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The importance of building capacity in the green transition | 02/09/2024

Argentina: Sustainable practices to boost competitiveness

As businesses worldwide increasingly prioritize sustainability, building capacity in sustainable productivity is becoming essential for the success of green transition. Recognizing this, the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) launched a course on Sustainable Productivity for SMEs, offering practical guidance on integrating green practices into business operations.

This month, PAGE features an insightful conversation between Laura Segura, Chief Innovation Officer at UIA, and Pablo Ferrazzi, a participant in the course and Industrial Manager at Auto Movil SRL.

In this cross-interview, they discuss the challenges and opportunities of green industrial practices and the transformative role of UIA in the green transition.

This piece also shows how PAGE has been supporting partner countries by way of designing and implementing nationally tailored training packages and programmes on specific priority areas.

What is the need for the Unión Industrial Argentina course and why have you collaborated with PAGE?

Laura Segura:

The new sustainability course within the framework of UIA’s RUTA X Verde programme is a strategic look at the productive level: we are resuming the path we took in 2023 with the first Green Route course, training more than 600 people, mostly representatives of companies and chambers. This second course challenged us to harmonise the agenda and new developments in terms of productive sustainability, care for the environment and the various strategies that have an impact on the competitiveness of Argentine companies, with the participation of more than 700 people at its launch.

The proposal of this Course that we prepared at UIA for 2024 was composed of eleven weekly seminars of one hour each. The contents were developed within the framework of the AL INVEST Verde Programme, financed by the European Union, where strategic partners such as PAGE accompanied us with professionals and concrete implementation cases from our country and the world.

We are currently working with PAGE in a series of direct consultancies to companies that wish to implement Circular Economy and Energy Efficiency actions in plant (On-site), through a systematisation of business models and applicable production processes.

Laura Segura portrait

The implementation of sustainable practices and technologies is a way to enhance competitiveness from an innovative perspective.

Pablo Ferrazzi, industrial manager, Ferrazzi Auto Movil SRL

What are the challenges and opportunities of the green industry for your company?

Pablo Ferrazzi:

Beyond reputational issues, as companies we have multiple opportunities to develop a productive sustainability agenda that makes us competitive. We must continue to move closer to international standards with their challenges and objectives.

It is from this comprehensive approach that we understand productive sustainability as an asset that allows companies to: (i) increase efficiency, (ii) improve positioning in regional and global markets, (iii) dynamise the productive and exporting offer, (iv) enhance modern management, and (v) generate social impacts, among other aspects.

The implementation of sustainable practices and technologies is a way to enhance competitiveness from an innovative perspective. Just as we understood that digital transformation is key to play a leading role in the present and the future of production, we also understood that the sustainability agenda is a convergent and essential dimension to position our company and Argentina on the global production and trade map.

The first step to align ourselves with an intelligent global insertion strategy is to give sustainability the status of an asset for competitiveness, to stop thinking only in reputational terms.

Laura Segura, Innovation Director of the Argentine Industrial Union in charge of the RUTA X Programme.

What is the need for the Unión Industrial Argentina course and why have you collaborated with PAGE?

Laura Segura:

One of our institutional objectives is to generate contributions for Argentina to integrate into the world in an intelligent way and with a strategic projection. The first step to align ourselves with an intelligent global insertion strategy is to give sustainability the status of an asset for competitiveness, to stop thinking only in reputational terms.

This competitiveness is what will allow us to consolidate the reputational aspect, since: consumers are showing a growing preference for sustainable consumption and value chains are more demanding in measuring their carbon footprint, to cite an example.

We are in a global scenario characterised by agreements to mitigate climate change and energy transition. The transition towards the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and 2050 requires a comprehensive approach that establishes paces and priorities. Large companies and especially SMEs must respond to the requirements that are already emerging in local, regional and international markets.

The UIA supports and shares the work being carried out by companies on the road to sustainability and decarbonisation, understanding that the dissemination of success stories can be the starting point for companies, especially small and medium-sized ones, to move forward in the implementation of such initiatives.

  1. Preview of Guidelines for Reporting on Sustainability – Argentina (ES)pdf

    Guidelines for Reporting on Sustainability – Argentina (ES)

    2023
  2. Preview of Model and Structure of Sustainability reports – Argentinapdf

    Model and Structure of Sustainability reports – Argentina

    2023

What are the challenges and opportunities of the green industry for your company?

Pablo Ferrazzi:

The course was very interesting, firstly because of its dynamics: there were eleven seminars of one hour, ideal for all those entrepreneurs who need to deal with the day-to-day running of their company but want to detach themselves from the current situation and think about strategic issues. On the other hand, although the topics were introductory, each seminar included case studies and the methodology to take the first steps in each subject.

In the case of Ferrazzi, a few years ago we went through the challenge of digital transformation together with the UIA Route X Programme and today we are facing the challenge of sustainability. Energy efficiency and better use of resources is something we are constantly working on, but from this course onwards we will include in the agenda topics such as carbon footprint measurement and the need to organise internal information to start drawing up sustainability reports.

This last topic, and others, was not on our radar and it was thanks to the seminar and the PAGE professionals that we realised it was a key document to move up the productive and sustainable ladder.

Pablo Ferrazzi, tercera generación de la autopartista Ferrazzi Ignición Profesional. Foto: Luciano Thieberger revista Clarin

PAGE's webinar on Sustainability Reporting

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