Álvaro Guitart: “We have the responsibility and opportunity to support society”

These actions also allow us to stay connected with the reality of SMEs, understand the challenges they face in this area, and promote business growth and the creation of shared value.

Since 2021, at MAPFRE, we have collaborated with nine SMEs from different sectors from an environmental and social perspective. The companies participating in the program are medium-sized companies with high potential and that are leading business growth, both due to their results and their capacity to generate added value, employment, innovation, and international projection. These projects require the company’s involvement for months.

Álvaro Guitart, Sustainability Director at MAPFRE Spain, tells us about the collaboration with RIC Energy, one of the SMEs participating in this project.

How did the mentoring project with RIC Energy come to be?

When CEPYME proposed collaborating with RIC Energy to improve its sustainability plan and its engagement with stakeholders, we were especially excited because RIC Energy is a Spanish company that, since its founding in 2005, has experienced exponential global growth—particularly in the development of sustainable energy projects (photovoltaic and, for the past five years, hydrogen, biogas, and storage) across Spain, the U.S., Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Over seven months and through four joint working sessions, we quickly realized that they were already doing many things well. Therefore, the main objective was to systematically structure all the actions they were undertaking, especially in the “social” sphere, by developing a sustainability master plan and adapting their communication strategy on their corporate website.

What were the main challenges you encountered?

During this mentoring process, we encountered some difficulties in establishing indicators and metrics for monitoring the social actions of the plan. This is something MAPFRE understands: social impacts are the most difficult to measure. For this reason, in 2024 we collaborated with the SERES Foundation and UNESPA to develop a methodology for measuring the social impact of health insurance.

The need for internal tools to understand the risks and opportunities related to stakeholders was also detected. At MAPFRE, we suggested conducting a materiality study and provided our experience in this field, as we have been conducting these studies for years and adapting to the emerging regulations in the field of reporting.

Finally, we faced the challenge of sustainable supplier management, which is a significant challenge for an SME. At this point, we shared with them our approval process for MAPFRE providers to guide them on their approach

What is your assessment of the mentoring process?

In summary, I would point out that MAPFRE has brought its experience and best practices to the issues raised, and we have enjoyed networking opportunities and gained a better understanding of the reality of SMEs. RIC ENERGY has gained in skills, structure, and confidence to grow. They have accelerated the design and planning of their sustainability plan, promoted their communication strategy, and improved their image projection as a sustainable company.

What would you tell companies—mentors and mentees—that are thinking about participating in CRECEPYME?

The CRECEPYME program has achieved its objective of promoting and accelerating business growth in Spain, and for MAPFRE the experience has been very enriching. It has allowed us to witness first-hand the challenges facing such a successful SME. It is a source of pride to see that the work done is bearing fruit. Just look at the new, magnificent sustainability communication strategy that they have on their corporate website and that includes a large part of the work done during the process. Mentoring in this type of project improves reputation and leadership because it shows a commitment to the sustainable development of other companies, and it also facilitates the generation of other collaboration opportunities and strategic alliances. As a mentored company, they can benefit from the experience and knowledge of companies that have already faced similar challenges and receive customized advice adapted to their strategy and business needs.

Where are these types of collaborations included in the MAPFRE sustainability strategy?

MAPFRE’s sustainability strategy is based on environmental, social, governance, and business support actions. This action is part of the support for the MAPFRE Spain business. 

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