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19.12.2022
Ing. Ladislav Luka, Fuel expert

We are committed to the future, and to social responsibility

Eurowag is a fast-growing European commercial road transport company. As a leading player in the market, we’re aware of the increased responsibility that has been placed on the entire industry, and are doing our utmost to ensure the sustainability of our business.

We are committed to the future, and to social responsibility

What is Corporate Social Responsibility in business?

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a business model which helps companies self-regulate by holding themselves accountable for their impact on society. This approach considers not only the economic aspects of a company’s actions, but the environmental and social aspects as well.

This CSR strategy not only helps promote a positive brand image for a company, but is also a great way to improve employee morale and generate buy-in. Perhaps most importantly, CSR is also a means of reducing the negative effects which a company’s operations might have on society or the environment.

Eurowag and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) commitments

As a proud support provider for sustainable logistics companies, we are aware of our responsibility toward improving society and the environment. We believe that the development of any conscientious company must be driven by actions that reduce negative impacts to the environment and have a positive effect on human society.

After all, the entire transport sector is currently undergoing a long-term transformation aimed at reducing the negative environmental impact of passenger and freight transport. We are contributing to this goal through our own CSR commitments.

What do we mean by sustainability in business?

Similar to CSR, sustainability in business refers to the strategies and actions that a company implements to eliminate adverse impacts its operations have on the environment and society. By analyzing business practices against a set of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics, companies can develop better strategies to improve aspects such as energy efficiency, carbon accounting, and waste output.

With regards to the commercial road transport industry (CRT) in particular, sustainability in business refers to factors like optimizing fuel efficiency for all fleet vehicles, accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy, and promoting diversity and inclusion in hiring and promotion practices (among many others). At Eurowag, our aim is to help clients grow and prosper in ways that promote future sustainability.

We haven’t forgotten about ESG. What is it?

In addition to CSR, you may also often encounter the term ESG, which is an abbreviation of the terms Environmental, Social, and Governance. ESG is a response to CSR, the latter of which takes the form of more general declarations, implemented voluntarily by individual companies. This results in many shortcomings, such as problematic comparisons of individual companies or difficult independent evaluations of how responsibly companies actually behave.

ESG is a concept that has externally defined environmental (E) and social (S) indicators. These are complemented by responsible corporate governance (G) criteria. The fact that companies implement their objectives on the basis of externally defined principles makes it much easier to evaluate and compare performance against each other.

Although at first ESG may seem to be a new and improved version of CSR, the two concepts are complementary rather than interchangeable. While CSR will continue to remain independent and voluntary (at least within the EU), ESG will be progressively required by regulation, including regular reporting.

How is the world of car transport changing?

The long-term pressure to reduce emissions through more efficient combustion engines in new passenger cars is certainly not unnoticed. The next step will most likely be a blanket ban on the sale of combustion engine vehicles, and a switch to electric mobility. While the plan to ban the sale of internal combustion engines by 2035 has already been approved by the European Parliament, the specific wording or dates may still be subject to change due to currently ongoing negotiations between individual EU member states.

In the case of trucks or buses (outside local traffic in logistics parks or cities) the situation is not so clear. Rather, we will see a fragmentation of the sector, with several alternative fuels replacing the currently dominant diesel engines, be it electricity, CNG and LNG, or hydrogen and synthetic fuels.

There are other ways to help reduce consumption

Fleet renewal will take decades. However, consumption can be reduced immediately, even with existing vehicles, through more efficient driving and planning. This is where Eurowag makes its greatest contribution. With our fleet management system, companies can reduce fuel consumption by up to 20%. Telematics should be an important concern for any fleet company.

What specific CSR or ESG commitments have we made?

We don't just want to contribute to a more sustainable planet indirectly through our services to transport companies. Our own operations are also undergoing changes.

  • We want to have 50% lower greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 2019.
  • By 2025, we want to achieve 40% representation of women in leadership positions.
  • We want to be among the top 25% of companies with the best employee engagement scores.
  • We give at least 1% of our consolidated pre-tax profit to charitable causes.