Company Name: Syntezia Sàrl

Legal Form: Sàrl (Limited Liability Company)

Location: Geneva, Switzerland

Reporting Period: Date of Establishment (November 9th, 2022) – December 31, 2022

Date of Report: January 30, 2023

1. Introduction: Laying the Foundation for Sustainability at Syntezia

Syntezia Sàrl was founded in 2022 as an independent strategy and innovation consulting company in Geneva, Switzerland. Our core business involves strategic planning, performance management, and business development across various sectors.

Even in our inaugural year, Syntezia recognized the growing global imperative for sustainable business practices. While our immediate focus was on establishing our operations and serving our initial clients, we informally embedded principles of responsible business conduct into our nascent culture.

This report serves as our foundational statement, acknowledging our early steps and the beginning of our journey towards integrating sustainability systematically.

As a newly established SME, our sustainability efforts in 2022 were largely focused on awareness and initial low-impact actions.

2. Regulatory Context (2022)

In 2022, the Swiss regulatory landscape for non-financial reporting primarily targeted "companies of public interest" (large public companies and financial institutions). Syntezia, as a newly formed SME, was not subject to these mandatory reporting obligations. However, the broader societal expectation for responsible business conduct was increasing.

In the EU, the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) was in effect, applying to large public-interest entities. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) was still in its proposal and early adoption phase, with its significant impacts for a broader range of companies (including some SMEs) only beginning to be discussed for future years. Therefore, for an SME like Syntezia in 2022, there were no direct EU mandatory sustainability reporting requirements.

Compliance Approach for 2022: Syntezia's approach in 2022 was one of voluntary engagement with sustainability principles. We aimed to:

Understand the Landscape: Begin to familiarize ourselves with emerging sustainability standards and best practices, particularly those relevant to the consulting sector.

Integrate Basic Principles: Incorporate environmentally and socially conscious decisions where feasible in our early operational setup.

Avoid Greenwashing: Be transparent about our limited data and acknowledge that our sustainability journey was just beginning.

3. Early Sustainability Considerations & Preliminary Data

Given our founding year, detailed data collection for 2022 was limited. Our initial considerations focused on setting up operations responsibly.

3.1 Environmental Considerations:

Office Space: Selection of office space in Geneva (if applicable) considering factors such as access to public transport to minimize employee commuting emissions, and basic energy efficiency (e.g., modern building insulation, LED lighting if already present).

Waste: Establishment of basic recycling for paper, ink and general waste.

Digital-First Approach: Leveraging digital tools for documentation and communication to minimize paper consumption.

Business Travel: As a consulting firm, travel was anticipated. Initial efforts focused on prioritizing virtual meetings where possible.

Emissions (Preliminary Baseline Intention): While no formal GHG inventory was conducted for 2022, we recognized the importance of eventually measuring our carbon footprint.

Scope 1: Anticipated to be minimal or zero (e.g., no company-owned vehicles).

Scope 2: Anticipated to be minimal or zero.

Scope 3: Anticipated to be the most significant, primarily from business travel (air, rail, car, tram, bus), IT and employee commuting.

3.2 Social Considerations:

Fair Employment: Commitment to fair labor practices and a safe working environment for our initial employee.

Employee Well-being: Encouraging a healthy work-life balance from the outset, particularly in a demanding consulting environment.

Diversity: Promoting an inclusive environment, recognizing the value of diverse perspectives in problem-solving.

3.3 Governance Considerations:

Ethical Conduct: Upholding strong ethical principles in all client interactions and internal operations.

Legal Compliance: Ensuring full compliance with all Swiss business laws and regulations.

4. Outlook for 2023

For the upcoming year (2023), Syntezia plans to:

Formalize data collection: Begin tracking key environmental metrics, such as CO2, electricity consumption and business travel.

Explore SBTi for SMEs: Research the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for SMEs to understand the requirements for setting science-based emissions reduction targets.

Develop basic policies: Introduce informal guidelines or initial policies related to sustainable procurement and travel.

Engage employee and stakeholders: Raise internal awareness about sustainability and encourage employee participation in related initiatives.

This 2022 report reflects our nascent commitment.

We understand that significant work lies ahead to fully integrate sustainability into our operations and measure our impact.

We are committed to this journey and will report on our progress transparently.