“Based on the principle that for a company to be sustainable it must be profitable, business leaders are facing very complex changes. When in doubt between sustainability and profitability, we must turn to our values, our principles, and our ideals—otherwise, achieving sustainability will be impossible. In the end, the decision is yours: sustainability depends on your choices. It depends on you,” stated Luis de Valdivia, chairman of Ecoener, before more than 200 companies during the award ceremony for the Responsabilízate seal, granted to SMEs that have completed this program promoted by the Consejería de Empleo, Comercio y Emigración of the Xunta de Galicia.
The chairman of Ecoener emphasized the importance of “doing business in a moral way” and cited Emmanuel Faber, former CEO of Danone, as an example of this management approach. Faber advocated for “adopting a new model that prioritizes social values, the environment, and local agriculture and livestock—areas that new consumers care about and are willing to pay for.”
In his speech, titled Sustainability: You Decide, Luis de Valdivia reflected on sustainability and its role in today’s society: **“We are all environmentalists, but we must decide what kind of environmentalists we are.” **He advocated for what he called “adhesive environmentalism, ”inspired by a quote from renowned winemaker Pierre Overnoy about the land: “It is not our parents who gave it to us; it is our children who have lent it to us.”
In this regard, the president of Ecoener stressed that advancing sustainability requires a more philosophical education—one focused on the “whys” and “what fors”—rather than purely practical or utilitarian training.
Finally, he defended the key role of public administrations in driving sectors and the economy, as in the case of renewables: “Having a set of rules allows us all to play under better and fairer conditions,” he said, citing the Xunta’s Responsabilízate Program as an example.
This program, which involved 207 small and medium-sized enterprises from Galicia, aims to provide comprehensive training and advisory support for implementing sustainability within the region’s business fabric.
The ceremony for the 4th Edition of the Responsabilízate Program, held today at the Fontán Building Auditorium in the City of Culture of Galicia, was presided over by the Consejero de Empleo, Comercio y Emigración, José González, and attended by the Secretary General for Employment and Labor Relations, Pablo Fernández.