26 Jul 2021

Cority and WeSustain joint forces for better tomorrows

In our exclusive interview with Michael Couture – Chief Product Officer at Cority – and Manfred Heil – CEO at WeSustain – find out what the strategic vision of the recent merger of the two companies is about. In addition, learn why there is an unstoppable momentum for digital transformation and sustainability as well as what role software solutions can and will play in it.

Cority is one of the leading global EHS software providers. To what extent is it the logical next strategic step for Cority to address the management challenge of „sustainability“ within the market-leading CorityOne™ platform?

Michael Couture:
We were thrilled to join forces with WeSustain because of the critical importance of ESG and Sustainability management globally. We felt the product and the specialized team would bring a great deal to CorityOne™ and the early indications are beyond our expectations. We have a roadmap that will see us both continue to enhance WeSustain, but also bring tight integration across EHS and Sustainability for operational EHS data and enhanced reporting and dashboards over the coming few months.

 WeSustain’s aim is and always has been to make businesses more sustainable and future-proof in Europe and around the world. To what extent is the merger with Cority the perfect match for this objective?

Manfred Heil:
In order to meet these targets a couple of important prerequisites have to be fulfilled. It goes without saying that there has to be a compelling strategic reasoning in terms of product and market. But equally important, there has to be the right fit between people and culture of the companies involved to make things happen. During our early discussions and “bonding” time we had the opportunity to meet the Cority team and we’ve been impressed with their business values and professional attitude. In addition, there was a good sense of humor and positive vibes.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasize in goal 17 that strategic alliances are essential for sustainable development. What is special about the alliance formed between WeSustain as a new member of the Cority family? What specific potential for more sustainability in business do you want to leverage?

Michael Couture: Coming out of the pandemic, the interest in digitising sustainability performance management is overwhelming from companies around the world. We believe that by partnering with WeSustain that we can utilize our global reach to help our current customers – the likes of Unilever, PPG, ExxonMobil, and more than a thousand others – as well as new clients, improve their sustainability performance; holding themselves and their partners more accountable to improve performance in developed and developing nations.

Manfred Heil: At WeSustain we always believed in decentral structures and networks of innovation. And I know that Cority is the same. Sustainability asks to look at things holistically and integrated. On the flip side this drives complexity and the need of combining complementary competencies and experience. Providing our customers with integrated solutions, which share a set of common raw data and provide a unified user experience in terms of workflows and business logic will improve productivity dramatically and generate new insights for our customers.

 

In the age of digitization and Big Data, two transformational pathways are growing increasingly closer together, the digital and sustainable transformation. How does Cority combine these two pathways?

Michael Couture: Digital transformation has been accelerating for several years, but the pandemic has exponentially increased that trend as we see in our everyday „new normal“ lives. This has fueled demand for cloud-based software solutions to help enterprises both automate processes for efficiency and improve compliance (as HSE software has done for many years), but also utilize insights from the data collected to become more predictive and prescriptive in how they can improve their EHS and sustainability performance. Cority is investing significantly in the area of analytics and ultimately Industry 2.0 capabilities that tap into this opportunity to empower our clients to achieve the highest levels of performance.

Manfred Heil: The international presence and reach of Cority will enable us to achieve a much broader presence in an accelerated fashion. For me that’s one of the main drivers. We see that the pieces of the puzzles are now starting to fall into place in terms of harmonization of reporting standards and international regulations. With Cority we will achieve the scale and pace in order to leverage the great work of our team around the globe.

 

Where do you think North America currently stands compared to Europe in terms of sustainable development?

Michael Couture: Frankly, North America is just awakening relative to the advanced nature of the subject in Europe. However, it is doing so at a very rapid rate now, in part driven by ESG in the financial sector. We plan to continue to advance the great innovations that WeSustain has been bringing European firms for 10 years, and to also offer that to meet the exploding demand for digital sustainability software solutions in North America. The tight integration of EHS and operational data for Cority will add tremendous value to this overall proposition.

 Manfred Heil: I can only confirm this observation. North America is catching up fast. Of course, the EU is doing some ground-breaking and bold work currently. Still, I sometimes wonder if we are doing it too complex and too theoretical on this side of the pond, which potentially dilutes the intended impact. So, North America with more of a pragmatic business focus and result-driven approach could be a valuable counter-draft in that regard. Eventually concepts will blend in the near future.

 

What are the next major milestones Cority is pursuing together with WeSustain in 2021?

