Elverding chair helps corporations contribute to sustainable European future

Maastricht University Elverding chairholders Mieke Olaerts and Rob Bauer hosted an online webinar and debate session dedicated to the European Green Deal and how modern corporations can contribute to achieving a sustainable European future.

The webinar is part of the Elverding chair for Sustainable Business, Culture and Corporate Regulation at Maastricht University. This chair is unique in that it forms a partnership between two experts in corporate law and corporate finance. These experts help companies and European governments with innovative ideas to make long-term decisions that contribute to a prosperous and sustainable society. Chairholders Mieke Olaerts of the Faculty of Law and Rob Bauer of the School of Business and Economics hosted the webinar event.

Held on 9 October 2020, the event focused on ‘The European Green Deal: a roadmap for making the EU's economy sustainable’, which was launched by the European Commission. This ties in perfectly with the Elverding chair in that corporations are also expected to play an important role in achieving the goals of the Green Deal, and the focus on sustainability will inevitably require long-term thinking and planning.

During the webinar, two keynote speeches addressed these issues, given by Diederik Samsom, Chief of Cabinet for Frans Timmermans, EU and John Kay, the first dean of Oxford’s Said Business School. This was followed by a debate with three CEOs—Marlies van Wijhe of Van Wijhe Verf, Hein Schumacher of Friesland Campina, Dimitri de Vreeze of DSM—along with the two speakers.

“Being a modern corporation requires unlocking the creativity and intelligence amongst all people working in the company, we should go down that path to create bigger value for all stakeholders” Hein Schumacher.

Watch the webinar
Want to know how modern corporations can contribute to achieving a sustainable European future? And how institutional investors can support companies in long-term value creation?
 Watch the full webinar

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