Investment in socio-environmental actions should increase in the post-pandemic

“It is the responsibility of the communication professionals to work towards reducing the global polarization brought by the economic impact of Covid-19, reinforcing the leadership of the private sector towards a more sustainable world”, said Hamilton dos Santos in the second edition of APRN Webforum. The event was promoted by the Global Alliance for PR and Communications Management together with the LSPR Communication and Business Institute of Indonesia and focused on “Revisiting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability in the New Normal.”  Ani Natalia Pinem, from Indonesia, and Tato Carbonaro, from Brazil, both PR and communication specialists, also participated in the event.

Hamilton dos Santos, general-director of Aberje, presented an exclusive survey carried out with organizations associated with Aberje, which mapped the behavior of companies concerning the creation of internal social responsibility programs and policies in the post-pandemic period. “We are moving from a charging economy to a sharing economy, but many who are carrying out social actions have not yet realized it. We need to think about the right questions to ask before the answers,” he said.

The survey showed that 56% of the companies intend to keep their levels of investment in CSR, mainly in three areas: social causes of local reach (cited by 47% of respondents); development and maintenance of sustainable commercial practices (35%); and educational projects (35%). In the communication sector, 42% of companies reported that they must maintain their current strategies; 32% said that they would invest more in research related to the topic and 26% that they intend to work on their plans gradually.

Brazil and Indonesia are countries that share many similarities, mainly about the environment, because they have natural resources of great value for the ecosystem. “If we don’t respect the environment, we will pay the price,” said Ani Natalia Pinem. Tato Carbonaro, a researcher at the University of São Paulo, followed the same lines. “Only after we rethink how we use the available resources will we be able to engage our communication team to work on the company’s reputation,” he said.