• Technically, EMAS is presented as the most complete and powerful communication option today. Thanks to the EMAS Environmental Declarations, their validation and registration accredit the most solvent and transparent communication in terms of environmental management and performance of the organizations. A registration guaranteed by a European Regulation that also presents certain advantages. It should be noted that there is still a long way to go in terms of communication by the organisations themselves that have this distinction.

• The Department of Territory and Sustainability is leading the European Interreg-ENHANCE project that promotes the necessary ways to achieve new incentives for EMAS registered companies. This is good news for those companies that are registered under the European EMAS Regulation. In the coming years, incentives, bonuses, simplification of procedures, reduction of some inspections and other advantages that have been explored will be activated and will be approved in the next two years.

• The changes in the EMAS Regulation, which affect the contents of the Environmental Statements, are aimed at making the magnitudes used in the basic and specific indicators to be reported more flexible. The indicators associated with significant indirect environmental aspects must also be included in the Environmental Statements and include how the feasibility of implementing the best environmental practices that have been approved by the sector has been adopted or assessed. The Biodiversity indicator has been revised to make it more useful.

• The use of digital media is clearly recommended for the publication and format of the Environmental Statement, as well as its integration with other corporate documents or reports such as CSR or Sustainability Reports.

• The validation or verification of the Environmental Statement is not the objective, it is part of the necessary path to base a truthful communication of environmental data and information. The communication channels and elements must be developed later on according to their addressees and in accordance with a Communication Plan or a Stakeholder Engagement Plan.

• Law 11/2018, on non-financial information, incorporates relevant novelties, since in the case of organisations that have obtained EMAS registration, the information contained in the environmental statement validated by the accredited verifier will be considered valid and sufficient to comply with the section of the report dedicated to environmental information, to the extent that this certificate does not only operate by work centre and covers the entire activity of the company. However, EMAS accreditation cannot in any case exempt the entity from reporting on environmental activity in the non-financial report, with the aim of having all the non-financial information required by the Directive in a single document. Companies that have more detailed studies of their carbon footprint, policies for adapting to the impacts of climate change or other environmental areas may provide this information as a complement to the other environmental information required.

• It was explained that in the near future, on the horizon of 2030, stakeholders will not understand that a company uses the appellation "Sustainable" or "Eco-efficient" if it does not have master plans and actions in four main areas:

1. 1. Management based on the continuous improvement of performance indicators or environmental behaviour in the production processes or in the development or presentation of the service.
   2. A strategy for the eco-design of products and services in the medium and long term that takes into account the circular economy and industrial symbiosis
   3. The adoption of renewable energies through certified energy acquisition or self-production.
   4. The interaction or stakeholder engagement, as well as the analysis of the needs and expectations of the stakeholders within the framework of corporate social responsibility and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Sustainable Action