Sustainability in the SME sector

Professor Julia Redenius-Hövermann, Professor of Civil and Company Law at Frankfurt School, presented the new Governance Guidelines for Sustainability in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) – developed by an experts’ commission – to the Hessian Minister of Justice, Professor Roman Poseck. The presentation took place at the Hessian Ministry of Justice in Wiesbaden on 27 March.

At the meeting, Julia Redenius-Hövermann, Director of the Corporate Governance Institute at Frankfurt School and Chair of the expert commission Sustainable Governance Principles for SMEs, presented the key points of the paper.

“The guidelines are intended to provide both momentum and assistance, giving food for thought as to how the topic of sustainability can be anchored in processes and control structures in the interests of the company, its productivity and its resilience,” said Julia Redenius-Hövermann.

The guidelines met with the interest and approval of Minister Roman Poseck: “The guidelines deserve attention. They combine important objectives by transporting the different facets of sustainability into the corporate world and at the same time taking into account the special characteristics of SMEs.”

It is important to sensitise SMEs to the issue of sustainability. Care must be taken to avoid over-regulation and to ensure that sustainability remains a business decision.

Further information:

• Press release of the Hessian Ministry of Justice
• FS-News “Governance Guidelines for Sustainability in SMEs published”