben Janssen.
Familiar territory
Financial reports are a known quantity in the business world. Sustainability reports are anything but. There’s all sorts of new questions you have to answer: where do you find data? And how do you get them to the right place? For Ruben, this is familiar territory. “I had a long spell at SHV – a decentralized family company working in the energy distribution, heavy lifting and transportation and industrial services industries. I was responsible for sustainability at subsidiary ERIKS, an international company with more than 5000 employees, so that’s why Vetico asked me to come on. My main mission is to translate such a catch-all concept as sustainability in highly practical terms.”
Double Materiality Assessment
While some sections are mandatory under CSRD guidelines, companies are also given a lot of freedom in compiling their reports. “To decide what elements to report on, we performed a Double Materiality Assessment (DMA)”, Ruben explains. “The word double refers to the fact that companies need to look at issues from two perspectives: On the one hand, the impact Vetico has on people and the environment. And on the other hand, the risks and opportunities Vetico faces in today’s changing world.”
for Vetico on which we will be reporting”
From 207 to 17 themes
“From the DMA, we distilled the most relevant themes for Vetico and our stakeholders”, Ruben continues. “In the first theme, we whittled down 207 potential themes to a shortlist of 17 by merging and excluding themes one by one. We then performed an impact and risk analysis on the shortlisted themes. After thorough research and discussions with more than two hundred employees, suppliers, clients and shareholders, we have narrowed down eleven material themes for Vetico on which we will be reporting, ranging from plastic pollution and energy consumption and carbon emissions to sustainable supply chain and occupational health, safety and well-being.”
Why Vetico’s impetus matters
When Ruben finishes his interim job one month from now, he will leave behind a clear action plan for his permanent successor, new hire Job. The plan also lays down KPIs backed by all stakeholders that will allow the company to gradually move forward. “Vetico will publish its first sustainability report after Q1 of 2025”, Ruben predicts, “Which will be the benchmark we use to draw up our new ambitions and action plans. I’m thrilled with the result so far. We have an excellent story to tell.”
“While it’s true that we’re required to report”, our sustainability consultant concludes, “Our impetus does matter… Many companies are putting it off, while we’ve already made major strides.”
