The role of business in the social development of Poland

The panellists discussed the role of business in Poland in sustainable development and in developing circular economy in times of energy crisis and high market uncertainty. Although the discussion began with digitalisation and security, it quickly shifted to focus mainly on various aspects highlighted by the energy crisis, i.e. energy availability, the use of renewable energy sources, and energy conservation.

Czytaj więcej

Biznes

Rola biznesu w rozwoju społecznym Polski

Pandemia i wojna znacząco zmieniły warunki prowadzenia działalności biznesowej. Nieoczekiwanie stały się ważnym akceleratorem zmian i rozwoju technologii do walki z kryzysem energetycznym.

Change of conditions

– The pandemic has dramatically accelerated the digitalisation of our operations, said Radosław Kaskiewicz, Managing Director of 3M East Europe Region. He shared his observation that the digitalisation of commerce has increased direct deliveries to customers, with even small purchases being delivered today to parcel machines or customers’ homes. – This undoubtedly has an aggravating effect on the environment – more transport services means more cars on the road. Despite the remote working, offices are open, heated and cooled. This balance is not positive, said the head of 3M in Poland.

The war in Ukraine has brought new challenges not only to the EU countries, but also to business, especially to companies doing business in that country. – I am also responsible for 3M’s operations in Ukraine. The priority was to ensure the safety of our employees and their families. Certainly, we also had to change our approach to business planning and operations to one that is more flexible and adapted to dynamically changing logistic, purchasing, or regulatory conditions, R. Kaskiewicz said.

Experts agreed that in times of energy crisis, the first problem is reliable access to energy, with all seeing great opportunities to normalise the situation in the development of renewable energy sources. – At 3M’s factories in Poland, for years, we have been investing not only in renewable energy, but also in solutions that reduce energy consumption, water consumption, or waste generation. For almost two years, 100% of the energy purchased by 3M in Poland has come from renewable energy sources. It doesn’t stop there. We plan to have our own photovoltaic installations, which – although they won’t cover 100% of our demand – will still allow us to minimise price increases and raise the stability of access to energy, said R. Kaskiewicz, who stressed that today, it is no longer a question of whether or not businesses want to go green or whether it is profitable. It is practically the matter of “to be or not to be.”

The role of renewable energy sources is growing

Renewable energy sources are of key importance for IKEA, too, which is already making vast use of green energy in Poland and is announcing more green energy projects.

– According to the “People & Planet Positive” strategy, we will become a climate-positive business by 2030. We are implementing this strategy consistently, including in Poland. One of the specific goals is 100% green energy for all our operations, and I can confirm that this is already happening in Poland, said Marina Dubakina, President and CEO of Sustainability at IKEA Retail.

She stressed the role of regulations that favour investments in renewable energy sources. – If we had regulations in the area of renewable energy sources to simplify and accelerate the change, we could do even more. Ingka Group (IKEA) wants to invest EUR 4 billion in the energy transition, and Poland is a key market – due to the scale of production, it is the second market after China. We are capable of doing even more, and we need a favourable environment for these investments, M. Dubakina said.

BASF is also investing in renewable energy sources. Katarzyna Byczkowska, Managing Director of BASF Poland, acknowledged that the war and energy crisis have actually accelerated environmental and energy measures at the company, such as investments in green energy, which is crucial in an energy-intensive industry, like chemical industry.

– We have announced that we will achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and reduce emissions by 25% by 2030 as compared to 2018. We are betting heavily on technologies that will allow us to start being circular or reduce the consumption of raw materials, K. Byczkowska said. For this chemical manufacturer, energy is an important issue as it consumes about 4% of the energy of Germany and as much gas as all of Romania. The company recently announced its largest investment in its own renewable sources – the world’s largest wind farm in the Netherlands and in photovoltaics.

Energy saving

Marina Dubakina emphasised that in addition to external regulations, it is also important to prepare the company’s internal procedures in terms of the company’s values, supporting employees, or supply chain partners, preferably before problems arise.

– Our strategy, based on which we have been operating since 2012, allows us to clearly identify and pursue priorities that concern both the planet and people. It helps us react to extreme conditions, such as a pandemic, climate change, or the war in Ukraine. Covid was a great test of resilience for us, but it showed that we have a solid foundation. We were able to take proper care of the employees, the business, and the supply chain partners. The same goes for our response to the war; it was obvious to us to engage in action. This is how we understand the role of our business in the sustainable development of Poland, M. Dubakina said.

One aspect of diversity in global players is the greater proportion of women in decision-making positions.

– Our global 30/30 goal means that BASF plans to increase the percentage of women in management positions to 30% worldwide by 2030. It may not seem like much; however, in the chemical industry, it’s a very ambitious plan. Interestingly, in Poland we have already achieved this goal; and in the management structure, almost half of the employees are women, said Katarzyna Byczkowska.

In addition to choosing the right energy sources, saving energy is an important step, as Radosław Kaskiewicz pointed out. – Energy efficiency is an important part of 3M’s pro-environmental efforts. This year alone, we will invest several million dollars in initiatives that will help us reduce energy consumption at 3M factories in Poland. These range from advanced Industry 4.0 implementations that optimise production processes to much simpler changes, such as replacing lighting with 100% LEDs. The issue of energy efficiency is also important to 3M customers. That’s why many of our new products and solutions help them reduce energy consumption or CO2 emissions, R. Kaskiewicz said. The expert stressed that companies should be leaders supported by regulators that drive the trend of being ecological.

Olga Semeniuk, Deputy Minister of Development and Technology, acknowledged that Poland’s economic environment has changed a lot since February.