On June 24, 2025, the Value Balancing Alliance gathering impact accounting experts, corporate leaders, standard setters, and policy thinkers, hosted its second Global Conference at PwC’s headquarters in Frankfurt. With the theme “Impact Counts: From Measurement to Management,” the event marked a pivotal step in the journey from impact measurement to impact management bringing standardized, decision-useful sustainability data into real business practice for sustainable value creation.
The morning keynote, “Sustainability in the Public Eye,” delivered by Roland Schatz (Media Tenor), reminded the audience of the powerful role of public perception in driving sustainable transformation and holding corporations accountable. As business, we play a crucial role defining and shaping the global societal, economic, and political system. While the direction of travel is clear, we should expect delays along the way toward a just, sustainable future.
Following the opening, participants split in four dynamic World Café, which allowed for deep dives into central themes: Investor View, Product Development, Sustainable Value Creation, DMA & Assurance. These interactive exchanges created space for practical insights and peer learning.
The afternoon program began with a keynote titled “Cutting Through Complexities,” delivered by John Elkington (Volans). As a globally recognized pioneer in sustainability, Elkington urged attendees to embrace the messiness of change – highlighting the need for business to stay bold and decisive in the face of mounting environmental and social pressures.
One of the most anticipated moments of the day was the panel, “Has Business Sustainability Lost Momentum?” Senior representatives from Deutsche Bank, Novartis, SK, and Dräger – moderated by Isabelle Grosmaitre (Goodness & Co.) – debated whether the corporate sector is still on track or falling back into short-term thinking. The conversation acknowledged real challenges, but also made more than clear: Leading companies will keep their path to sustainable value creation, integrating financial, natural, human, and social capital related risks, dependencies, and opportunities at the heart of business strategy and decision making as it just makes business sense.
Opening up our minds for the broader developments, Prof. Dr. Nicole Deitelhoff (Goethe University, PRIF) delivered a keynote titled “Global Peace and Trade,” offering a more geopolitical lens on why sustainable business matters – not only for profitability but also for stability, trust, and long-term resilience in the global economy as our political Post World War II order based on the principle of liberalism is breaking up.
The keynote was followed by a fireside chat between Prof. Deitelhoff and Aron Cramer (BSR), moderated by Christian Heller. Their discussion explored the bigger picture: how sustainability, peace, and global economics are deeply interconnected.
The final panel focused on implementation of impact accounting for sustainable value creation. Titled “From Measurement to Management – Impact Leads” brought together leaders from Volkswagen, Roche, Pure Storage, and Anglo American to discuss how impact accounting is already informing strategy development and business decisions – from procurement to finance.
As the formal program came to a close, Christian Heller and Isabelle Grosmaitre offered an Inspirational Closing, urging the audience for strong leadership to continue building bridges – between disciplines, between sectors, and between intention and action.
The VBA Global Conference 2025 demonstrated that with the right tools, shared commitment, and courage businesses can turn impact data into meaningful information for management. The question is no longer whether impact counts – it is how we count it, how we manage it, and how we move forward, together.
We are very honored to announce that the VBA Global Conference will continue its tradition and will take place again next year at the PwC headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany.
As momentum accelerates, one principle remains clear: impact accounting is a driver to improve business decisions. Thank you for being part of our journey!
Authors:
Christian Heller CEO, Value Balancing Alliance | Mirjeta Rexhaj Marketing & Communications |