• The speaker stressed the importance of collaborating and exchanging good practices between different organizations because social and environmental challenges are the responsibility of society as a whole.
  • The next CEEC Business Lunch will be held on November 16, with Raül Blanco, Secretary General of Industry and Small and Medium Enterprises.
    The Efficient Energy Cluster of Catalonia (CEEC) held a new CEEC Business Lunch on Tuesday 21 September at the Hotel H10 Metropolitan. This meeting was attended by Ms. Ana Palencia, Director of Communication and Sustainability at Unilever Spain.

The day, which brought together about 30 attendees, began with the presentation of the board entitled ‘Marks with purpose. Unilever’s case. During the day, Palencia has placed special emphasis on the fact that "companies that have sustainability integrated into their business model grow more and in the end last longer in time", evidence of this is that since 2016 so annual innovation projects to combat climate change are growing at a rate of 16%, and in 2020 came to generate $ 37 trillion, according to consulting firm Boston Consulting Group.

During the lunch, the board stressed that the change in the mentality of the consumer has accelerated as a result of the pandemic, as they become more and more aware and play an activist role in deciding what to buy. In fact, this figure is corroborated by the Eurobarometer 2020, which concludes that 21% of European end customers say they take ethical criteria into account when buying.

Citizens are beginning to pay much more attention to the positive environmental and social impact of organizations, and this is reflected in the workplace and the choice of one organization or another. Palencia noted that young people who show interest in developing their careers at Unilever, among their motivations, emphasize that they want to work for a company with purpose. This is confirmed by a study by Deloitte, which states that approximately 60% of millennials leave or will leave their organization in which they work if the company does not take positive impact measures internally and / or externally. Therefore, having a purpose is essential to retain talent.

Finally, the representative of Unilever stressed the importance of collaborating and exchanging good practices between different organizations because social and environmental challenges are the responsibility of society as a whole. "In the end, no matter how much a company executes actions on its own, it alone will not achieve anything. We need to join forces and cooperate. ”

For her part, Esther Izquierdo, President of the CEEC, pointed out the work of the Cluster, which is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): 5 (gender equality), 7 (clean and accessible energy), 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 12 (responsible consumption and production) and 13 (climate action).

The next CEEC Business Lunch will be held on November 16, with Raül Blanco, Secretary General of Industry and Small and Medium Enterprises.