«Portugal is doing a fantastic job in renewable energy, I always talk about it. And now in business sustainability», said this morning Al Gore, former vice president of the United States and winner of a Nobel Prize, at a conference organized by SAP that brought together at the Estoril Congress Center more than a thousand IT professionals and company managers.
This recognition was the starting point of a presentation focused on the risks of climate change, which affect society and companies and which cannot be ignored, at the risk of leaving a true «hell on Earth» as a legacy for future generations.
Al Gore guaranteed that the compliments made to Portugal are not pure and simple flattery. «I truly believe that Portugal is helping to lead the way. I have said it many times,» he said, referring not only to investment in wind, solar and wave energy, but also to the use of biofuels and sustainable agriculture.
In an audience dominated by managers and people connected to the business world, Al Gore slightly adapted the speech to remember that there are opportunities that companies should seize on sustainability, using technologies to become more efficient.
«Committing to sustainability is not just about being committed to the environment, but being responsible for human resources policies and paying attention to small details to avoid waste», he warns.
The former vice president of the United States also argued that companies with sustainable practices end up achieving rewards in customer loyalty, employee retention and the ability to attract the most creative and increase internal productivity.
The proof of the importance of applying technologies and involving companies in sustainable practices is also provided by SAP, which ensures that this commitment does not compromise the competitiveness of companies.
At the SAP Business Forum, which currently takes place at the Estoril Congress Center, several companies were called to give their testimony in the area of sustainability, namely EDP, Portucel and Somague.
SAP itself accelerated the execution of its sustainability strategy in the last year, a case told in the morning by Peter Graf, the company’s first Chief Sustainability Officer. In 2009, SAP used renewable energy to supply 33% of its energy needs and reduced its carbon emissions by 16%, saving 130 million dollars.
