Be economically profitable, socially just and environmentally friendly. A company must balance these three dimensions so that its development in the short term is not going to compromise society or nature in the medium or long term.
Ypsilom, a sustainable development and corporate responsibility consultant in Ecuador, prepared -for the third consecutive year- a ranking of the companies that have stood out the most in their sustainable practices.
Ecuador is advancing rapidly in the field of sustainable development. More and more companies are concerned about mitigating their environmental impacts and generating a positive effect in the communities where they have their activities.
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According to Pamela Velasco Maldonado, director of Ypsilom, a great job is being done from the public sector to lead the country towards an ecological transition. “The number of companies that prepare Sustainability Reports doubled this year, largely due to the impulse of Cemdes (Business Council for Sustainable Development of Ecuador), and more and more universities have improved their offer, for example, the International University SEK offers a postgraduate course in Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility”. She trusts that he ranking prepared by the consultant is also an incentive for companies to motivate themselves to work more towards sustainability.
Throughout the year, Ypsilom monitors 300 companies that publicly communicate their good practices in terms of sustainability or corporate social responsibility. According to the actions they carry out, they are awarded points and at the end of the year it is determined which have been the 30 most outstanding.
Velasco says that in 2020 Ypsilom had the initiative to create a Ranking of Sustainable Companies in Ecuador. “To do so, we rely on some world-renowned indices such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and on rankings such as the one produced by Corporate Knights magazine”.
He emphasizes that they had to develop their own methodology, since no one in Ecuador had done something similar. “Besides, we didn’t want our ranking It will be based on perception surveys, since sustainability is a technical issue and its rating should not be subject to subjective opinion”.
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Parameters for the choice
Any company that has operations in Ecuador can be taken into account for the ranking. “Our methodology considers four variables with different weights each: sustainable business management (50%), sustainability recognition (30%), membership in sustainability unions (20%) and opinion of specialists (10%)”, explains Pamela.
Sustainable business management. It is considered if the company has a certified system of sustainability management or corporate social responsibility. For example, if the organization is certified as a B Corp.
Recognitions in sustainability. Points are awarded for each award or distinction that the organization has received during the year. For example, if you have obtained the Socially Responsible Company (ESR) award.
Membership of sustainability unions. It is valued that organizations are part of a sustainability union and the actions they carry out within it. For example, if the company belongs to Cemdes (Business Council for Sustainable Development), Ceres or Global Compact.
Opinion of 200 specialists. It is the variable that has the least weight, since objective evidence is valued before subjective opinion.
There is no cost to be part of the ranking, Ypsilom does not charge for the monitoring it does during the year. Likewise, all the investigation is based on the public information that the company shares in its official channels such as the website or social networks.
Pamela Velasco Maldonado, director of Ypsilom.
Ypsilom also prepared a list of the Ecuadorian universities that stood out the most with their sustainable practices in 2022. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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