Transcom Chats about sustainability - with Snejana Koleva

Introduction.

‘Transcom Chats’ is a series of interviews with Transcom staff on things and topics we’re passionate about. The aim is to bring forward, talk to, and highlight the people that make Transcom the brand you know and love.

With Earth Day just behind us, and sustainability being an ever-growing priority, we thought it would be a great opportunity to hear from one of our experts on how Transcom deals with sustainability and what are our plans for the future. This week we’re joined by our CFO, Snejana Koleva.

Interview.

• Tell us a little bit about yourself and what your role is.

My name is Snejana Koleva, and I’ve been the CFO for Transcom for the past 3 years. The CFO is responsible for managing the company's financial operations and strategy.

• Can you tell us what the sustainability report is and what is its purpose?

The sustainability report gives us a structured way of communicating to all stakeholders what we do to contribute to a sustainable world, for our people, the environment, and the communities where we are present. We get a chance to share our targets and the actions we do, and it also gives us, internally, a great opportunity to review our targets and actions if needed. One of the things that the sustainability report describes, is our efforts on achieving carbon neutrality, working towards an abatement plan in line with the Paris Agreement. We are setting 2022 as our base year, and doing a full Greenhouse Gas inventory across our value chain to be able to set firm targets for emission reduction. 

• Why does it take the form it’s in?

This way of reporting has allowed us to talk about sustainability in a detailed manner. We try to make it as detailed as possible while still being approachable enough for people to read it because it is something that we truly care about. 

• Why does Transcom place such emphasis on sustainability?

Because, first and foremost, it's the right thing to do. Understanding the positive and negative impacts we have, on people and the environment, makes it possible for us to prioritize what actions we should focus on. As a people-centric business, we need to ensure that we have a solid employee value proposition to attract, develop, and retain talent, and working consistently on sustainability means working consistently for creating positive lasting change for our environment, the people, and communities. We need to create an inclusive work environment. Last but not least, of course, we need to minimize the negative environmental footprint of our business. 

• Why is it important to our clients?

To clients, it is important to work with companies, like Transcom, who place high value on their employees and consistently work all aspects of the ESG agenda. One of the most important impacts towards our clients is our engagement with our employees in terms of support, skill development, empowerment, which in turn results in better service to the customers of our clients. 

• What effects have you noticed it having?

Overall, we see an increased interest in, and demand for, sustainability data and activities from all stakeholders - employees, clients, investors, and owners. Transcom has been working in a structured way with ESG reporting for many years, and we're happy to have this platform with the increasing demands on ESG disclosures. We're getting a lot of positive feedback on the activities we do, and we're seeing an increase in the local Transcom Cares activities, driven by our passionate employees around the world. 

• What are the plans for the future of the sustainability report?

We, along with over 50,000 other companies within the EU, are preparing for the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). In short, it means more data points and specific reporting requirements, aiming to increase the transparency of the sustainability impact of businesses. The goal is to make it easier for investors and consumers to make informed decisions - and achieve sustainable and inclusive growth. CSRD will actually mean the end of a standalone sustainability report as it will be part of the management section of the annual report, presented side by side with the financial data.

• Any parting words?

Sustainability initiatives and work have and should become part of daily operations. Transparency on GHG footprint and progress towards reduction targets will only increase going forward. This way we can ensure we are creating a positive impact and we are preserving our precious planet, resources, and talent.