ProCredit Bank and TANA 21 presented Bosnia and Herzegovina’s first ESG Guide for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). It is a comprehensive manual whose main purpose is to help companies, as well as the general public, to use terms correctly and incorporate ESG guidelines into operations and reporting.
ESG is an acronym for the word “Environmental, Social and Governance” and denotes three key factors that should be taken into account when measuring the sustainability, ethics and socially responsible operations of companies, organizations and institutions.
– Considering that we are directly involved in the business of our clients through frequent conversations and financial consultations, we realized that the existence of such a guide is extremely important for understanding the ecosystem of ESG guidelines in all sectors – said Ines Amitović, director of the Department for sustainable development and communications in ProCredit Bank.
– The reason why we decided to present the ESG guide first to the media is that we know how important it is to be able to recognize the difference between PR trends and whether the organization really builds its philosophy and reputation on these, important for society, pillars – explained Amitović, adding that ProCredit Bank has been nurturing these principles since 2011, when the Sustainability Department was formed.
– This document essentially contains information about an integral part of our identity, and the process of producing the Guide was also a useful process for us, to once again check how well we really adhere to all ESG principles.
Aida Trožić, director of the consulting firm Tana 21, who participated in writing the ESG guide, said that ESG is a ubiquitous topic and that it is interesting to follow the development that indicates that the awareness of buyers and consumers is developing in the direction of the choice of services and products that are produced in an environmentally conscious, socially responsible and legal way.
– Business today, in addition to financial, must also take ESG factors into account, and the presented ESG guide to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in BiH will be a good starting point for business development in that direction – said Aida Trožić, director of TANA 21.
During presentation of the ESG Guide for journalists, a workshop was organized on the topic “Greenwashing in media reporting – How to recognize it and why to react?” Greenwashing is a practice in which companies or organizations claim to be environmentally responsible and sustainable, but these claims are untrue or exaggerated. Most often, this is done to attract environmentally conscious consumers and improve the company’s reputation, but without any real commitment to environmental protection. One of the reasons why ProCredit Bank, as a certified responsible financial institution, created and presented this Guide to the media is to contribute to more responsible reporting on this important topic.
The guide will be distributed free of charge to ProCredit Bank clients from the MSME sector, but it will also be made available to all interested parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Source: ba.ekapija.com
