CSRD and its Impact on GO with Christine Galea, Senior Manager, Financial Control

What is CSRD?

CSRD stands for Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. In 2021, the European Union started this process where companies have to report on their corporate sustainability. In August 2023, the Directive was approved by the European Union and this has to be transposed across the countries until June 2024. This means that all companies; large entities which are listed, other large entities and SMEs (small and medium enterprises) will be obliged to report on their corporate sustainability. Corporate sustainability does not just refer to the environment, it is based on the three pillars of ESG; Environment, Social and Governance.

What implications does this have for GO?

Since GO is a large listed entity with over 500 employees at group level, we have to report on GO’s group activities during 2024. Other large companies that are not over 500 employees will be obliged to start reporting in 2026 for the period 2025. This is widespread and does not just apply to GO.

What will GO have to report on?

In regards to the environment, GO will be reporting on its effects on climate, pollution, waste, biodiversity as well as on the circular economy. In terms of the social aspect, GO will be reporting on its employees as well as all employees that are subcontracted. Also included are the workers in the value chain who do not have a direct relationship with GO. There’s also the community at large which includes the consumer. Lastly in regard to governance, GO will have to report on how it is managed from a governance point of view. This incorporates how GO pays taxes and its suppliers. In essence, this is what CSRD is and what GO will have to report on along with the annual report. As a matter of fact there will be a whole section on corporate sustainability in next year’s annual report.

What is your role in all of this?

It’s important to note that CSRD is very wide in order to cater for all the various companies. We have to go through the CSRD regulations and then see what is material to GO as some areas do not directly affect us. We would need to assess the type of materiality which is either impact materiality or financial materiality. Then we can begin to consider what needs to be reported. This requires strategy and transition plans and then arrive at the data points that need to be reported. This affects our planning of targets and how we plan on achieving them. This allows for companies to be accountable on their sustainability journey.

What role does the value chain have?

The value chain is very interesting as there’s a multiplier effect on all companies. Purchasing from non-sustainable suppliers will affect the reporting of the producers. This will hopefully drive companies to become sustainable, even those who are outside the scope of CSRD, therefore non-European countries. Hopefully, it’s a step in the right direction to bring companies to be truly sustainable, not just on paper.

So, you’re saying that this is an adaptation that those companies not directly involved in the CSRD processes will have to make?

Yes, definitely, we already do this for security. We already ask our suppliers for their security levels as they will affect ours. I will be asking our suppliers for their practices on human rights, child labour and on a multiple of other areas. Everything provided is audited. This drives the demand and supply for companies and even countries that do not start implementing certain things are going to lose out from selling, exporting their goods and services.

Our GO Green Initiative

At GO plc, we’re not just a telecommunications company, we’re a group of people who connect people all over Malta and Gozo. We strive to maintain this connectivity, not just digitally, but also physically. It’s important that we take care of our physical environment so that future generations can also enjoy the same connectivity. That’s why we’ve set up GO Green, an extension of GO primarily focusing on helping sustain and improve the environment whenever possible.

This blog post was written by Benjamin Thomas Scerri – Sustainability Associate, GO Green.

Benjamin is a member of the GO Green team. His main focus is keeping track of new ways in which to make GO more sustainable wherever and whenever possible.