There is a new report for Polish entrepreneurs, which suggests how to profit from the transition to green energy. Renewable sources have become one of the determinants that establishes a company’s competitiveness in the market. The publication clearly indicates the ESG requirements and regulations, the knowledge of which is necessary to conduct business in accordance with the green energy revolution.
July 18 saw the release of the report “ESG Requirements and Corporate Competitiveness. A practical guide for small, medium and large enterprises” . The report is the first in a series of joint publications by the RE-Source Poland Hub Foundation and the WiseEuropa think-tank, dedicated to building the competitiveness of businesses through the transition to renewable energy.
The report’s authors aim to provide entrepreneurs with practical knowledge of international trends, changing regulatory conditions and new opportunities for investment financing. The topic assumes particular importance in the face of record and ever-increasing energy prices.
Szymon Kowalski, vice president of the RE-Source Poland Hub Foundation and co-author of the report emphasizes -. We show why more and more companies are choosing to switch to renewable energy, how they are doing it, what areas of their business are key, how they are benefiting from it. We pay special attention to green energy, which companies can purchase under the cPPA (Corporate Power Purchase Agreement) model, i.e. corporate purchases of energy from renewable sources.
– In the next reports, we will talk about further elements of the green transition for business and industry. We will focus on the competitiveness of Polish companies, discuss the shaping changes in energy policy, the development of renewable energy sources and their implications for energy markets,” says Krzysztof Kobyłka, senior analyst at WiseEuropa and co-author of the report. – We will also describe how an appropriate regulatory environment and responsible PPA policies can simultaneously support Polish companies and national climate policy commitments – he adds.
In the first report, the authors focused on the growing role of ESG(Environmental, Social responsibility and corporate governance). ESG criteria assess whether companies are operating in a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable manner. The report shows how, in practice, meeting environmental and climate criteria affects companies’ ability to grow, access financing and expand markets. On the other hand, failure to meet these criteria increases the risk of restrictions on sales markets and opportunities to finance not only investments, but also current operations, as well as with negative assessments from their customers. As Paweł Wróbel, director of the RE-Source Poland Hub Foundation and co-author of the report, points out: – The impact of ESG is becoming important not only for large companies, but also for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, which are part of the supply chain for larger players supplying their products and services to European markets. This means that large companies’ efforts to green these chains will indirectly force decarbonization in its individual links.
The publication will be followed by workshops in several regions of Poland for companies wishing to switch to green energy. The first of the workshops will be held as early as July 19 in Katowice.
The launch of the report was accompanied by an expert debate in the series “Green Energy for Business. Sustainability and Socially Responsible Business” presenting the experiences of leaders in green transformation. Participants addressed the challenges facing entrepreneurs in Poland – including rising energy costs, as well as the need to meet sustainability criteria.
The Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH) stresses that electricity consumption is steadily increasing -. The price of energy is also rising, and entrepreneurs are looking for every way to reduce this price. The most common questions we hear are precisely about reducing costs, but also about ways to efficiently transmit energy and store it – Grzegorz Slomkowski, vice president of PAIH, points out. There is also a noticeable increase in interest among companies in cPPAs. – Price volatility in the energy market motivates businesses to seek solutions and take an interest in cPPAs. However, it is essential that they understand the design of such a contract, which is currently a major challenge for SMEs. The way energy is contracted today can determine the competitive advantage of companies. We observe that more and more entrepreneurs are choosing to invest in green energy, although the sources of motivation for these decisions sometimes vary – global ESG strategies, expectations of business partners and customers, the search for savings – Dominika Taranko, Director of the IPP Energy Forum, said. A representative of the government administration also spoke in the debate: – The climate ministry’s activities are indirectly part of the ESG policy and strategy, especially in the area of environmental protection, noted Lukasz Tomaszewski of the Department of Renewable Energy Sources at the Ministry of Climate and Environment.
Also taking part in the debate were Maciej Kowalski, president of Enefit Polska, Jacek Hutyra, Orange Polska Climate Officer, and Aleksandra Miłobędzka, energy and climate expert from WiseEuropa. . Experts unanimously stressed the increasing role of green energy in shaping the position of companies in domestic and international markets.