On March 21, during the Petit Batimatech, Me Guy-Philippe Bouchard led a discussion on the adoption of a management approach that responds to environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and challenges in the construction industry, in the company of Geneviève David Watson from Groupe Montoni, Miguel Sousa from Ambioner and Olivier Laquin from Talsom.
Several points emerged from this discussion and from the remarks of the other guest speakers.
While all participants at the Petit Batimatech agreed on the need to act on the climate issues affecting our planet, it appears that a company’s ability to commit to ESG depends greatly on its size. For a large property manager, the level of commitment will depend much more on profitability than for builders who may target a clientele for whom ESG is already a priority. Despite the great openness of the financial institutions in attendance to support ESG projects, they acknowledged that they “know less about the subject” than the companies seeking to finance such projects.
Nevertheless, two observations inspire confidence in the future importance and influence of ESG in the management of construction companies. Stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds explained how a company with responsible ESG management poses less risk to its investors, creditors and business partners. Others spoke of how very large industry players are now requiring their business partners to have implemented ESG oriented management. Both of these trends should give some advantage to companies that have been pioneers in ESG and drive their adoption in the industry.
If you have any questions in this regard, we invite you to contact Me Bouchard who will be pleased to discuss further with you and your team.