Poland – Corporate
2. Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy
Responsible business – promoting due diligence standards
[page 11]
“The issue of due diligence in the field of human rights will also be of particular interest to the Advisory Board for Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility in view of the legislative changes planned at the EU level as regards due diligence in the area of human rights and environmental issues, as well as in the field of non-financial reporting covering, among others, issues concerning the respect for human rights. Monitoring the directions of legislative changes in non-financial data reporting planned at the EU level, as well as work in areas related to non-financial reporting, constitutes one of the tasks of the Working Group on the Development of Non-financial Reporting established on 31 March 2021.”
3. Ministry of Economic Development and Technology
Implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (2030 Agenda)
[page 13]
“Integration of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) factors into long-term business strategy has become an area of increasing importance. It entails striving by entrepreneurs to balance their own expectations with those of their employees, customers, suppliers, and local communities. What is valuable – nowadays in particular – is the ability to use the perspective of viewing the company in the framework of concern for the social environment, both internal and external, as well as the natural environment. As regards the principles of corporate responsibility, the responsibility of enterprises in the processes of digitalisation and implementation of solutions based on state-of-the-art technologies is becoming an increasingly important area. Equally vital is the implementation of effective due diligence procedures for respecting human rights in business.”
Ministry of Finance
Revision of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive
[page 23]
“The Ministry of Finance is participating in legislative work at the EU level, which commenced after the presentation of the Commission’s proposal on 21 April 2021 and the transmission of all national language versions of the draft legislation, i.e. the draft directive as regards corporate sustainability reporting [COM(2021) 189], to the Member States on 16 June 2021. The Commission’s legislative proposal considerably broadens the scope of entities covered by non-financial reporting – according to the Commission’s estimates from about 12,000 companies to 49,000. Furthermore, the draft clarifies the scope of the reported information, also giving it a new name: sustainability reporting. The key changes proposed in the area of sustainability reporting include:
a. extending the scope of entities subject to sustainability reporting obligation to:
i. all large companies,
ii. small and medium-sized listed companies, which would start reporting three years after large
entities, except for listed micro-companies,
iii. large bodies of undertakings;
b. clarifying the scope of sustainability information to be reported;
c. empowering the EC to adopt uniform European standards on sustainability reporting obligatory for
reporting entities; the full standard would be obligatory for large companies, while its simplified
version – for small and medium-sized listed companies;
d. removing the possibility to report non-financial information in a separate report that is not part of
the management report;
e. introducing an obligation to verify sustainability information;
f. introducing an obligation for companies subject to such reporting to prepare financial statements
and management reports in the same format as issuers are obliged to use, i.e. the European Single
Electronic Format (ESEF).”
- Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sports
Implementation of the equal-treatment policy in sports
[page 28-29]
“The Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sports will continue to implement the policy of equal treatment in sports, ensuring that the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are incorporated as widely as possible when planning and implementing ministerial programmes aimed at developing sports in Poland, both in grassroots and professional dimension. In particular, the following tasks will be implemented:
(…)
3. Promoting the participation of women in management structures of Polish sports associations
and encouraging them to implement the recommendation following from the Good Governance Code
for Polish Sports Associations (PZS), which indicates that women should constitute at least 10% of the
PZS board composition if women account for more than 30% in national teams managed by the given PZS and at least 30% if there are more than 50% women in national teams.”