Business Leaders in Rio Respond to UN Secretary-General’s Call for “Tipping Point” in Corporate Sustainability
Jun 16, 2012 9:00 PM ET
Campaign:
Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum
(3BL Media) Rio de Janeiro, 16 June 2012 - The first full day of the private sector track to Rio +20 opened with business schools stepping up sustainable development curricula, investment firms backing natural capital accounting, and corporate action on biodiversity.
“Corporate sustainability is an idea whose time has come”, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, via video message, to the 15 June opening plenary of the Corporate Sustainability Forum, in Rio de Janeiro. “I want Rio +20 to be a tipping point for corporate sustainability.” The Forum, organized by the UN Global Compact, brings together business, civil society, government, environmentalists and UN agencies. Policy recommendations and action commitments from the Forum will be forwarded to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), taking place next week, also in Rio de Janeiro. Three hundred deans and representatives of business schools issued “The Rio Declaration on the Contribution of Management Schools to the Future We Want”, saying that “business schools have been concerned about being the best in the world. Now they aspire to be the best for the world”. CEOs at the helm of 37 banks, investment funds and insurance companies announced a commitment to integrate natural capital considerations into their products and services. Speaking at the launch, UN Environment Programme Executive Director Achim Steiner said: “Factoring capital into the bottom line is about bringing the real wealth of the planet from the invisible into the visible spectrum, in order to tip the balance from degradation towards sustainable management from communities, business and countries.” The UN Global Compact, in partnership with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, launched a policy framework to assist companies in the development, implementation and disclosure of policies and practices related to ecosystems and biodiversity, so that companies can minimize negative effects and maximize positive impacts. In other developments at the Forum today:- Egyptian businesses in the Global Compact Network met to discuss best practices.
- Small and medium-sized enterprises proposed low-carbon solutions.
- Indonesian companies described water conservation measures.
- The UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment group launched guidelines for economic, social and governance reporting.
- Chief Almir of the Surui tribe, of the Brazilian Amazon basin, unveiled a Surui Cultural Map developed in cooperation with Google, which will help to maintain the environmental and cultural heritage of his people.
- The Global Compact Network Egypt aims at showcasing different sustainability initiatives and projects implemented by the local network members. The session will highlight how different organizations can address sustainability and the 10 principles of the Global Compact regardless of the size, type and industry of the organization. Throughout the session company representatives will be presenting their success stories and the evolvement of sustainability in their companies since they joined the Global Compact.
- This session will discuss solutions to the challenges facing corporate actors, financial institutions, investors, project developers and entrepreneurs in entering the low-carbon business space in emerging and developing countries; with a specific focus on the role of small and medium sized enterprise
11:00 AM– 12:30 PM
- The session will describe corporations’ contribution in addressing the water scarcity issue in Indonesia and other countries that interested to participate. This session will also covers the interest of other stakeholders including NGOs, academicians and the government.
- Today Rebecca Moore of Google,Chief Almir Surui and other members of the Surui tribe of Rondonia, Brazil, unveiled the Surui Cultural Map. The map, an interactive tour of Surui culture and history displayed in Google Earth, is the result of an ongoing collaboration between Google and the tribe to capture, share and preserve the natural and cultural richness of Surui ancestral lands.
- On June 16, the Global Compact and the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) launched the ESG Investor Briefing -- a new framework for communicating economic, social and governance (ESG) value drivers at the company-investor interface. This framework was launched as part of a joint project with leading companies and investors designed to pilot a series of high-level investor calls similar to quarterly earnings calls but focusing on ESG. The pilot calls will serve as a laboratory to explore best practices in integrating ESG factors in mainstream investor communications, beyond reporting.
- The session will provide an introduction to the UN endorsed Principles for Social Investment and a new report on strategic social investment and philanthropy. The session will also launch two new initiatives, the Social Investment Pioneer Awards and Social Investment Ambassador program.
- This facilitated discussion session, organized by Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) and using the collaboratory concept, aims at strengthening collaboration between academia and business to develop pragmatic solutions on Anti-Corruption, Gender equality, and Poverty reduction. Speakers include representatives from Anglo American, Coca-Cola, CA Technologies, Deloitte, Media Consulta, and Oando
- The UN Global Compact, in partnership with the IUNC, launched a new corporate policy framework to assist companies in the development, implementation, and disclosure of policies and practices related to ecosystems and biodiversity. This framework assists companies in understanding how their direct and indirect operations affect natural environments, ecosystems, and habitats, and presents a strategic management framework and associated action steps so that companies can minimize negative effects and maximize positive impacts.
- This session will mark the launch of the Principles for Social Investment Secretariat's discussion paper, ‘The Reconceptualization of Business’, which offers an introduction to the various organizational models through which business contributes to sustainable community development. Business leaders from companies such as Nestle, Novartis, Argos and Endessa will discuss the report.