Michael Couture: We have an aggressive plan for product integration that is underway and our teams are now working as one in unity to advance the WeSustain platform and the overall CorityOne™ offering. We’ll be educating our clients as a first step on what can be anticipated, listening to our clients suggestions and feedback and working to improve the offerings. We have many events and communications planned in the coming months to do that.

 

What can WeSustain existing customers expect in the coming weeks and months?

Manfred Heil: Of course, we will do the internal homework and integrate the existing solutions and processes on all relevant levels. Both companies have been using similar technology and architecture in the past. So integration will be swift and seamless with ready to use integration scenarios as of Q3 2021. We will reach out to our existing customers to keep them up to speed with the integration process and new solutions available. In addition we will invite them to the bigger Cority user community as a platform for on-going engagement and joint innovation.

 

Empower for better tomorrows. On that note: What is your very personal entrepreneurial vision for a sustainable future?

Michael Couture: I’m not exactly a ‚visionary‘, but I do have some strong opinions on the power of technology to solve big problems and drive real change in our lives. It’s as much about a hope as it is a vision, but I really do think that there is unstoppable momentum coming out of the pandemic in the areas of digital transformation and sustainability. I envision a world where companies‘ economic best interests become one with that of the wellbeing of society that they operate in. I think it’s starting to happen. We’ll definitely do our part at Cority/WeSustain to help.

Manfred Heil: This will be a question of “freedom and responsibility” for us as mankind and therefore very much politically driven. When we were founding our company, we put the “We” in front of our name. I can only hope that the “We” (instead of a pervasive “I”) becomes the common perspective in the upcoming political and societal discussions ahead.

05 Jul 2021

Webinar: ESG Management in Practice: Current challenges for investors and benefits of a digital and standardized implementation (in English)

Target audience: Investors (limited partners, LP), Institutional Investors, Private Equity Firms, Real Estate Investors, Infrastructure Investors, other interested financial players
Dates:  July 21, 2021 – 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. | Registration

Note: This webinar will be held in English!

Brief Description:

With the Sustainable Finance Action Plan, the European Union intends to promote more sustainable economic growth, ensure a stable and inclusive financial system, and strengthen transparency and sustainability in the financial and real economy.

The first regulations in this direction have been introduced by the EU as well as at the national level, and they are further strengthening the already increasing relevance of ESG aspects in investment activities. For this reason, a large number of investors are now integrating ESG criteria into their investment and risk processes and are transparently facing up to the new transformation task of the financial market with professional ESG management.

Get an insight into ESG practice and its requirements for professional ESG management in the webinar with the ESG experts from TAUW and the IT experts from WeSustain. The focus will lie on a short overview of the current ESG practice and the exchange around current challenges in the financial market, especially with regard to the implementation of current regulatory requirements of the SFDR and the EU Taxonomy. In addition, you will gain insights on how to address these challenges through digital and standardized implementation with software solutions.

Bring your individual questions and experiences around ESG practice. At the end of the webinar, TAUW and WeSustain will be available to answer your questions.

 

The topics of the webinar at a glance:

  • Why is ESG or ESG criteria currently high on the agenda of many financial players?
  • What are the current challenges and opportunities in ESG practice?
  • How important are automated processes for meeting the new SFDR regulatory requirements and why is it advisable to build digital processes?

 

(more…)

30 Apr 2021

Cority Acquires ESG Software Specialist WeSustain

German-based responsible business management software provider propels Cority’s position in enabling successful and efficient ESG and sustainability management

Toronto, Canada and Hannover, Germany – 30.04.2021 – Cority, the global enterprise EHS software provider, today announced the acquisition of WeSustain, a specialist in developing innovative software solutions designed to support responsible business management and thought leaders at the intersection of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) with digitization.

With 60 customers – including ThyssenKrupp, McKesson, Merck, Commerzbank, United Internet, and Hapag-Lloyd – WeSustain is one of the world’s leading specialized software providers for ESG, corporate sustainability, and responsible business management. WeSustain’s GRI-certified SaaS solutions span across ESG, sustainability, compliance, and impact management – enabling integrated ESG and corporate sustainability management across the enterprise from a central platform.

“Joining forces with Cority instantly advances our aim of making businesses more sustainable and future-proof in Europe and around the world,” said Dr. Manfred Heil, CEO, WeSustain. “We’re convinced that smart digital solutions have an essential role to play in enabling our clients to fulfill their potential for greater efficiency, innovation, and positive impact; and to build trust through greater transparency surrounding what they do.”

