Video

Webinar ExportHelp - ESG: what Ticino-based SMEs really need in 2026

May 19, 2026

Hands typing on a laptop with green ESG icons overlay.

This is the recording of an Italian-language webinar from May 21, 2026: a practical method to understand which environmental, social, and governance (ESG) requests truly matter for small and medium-sized enterprises in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and how to quickly build a credible, evidence-based foundation.

What drives ESG requests and why they reach SMEs

The webinar explains that corporate sustainability reaches SMEs mainly through three channels: customers (questionnaires, clauses, audits), banks (risk assessment), and supply chains, where larger companies request information from their suppliers. The goal is not to “do everything,” but to respond consistently and with evidence—without putting commercial relationships at risk.

Today’s core message is different: for a small or medium-sized company in Ticino, corporate sustainability should not start from perfection, but from priority.

Gaia Barcilon

CEO, EOS Social Responsibility Solutions SA

From regulation to real risk: a proportionate approach

A helpful distinction is made between direct legal obligations, indirect involvement (requests from customers subject to rules), reputational risk (claims that cannot be substantiated), and operational risk (countries, materials, and critical suppliers). The speaker also notes that, while Switzerland is not part of the European Union, it is not “standing still”: the direction of travel is toward more transparency, more accountability, and more attention to the supply chain.

The minimum kit for 2026: policy, ownership, and an evidence folder

For many SMEs, the first step is not a long sustainability report. Instead, the webinar proposes a “minimum kit” that includes a practical sustainability policy, an internal code of conduct, a supplier code (to be integrated into contracts), a designated internal owner, a register of ESG risks, and a well-structured evidence folder (data, key indicators, audits, completed questionnaires). This helps manage requests consistently and reduces contradictions.