The challenges and opportunities of alliances for companies and NGOs: Isabelle Kocher’s speech at the Convergences World Forum
11/09/2017News
Since its launch in 2008, the Convergences World Forum has brought together some 5,000 professionals every year to discuss innovative solutions for fighting global poverty and precariousness. It offers international experts and decision-makers a space for learning, networking and working at a high level to develop common answers to the social and environmental challenges that affect the so-called developed and developing countries. The Forum thus represents the high point of the activities organised by the Convergences association, in parallel to its regular meetings such as the Lab Laboo Cafés, the Youth We Can! meetings, and the publication of its barometers on microfinance and social entrepreneurship.
During her speech, Isabelle Kocher talked about the energy revolution, saying that “a new world of energy, carbon-free, is possible”. She stressed the benefits of this “fundamentally better” new world, which will “reconcile what has, until now, been irreconcilable: universal access to energy, and a viable model of sustainable development for humanity.“
The aim of ENGIE is to “reconcile these two aspects: access to energy and… the equilibrium of humanity and the planet“. She also stressed that ENGIE has “a very rational approach to value creation over time” before advocating for an evolution of the notion of performance, which should not be “evaluated only in relation to financial KPIs“.
The company’s openness towards its stakeholders, NGOs in particular, makes perfect sense given that although the new world is “perfectly defined, the way to move forward is particularly uncertain. We talk about joint work, co-construction. We are searching together.” The partnership with NGOs was essential for the micro grid projects launched by the Group in Indonesia and Africa.
Asked about how to secure employee commitment, she replied: “A much clearer compass on corporate purpose is needed, so that trade-offs and decisions are much more decentralised than before.”