Organizations are increasingly focused on digitizing their management of ESG, often as part of a wider digital transformation of EHS processes and programs. According to McKinsey & Company, evidence is emerging that a better ESG score translates to about a 10 percent lower cost of capital, as the risks that affect the business are reduced.

“Recent Verdantix survey on more than 300 EHS executives found that over half (60%) plan to adopt software for ESG reporting and sustainability program management in 2021,” said Yaowen Ma, Principal Analyst at Verdantix. “Cority has made a timely, strategic acquisition that not only further enhances its enterprise-wide platform offerings, but also continues to strengthen ESG capabilities for customers to better manage sustainability risks throughout the supply chain.”

“We are delighted to add the outstanding solutions and top talent of WeSustain to the Cority family,” said Mark Wallace, President and CEO, Cority Software Inc. “WeSustain’s solutions are an obvious complement to our market-leading CorityOne™ platform. The combination strengthens our European presence and positions Cority for the rapidly emerging strategic impact of ESG factors in every major enterprise around the world.”

About WeSustain

WeSustain GmbH Logo

WeSustain is a specialist in developing innovative software solutions designed to support responsible business management and thought leaders at the intersection of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) with digitization. Since 2010, WeSustain has developed smart software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions for data management and reporting in the area of ESG, sustainability, as well as impact, and compliance management. With 60 customers including large industry associations, approximately 600 companies and institutions place their trust in us and work with our advanced solutions. To learn more visit www.wesustain.com.

About Cority

Cority is the global enterprise EHS software provider creating industry-leading technology to empower those who transform the way the world works.  For over 35 years, Cority has been powered by the spirit of innovation, deep domain expertise, and a commitment to integrity that enables higher levels of operational and sustainable performance with the most comprehensive, human-centered, and secure SaaS platform to help workers and businesses thrive in 100 countries around the world. The company enjoys the industry’s highest levels of client satisfaction and has received many awards for its strong employee culture and outstanding business performance. To learn more, visit www.cority.com.

About VNT Management Oy

VNT has been lead investor of WeSustain since 2014 and is one of the first venture capital management companies in Europe that focuses on clean technologies, in particular renewables, electrical systems and energy savings. VNT is active in the Nordics and German-speaking countries. At present, VNT has three funds with a total investment capital of €157 million under management. VNT mainly invests in technology-orientated start-ups and growth companies in Europe. Wide business experience, active management, and corporate values based on fair play make up the cornerstones of VNT.

Media Contact:

Media@cority.com

23 Mar 2021

Sustainable supply chains on the rise

Whether upstream or downstream, supply chains attract particular attention in terms of sustainable development. The decision for a German supply chain law has now been politically announced and aims to make corporate due diligence obligations binding.

von Marie-Lucie Linde, Freelancer at WeSustain and consultant for sustainable business management

In the era of globalization and its anchored principle of ” global division of labor”, our economy is defined by high levels of international interconnections and interdependencies. Industries are globally connected through their production and procurement structures in a wide variety of directions, as are their new sales markets.

Food producers, for example, source raw materials from Africa or South America, and textile manufacturers have their products made in Asia. In this special feature, we take a closer look – following the decision to introduce a German supply chain law – and explore what new corporate due diligence obligations are associated with the law and how these can be met – for instance, with the help of digital processes.

Supply chains and their relevance for sustainability

Modern supply chains go hand in hand with an increasingly high level of social and environmental responsibility. This has matured as a clear awareness not only in economy, but also in politics. The German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs therefore provides the following definition of the term “supply chain” and the resulting corporate responsibility:

“The supply chain encompasses the entire path of a product, from the extraction of raw materials, through manufacturing and processing, to the delivery of the product to the end customer. In the globalized world, several companies and suppliers are often involved in production. That’s why it’s important to look at the entire supply chain and pay attention to human rights, including working conditions and environmental protection.“1

And so, for many companies, there are risks but also opportunities in taking a special look at the supply chain:

Risks

  • a prevailing lack of transparency in the supply chains with regard to sustainability-relevant aspects
  • a lack of enforcement and control of sustainability aspects along the supply chain
  • potential economic damage due to violation of minimum social and environmental standards (fines, sanctions, property damage, etc.)
  • Reputational risks due to insufficient fulfilment of corporate responsibility (example: Kik in connection with the collapse of the Rana Plaza textile factory, Bangladesh)2

Opportunities

  • Proactive risk and compliance management in terms of minimum social and ecological standards
  • more transparency and control over their supply chain 
  • An increase in competitiveness through a sustainable supply chain
  • a strengthened own credibility and consumer confidence (through the created transparency)
  • a positive image as “corporate citizen” by assuming corporate responsibility along the supply chain.

