Ricardo Garzón de Vanti
For a company that distributes and trades in a fossil fuel – natural gas –like the Vanti Group of Colombia, the subject of sustainability has immeasurable importance, particularly at a time when the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change are on the table. But “sustainability” is a concept that goes far beyond that. Or so says Ricardo Garzon Torres, the group’s manager of RRII, Sustainability and Communications. He said that sustainability is really a social action that is like a company’s foundation. “Right now sustainability ought to be understood as an item of a company’s strategic management. It’s like optimizing my positive effects, reducing my negative effects, managing risks, improving the company’s reputation, but above all, I make my business much more competitive,” he said. For that, he added, one must manage the financial indicators with the same relevance that one manages the impact of non-financial indicators such as racial diversity, inclusion, support for communities, etc.“In fact there are studies by the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) that show how companies that use sustainability indicators the right way are much more prepared to deal with times of crisis,” he added.As a service company, Vanti has an internal corporate policy that contains principles of sustainability, to which it has assigned matters identified as critical and which must be carefully handled by any company of its size and sector. “It’s important that it be a corporate policy because that commitment should be kept in writing, and I believe there’s nothing punished more by clients and special interest groups than a policy that doesn’t mention the sustainment of work, so it’s key to have a policy in writing that reflects the company’s commitment to that point, always at the highest level,” Garzon said.
Geomerty Colombia junto a Grupo Vanti: Más Formas de Avanzar
