Sustainability strategies in the energy sector

This course has as main goal to get students acquainted with the evolution of corporate citizenship, corporate social responsibility and sustainability practices and reporting requirements in large energy companies.

Learning objectives:

• The class explores the business transformation process which is taking place in energy companies in view of the increasing regulatory pressure, citizen engagement and shareholder activism;
• In the course, students discuss case studies of CSR and sustainability strategy making and implementation, from Romania and abroad, to identify trends, organisational challenges, talent management aspects and to learn how to spot green washing;
• The class gets students familiar with the latest sustainability practices and requirements, from legislation (e.g.: Corporate Social Responsibility Directive – CSRD, Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation – SFRD) to regulation (e.g.: the European green taxonomy) and overarching trends (e.g.: ESG investment and reporting criteria) and metrics (e.g., the Global Reporting Initiative);
• The course discusses critically how energy companies align their business strategy to the Paris Agreement and what are some standards for setting science-based carbon neutrality targets;
• The class also introduces students to latest academic conversations around shareholder and regenerative capitalism, mission-driven capitalism, degrowth and business purpose transformation.