In practice, this outlined area of conflict between opportunities and risks confronts companies with challenges and tasks that are not to be underestimated.

Focus on new corporate due diligence requirements

In order to make corporate responsibility more tangible in the context of sustainable supply chains, so-called “corporate due diligence requirements” have been defined according to OECD guidelines3 in the following areas over the past few years:

  • Respect for human rights (e.g. prohibition of child labor, protection against slavery and forced labor, social labor protection, etc.)
  • Compliance with environmental standards if they lead to human rights violations (e.g. poisoned water)
  • Avoidance of corruption, bribery, demands for bribes and bribery extortion
  • Respect for consumer interests
  • Duty of disclosure

In Germany, expectations of corporate due diligence to respect human rights have been specified in the “National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights” (NAP for short), with the aim of improving the human rights situation in global supply chains. According to the NAP, human rights due diligence includes the following five elements or tasks:

  • Recognize responsibility
  • Identify risks
  • Minimize risks
  • Inform and report
  • Enable complaints

What in theory sounds so simple turns out to be much more demanding in practice: A representative survey conducted in July 2020 as element of the National Action Plan showed that only between 13 to 17 percent of the companies surveyed meet these NAP requirements.4 

A milestone: Binding obligation through a supply chain law

In order to make corporate due diligence requirements along the supply chain more binding, a very special solution has been lobbied for over the past few years: a supply chain law. Tireless negotiations between economic and political representatives came to an end in February 2021 with the decision by the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in favor of such a law. And so it is definite: A supply chain law in Germany is indeed coming.

Fact sheet on the German Supply Chain Law (in accordance with the resolution of the German Bundestag):5

Name: “Law on Corporate Due Diligence to Prevent Human Rights Violations in Supply Chains” (also: “Due Diligence Act”).

Objective:

  • Creating more justice for workers worldwide and empowering victims of human rights violations and civil society
  • Creation of legal certainty for German companies
  • Binding regulation of corporate due diligence requirements along the supply chain

 

Entry into force and affected parties:

The law will apply to companies with 3,000 or more employees from 2023, and to companies with 1,000 or more employees from 2024. The German Supply Chain Law has yet to be passed as part of the legislative process.

Requirements:

  • Establish and implement appropriate and effective risk management along the supply chain
  • Conduct a risk analysis to identify particularly high human rights and environmental risks
  • Take preventive and mitigative measures to prevent violations
  • Establish responsibilities for due diligence, e.g. appoint a human rights officer
  • Setting up a complaints procedure to address possible violations or breaches
  • Prepare and submit an annual report on compliance with due diligence requirements 

Similar to the CSR reporting obligation that came into force in 2017, only large companies will be directly affected and held accountable by the German Supply Chain Law. However, it is to be expected that with this law, too, the estimated 600 affected companies in Germany6 will pass on their compliance with due diligence requirements to their medium-sized suppliers and service providers in the upstream and downstream supply chain. And just as with the CSR reporting obligation at the time, there are two main forces in the market: those (e.g. “Initiative Lieferkettengesetz”) who see the law as a toothless tiger in terms of sustainable development, and those (e.g. business associations such as BDI) who see the law as a disproportionate burden on companies. At the same time, 50 companies have publicly spoken out for legal regulation in a joint statement.7

One thing is certain: The German Supply Chain Law will bring new requirements to companies in terms of supply chain management and the creation of transparency and collaboration along the supply chain. The key challenge is to integrate the extended due diligence requirements into the existing compliance management system and to introduce corresponding risk analysis and documentations.

Digital and collaborative management systems as part of the solution

In creating transparency along an entity as complex as the supply chain, there will be no avoiding an extensive and comprehensive digitization of processes. Digital solutions will be needed to help companies in practice to monitor their supply chains on a continuous, fact-based basis. To this end, data must be collected collaboratively along the supply chain, evaluated holistically and transferred into corresponding documentation. 

