With the "ESG Sprint" module, ESGendium offers companies an automated process that is also used in practice by sustainability consultants. It helps companies to obtain an initial, general but very structured approach to sustainability and to better understand and correctly implement the topic of ESG in the context of their own company.

Companies can sign-up and create their own company account. Once the account has been created, users are taken to an intro screen that briefly explains how ESGendium is used. The ESG Sprint can then be started directly, which leads to the ESG report.

Once you have registered, you can start the ESG Sprint straight away. This then takes approx. 2-3 hours if you do it all at once. However, this does not necessarily have to be the case. You can start with the ESG Sprint and continue where you left off at any time. The data is automatically saved at the last status and after logging in again, the process can be continued from where you last left off. By way of comparison, experience shows that a similar sustainability approach and first sustainability report takes around 2-3 months with a sustainability consultant.

Dann sagen wir Gratulation! Denn mit solch einem strukturierten Nachhaltigkeitsbericht hat man schon einen ersten (aber großen) Schritt in Richtung Nachhaltigkeit getan. Genau wie mit einem persönlichen Nachhaltigkeitsberater, gibt auch der ESG Sprint den Unternehmen erste ESG-Ziele, ESG-KPIs und erste Handlungsempfehlungen, die die Unternehmen nun auf dem Schirm haben und darauf hinarbeiten können. Damit haben die Unternehmen zunächst einmal einiges zu tun. Parallel gilt es, nennenswerte Änderungen wie bspw. eine neue Anzahl an Mitarbeitern, Eröffnung/Schließung neuer Standorte, Änderung der Rechtsform o.ä. im ESG Sprint neu aufzunehmen, da sich dadurch ggf. einzelne wesentliche Themen, ein paar ESG-Ziele, KPIs oder Teile der Strategie ändern.

Im Verlauf von H2/2024 wird das Modul “ESG Marathon” sukzessive entwickelt und zur Nutzung bereitgestellt. Der ESG Marathon geht dann tiefer in die einzelnen ESG Bereiche, wo konkrete Daten wie CO2-Werte u.ä. abgefragt werden. Der ESG Marathon geht über die rein informelle Basis hinaus und bedarf konkreterer Angaben, die die Unternehmen messen und optimieren können.

No, they are not. It is important to stakeholders that companies understand sustainability in its entirety and integrate it into their overall corporate strategy, i.e. that they pursue a holistic and structured approach to sustainability. This requires companies to be aware of their material sustainability issues, their stakeholders, their ESG opportunities and risks, etc. It is not enough to cover only individual sub-areas of ESG such as greenhouse gas emissions, supply chain or similar.

Payment can be made by normal bank transfer, or credit card. The payment is yaerly and can be canceled at the end of the annual plan.

99% of all companies are SMEs, such as craft businesses, service providers, consulting companies, manufacturing companies, trading companies, etc.. And they account for around 60% of the economic output of all companies. This means that social goals such as stopping climate change, preserving biodiversity or improving the human rights situation at suppliers in emerging countries can only be achieved with the help of small and medium-sized enterprises. Both stakeholders and politicians have recognized this. And that is why, after large corporations and larger companies were the first to experience strong sustainability regulation, the focus is now shifting to small and medium- sized enterprises. It is therefore no longer an option for small companies to postpone the start of their own sustainability journey any longer.

This depends on various factors such as the number of employees, turnover or balance sheet size. In addition to regulatory requirements, various stakeholders such as banks, insurers, major business customers, investors and even the company's own employees are increasingly demanding that companies adopt a credible, more sustainable approach. In order to meet these demands, but also in their own interests (such as avoiding reputational damage or taking advantage of new market opportunities), it also makes sense for small and medium-sized companies to start "becoming more sustainable" as early as possible and to develop a structured ESG approach. Failing to do this or delaying it as much as possible can lead to enormous problems if one of the stakeholders (unexpectedly) asks about the company's sustainability status. In future, banks will also grant loans based on the scope and quality of ESG data. It will then make a significant difference, especially for SMEs, whether they pay 0.2% higher interest over 10 or 15 years or not. The same applies to insurance companies and insurance premiums or the awarding of contracts by large companies that pay attention to the assessment of rating agencies in the area of sustainability (e.g. assessment by EcoVadis).