Ms Alves Werb, what is your innovation professorship about?

The idea of ​​the research project is to better illuminate the topics of environment, social issues and good aspects of corporate governance (ESG). We want to look at how companies perform in these areas. To do this, we need measurable key figures and good frameworks that show how strongly companies are committed to environmental protection or sustainable production, for example. Because we can only control what we can measure. We use an AI method, the so-called transformers, to provide information automatically. Many companies publish reports on their commitment, but often in an unstructured form, e.g. as a PDF report, presentation or press release. As a human being, you hardly have the opportunity to see and evaluate all this. My goal is therefore to structure the information on a publicly accessible, free platform and make it visible. It's about creating transparency.

What is the company's attitude towards your project?

All companies know that they can hardly remain silent. There is increasing pressure from consumers, who want to know, for example, which raw materials companies use, but also from regulators and politicians. Uniform indicators are important in order to create comparability, because there are different ways in which companies report their commitment. Many companies are seriously considering the issue and need support so that their efforts become visible. However, there are also companies that use the current lack of structure to present themselves in an advantageous manner.

We met in Frankfurt's Palmengarten to talk about your project. You also brought a magnifying glass. What's the deal with both?

For me, the magnifying glass embodies the need for transparency. ESG information is extremely difficult to obtain for stakeholders who want to make an informed decision. With the sustainability indicators we bring light into the darkness and create this transparency.

In my opinion, the Palmengarten is incredibly diverse and shows the diversity in all of our climate zones. For me it is a place where people can meet and experience nature. This is fundamental to knowing what to protect when we talk about the environment.

What contribution can and should your platform make to a better society?

The platform aims to empower all stakeholders with a need for information. Consumers can better control their decisions when they know about companies. That's also important for politics, I think. It needs to know what incentives are needed or have already worked to make the economy more sustainable. For companies, on the other hand, it is beneficial to know how they perform in comparison to their competitors. There are also indispensable sectors that are very CO2-intensive, such as metal processing. We can support them with the information we have already collected. In addition, the project has great added value for linking research and teaching. On the one hand, we can research and further develop methods to present information in an automated and structured manner. On the other hand, we use the project to impart important skills to our students and to get them enthusiastic about the topic in the long term. For me, that is a big vision in this project.

What personal relevance does the project have for you?

I have been dealing with the topic of sustainability for many years. It is therefore a great pleasure for me that the innovation professorship gives me more freedom to deal with it even more intensively. I believe that if we want to make our future more sustainable, we need new ways. And for this, many minds from different corners and with different competencies have to work together.

Thank you for the interview!

More information: https://sustainabilitymonitor.org/