At WeSustain, software provider for responsible business management, this necessity in the context of sustainability reporting was already detected 10 years ago. “We observe that corporate sustainability has become a central management task in companies, which needs to be planned, controlled and communicated professionally. However, many companies still lack orientation on how to integrate processes efficiently and professionally, moving away from Excel spreadsheets to smart and collaborative process solutions. This also applies to supply chain management,” stresses Markus Bowe, product manager at WeSustain. Thus, based on the Enterprise Sustainability Management (ESM) solution, WeSustain offers its customers proven digital and collaborative process structures to create transparency on sustainability-relevant aspects. One example of this kind of solution developed by WeSustain is the digital platform “GS1 Ecotraxx” for GS1 Germany – a private sector organisation for modern communication and process standards. It is used for the efficient exchange of sustainability information between producers, suppliers and retailers.

 

Outlook

Currently, there is a patchwork of national and sector-specific standards and laws regulating corporate due diligence along the supply chain. Countries in the EU such as the Netherlands and France are leading the way with their already adopted legal regulations, even if these are being criticized for not being far-reaching enough. The EU Commission is also planning to introduce an EU law this year that will make companies liable if they violate or contribute to violations of human rights, environmental standards and good governance.8

In the end, the key to full transparency and traceability of supply chains lies in the digitalization and Big Data. Innovative and digital tools are needed to support companies in this new management challenge. Blockchain technology is highly anticipated for supply chain management. In the future, blockchain technology could make it possible to reliably collect data along the supply chain and to verify and secure it by means of encryption.9

Fußnoten zum Themenspecial: “Nachhaltige Lieferketten auf dem Vormarsch”:

1 Cf. BMAS: LINK,
2 Cf. “Kik-Textilien in eingestürztem Fabrikgebäude”:LINK, vom 2.5.2013.
3 Cf. OECD: “OECD-Leitfaden für die Erfüllung der Sorgfaltspflicht für verantwortungsvolles unternehmerisches Handeln”, S. 10.
4 Cf. BMAS:  LINK, abgerufen am 14.3.2021.
5 Cf. Referentenentwurf des BMAS “Gesetz über die unternehmerische Sorgfaltspflichten in Lieferketten” vom 15.2.2021
6 Cf. CSR in Deutschland: LINK, abgerufen am 14.03.2021.
7 Cf. Tagesschau:LINK
8 Cf. LINK, abgerufen am 16.03.2021
9 Cf. EU-Parlament: LINK, abgerufen am 16.03.2021.
10 Cf. CHE Manager: “Mehr Transparenz durch digitale Lieferketten” LINK, abgerufen am 11.03.2021.

10 Dec 2020

Half of the Top 10 “most sustainable companies in Germany” relies on WeSustain as software partner

In the exclusive ranking “the 200 most sustainable companies in Germany 2021” of the stern editing team and the market research company Statista, five WeSustain software customers – including Allianz, Merck and Talanx – are among the top 10 most sustainable companies in Germany 2021.

The insurance company Allianz has been rated as Germany’s most sustainable company 2021 in the latest ranking by the stern editing team and the market research company Statista. In addition to the ranking leader Allianz, another four companies and software customers of WeSustain – among others the pharmaceutical company Merck and the insurance company Talanx based in Hannover – have secured a place in the top 10 of the ranking. All five companies and WeSustain customers use the Enterprise Sustainability Management (ESM) software for their sustainability management, which was analyzed and evaluated in the ranking along 30 key indicators in the three categories environment, social and economy. In addition, an online panel of 13,000 citizens was used to assess their perception of sustainability in relation to the companies.

“Our customers rely on WeSustain as a software partner to further professionalize their sustainability management because with us they build collaborative and digital processes to efficiently manage and implement their sustainability projects. They are therefore laying the foundation for a transparent communication and an effective sustainability performance. We are very excited that five of our customers received recognition for their efforts in the top 10 of the ranking by the stern editing team and Statista,” highlights Dr. Manfred Heil, Managing Director at WeSustain.

The magazine stern and the market research company Statista compared the sustainability performance of a total of 2,000 companies based in Germany for the ranking. The precondition for the ranking was that the company has at least 500 employees, is one of the companies with the highest revenues in Germany or is listed in an index of the Dax family. The weapons industry was excluded from the ranking, as were companies with greenhouse gas emissions of over ten million tons. A total of 200 companies qualified for the ranking.

More about WeSustain’s customers can be found under:

https://wesustain.link/clients

Contact at WeSustain GmbH

Markus Bowe
ESM product manager
markus.bowe@wesustain.com

Michael Schnerring
Sales director “ESM software solution”
michael.schnerring@wesustain.com