The 10th Anniversary Edition of the Sustainable Development and Environmental Manager Day in Southeast Europe, held on November 7, 2024, at the Grand Hotel Sofia, attracted a large number of participants with its current topics, unified under the motto “Sustainable Development.” The event was organized under the patronage of the Association for Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection (VNU), in partnership with INNO-KON, DQS Bulgaria, and with the kind support of Ecomax.
Eng. Heiko Schmidt, co-founder of VNU and Chairman of its Bulgaria Section, opened the event with a retrospective look at the years, presenting the organizers and their goals, as well as the thematic focus of the forum.
The honorary guest of the forum was Ms. Reneta Koleva, Deputy Minister of Environment and Water, who emphasized in her welcoming speech that green transformation and sustainable development are not just trends, but responsibilities shared by the government, businesses, and all citizens. Deputy Minister Koleva presented the wide range of financing opportunities for projects and the areas they can cover, stressing that the proper use of these instruments would be a successful step in the development of a new sustainable model in Bulgaria.
Mr. G. Stefanov, an expert in climate and energy, discussed decarbonization policies at the European level and their expected impact on Bulgaria, as well as the key elements of the country’s position on these policies. Mr. Stefanov emphasized that the “Fit for 55” package is of particular importance for Bulgaria and will have a huge impact on all sectors of public and economic life, as well as on the citizens themselves. In order to achieve these goals in a fair way for both citizens and industry, it is important that legislative proposals be considered cumulatively, given their strong interconnection, and that climate goals be integrated into all sectoral policies and levels of governance..
Attorney Stoimenov, of the law firm "Punev & Stoimenov," presented the practical challenges related to sustainability reporting, with a special focus on what constitutes a report, timelines in relation to set goals, the control functions of corporate organizations, and incentive tools. Additionally, the new requirements and deadlines for their implementation were thoroughly discussed.
Eng. Heiko Schmidt introduced the participants to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and specifically to sustainability reporting and the verification of sustainability information. He provided a detailed review of the various types of GRI standards and compared GRI with ESRS. He presented the scope, data origin, and benefits for companies when preparing a sustainability report according to GRI, using the example of a well-known company.
In the afternoon panel, Eng. Tyrone Adu Baffour presented the topic “Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Context of the Product Life Cycle: Product Carbon Footprint (PCF).” He introduced the forum participants to the goals and benefits of the product carbon footprint and elaborated on the phases of the life cycle. Eng. Baffour discussed in detail the principles for calculating the carbon footprint, the specifics of data collection and processing, as well as emission calculations. He also closely followed the verification procedure, presenting the links between accounting and verification, as well as the critical review process.
Ecomax, a long-time member of the Association for Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection and sponsor of the forum, presented the best available technologies in the field of industrial cleaning of equipment and infrastructure in an informative presentation.
Participants actively engaged in the discussions following each panel and had the opportunity to meet the lecturers and guests of the event in person. The time dedicated to personal contacts, information exchange, and experience sharing received positive feedback from the attendees. The organizers thank everyone for the positive evaluations and are pleased with the great interest in the topics presented.
The presentations from the 10th SEMD can be downloaded here:
Brief Introduction to VNU (Dipl.-Ing. Heiko Schmidt)
Current Challenges of the Green Deal (Georgi Stefanov)
Practical Challenges Related to Sustainability Reporting (Attorney Dimitir Stoimenov)
Comparison of ESRS and GRI Reporting Standards (Dipl.-Ing. Heiko Schmidt)
