UN GLOBAL COMPACT COMMUNICATIONS IMPACT
As a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with ten universal principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.
Who we are
To create a world where no one is left behind, we need to scale up faster and reach tipping points that will turn corporate sustainability from a nice idea into a practical, mainstream reality for businesses everywhere. We invite you to take a closer look at our communications impact this year, including highlights from our flagship publications, campaigns and events.
CAMPAIGNING FOR CLIMATE ACTION: BUSINESS AMBITION FOR 1.5°C — OUR ONLY FUTURE
Climate change is undoubtedly the defining issue of our time — and 2019 was a pivotal year, with UN Secretary-General António Guterres calling for more ambitious action across the board.
That is why the UN Global Compact — backed by more than 30 global leaders from the UN, business and climate organizations — launched a campaign calling on CEOs to step up and commit to set science-based targets aligned with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
While Government leaders from many of the world’s highest emitters failed to deliver updated climate plans in 2019, dozens of business and investment leaders clearly stepped up their climate ambition to do their part to put the world on track for a net-zero future.
By the end of 2019, more than 180 companies have committed to take action for our only future, and the movement continues to grow.
First Stepping Stone
On 13 June, UN Global Compact CEO & Executive Director Lise Kingo was swiftly joined by more than 30 other leaders in calling for CEOs to set science-based targets for their companies at the 1.5°C level of ambition.
Second Stepping Stone
By 23 July, 28 companies with a combined market cap of US$ 1.3 trillion had stepped up to this new level of climate ambition.
Third Stepping Stone
At the UN Global Compact Private Sector Forum, the official lunch of the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit on 23 September, 87 major companies — with a combined market capitalization of over US$ 2.3 trillion and annual direct emissions equivalent to 73 coal-fired power plants — joined the campaign, aligning their businesses with what scientists say is needed to limit the worst impacts of climate change.
Fourth Stepping Stone
By December at COP 25 in Madrid, the number of companies stepping up had more than doubled to 177 representing annual direct emissions equivalent to the annual total CO₂ emissions of France.
TAKING THE GLOBAL GOALS TO THE TECH SECTOR
At the Web Summit in Lisbon, the UN Global Compact in partnership with the UN Department of Global Communications and the PVBLIC Foundation hosted the SDG Media Zone, a series of live interviews and panel discussions to explore innovative business solutions for the Global Goals.
Attracting around 70,000 innovators and entrepreneurs, the Web Summit convenes the founders and CEOs of technology companies, fast-growing startups policy makers and politicians to help shape a new era of global business. Broadcast live by UN Television, the SDG Media Zone featured discussions with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, H&M’s Anna Gedda, Amnesty International’s Kumi Naidoo, World Scout Movement leader Ahmad Alhendawi, Siyabulela Mandela, Jane Wakely from Mars, racing driver Lucas di Grassi, Peter Gilmer from the Web Summit’s planet:tech and many more.
Watch highlights from Web Summit 2019 below
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS IS GOOD BUSINESS — CREATING FINANCIAL TIPPING POINTS FOR THE SDGS
As corporate sustainability initiatives increasingly become part of core business strategy, leaders are rethinking the future of corporate finance and corporate investments to advance social good. The UN Global Compact provides the guidance and resources finance executives need to transform their business models and incorporate the SDGs — a move that can open up US$ 12 trillion in market opportunities.
Achieving the SDGs by 2030 will require roughly US $5–7 trillion of annual investments. This leaves us with a financing gap of between $2.5 and 3 trillion annually, and for each year we fail to close the gap, the price tag grows.
A Matter of Principle: Tipping points in Investment
In March, BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, announced that they would indicate what percentage of issuers within each of their Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are in violation of the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact signalling a new era of increased transparency.
In a similar move, BNY Mellon — a worldwide financial services firm with more than US$ 1 trillion assets under management — likewise announced the launch of a range of reporting tools that will enable clients to track their portfolio investments based on adherence to the Ten Principles.
In April, UN Secretary-General António Guterres created the Global Investors for Sustainable Development alliance as part of the UN’s strategy on financing for sustainable development, informed by the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. This resulted in 30 influential leaders from the corporate world committing to work together over the next two years in a bid to free up trillions of dollars from the private sector to finance the SDGs.
Introducing a New Event Series:
In March, the UN Global Compact and PRI joined forces to launch the SDG Investment Forum, a new kind of gathering focused on the opportunities and challenges of investing aligned with the SDGs.
The inaugural SDG Investment Forum at B3 Headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil, was attended by over 200 participants from both the public and private sector who spent the day discussing how the private sector can play a greater role in directing capital towards the Global Goals.
Watch the video highlights below
The second SDG Investment Forum hosted by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in October outlined how corporate and financial intermediation, including foreign direct investment, can help bring to scale the private finance directed towards advancing the Global Goals.
Watch the video highlights!
At its third SDG Investment Forum meeting held in Milan in December, the UN Global Compact announced the kick-off of a CFO Taskforce with a two-year programme designed to put corporate finance at the centre of the Sustainable Finance agenda to advance the SDGs.
Founding members include the following companies:
DRIVING THE SDGS THROUGH YOUNG PEOPLE AND INNOVATION
This year we engaged young business leaders by providing them with a unique platform to advance the Global Goals and contribute to shaping the sustainable businesses of the future.
SDG Pioneers
Each year we recognize SDG Pioneers — business leaders, who are using business as a force for good to advance the Global Goals. The SDG Pioneers play an important role in drawing attention to the SDGs and how responsible businesses can contribute to their achievement. In 2019, we recognized ten young professionals (35 and under) who are advancing the SDGs through their work.
Young SDG Innovators
The Young SDG Innovators Programme (YSIP) is an accelerator programme designed to engage young professionals and equip them with skills to advance sustainability efforts, drive innovation and deliver tangible sustainability solutions for your company. This ten-month accelerator programme is currently hosted in 11 countries.
TARGET GENDER EQUALITY
To be rolled out early next year, a new Global Impact Initiative — Target Gender Equality — will support companies to set and meet ambitious, time-bound corporate targets for women’s representation and leadership across business and at all levels.
Watch the highlights from the launch during the UNGA 2019 in New York
MAKING GLOBAL GOALS LOCAL BUSINESS
Change happens locally. Small and medium-sized enterprises — accounting for more than 95 per cent of firms and creating the bulk of worldwide employment — predominantly operate in national markets.
To make Global Goals local business, we launched a series of events to accelerate progress on the Global Goals at the national level and have successfully commenced in the UK, Canada, USA, Middle East, Portugal, East Africa and Mexico, hosted by Global Compact Local Networks.
Collectively, this series of events have impacted over 2,500 participants from business, Governments, the UN and civil society in these 7 countries.
Digital connectivity has never been more important to solving the world's grandest challenges. In 2019, we aimed to reach a broader audience and gain higher media coverage than ever before.
The UN Global Compact Academy is the premier learning platform for sustainable companies. In 2019, the Academy featured:
- 16 Virtual Sessions
- 3 Influencer Series
- Engaging business leaders from 80 countries with learning content available in 5 languages
Watch the Academy Special Briefing: From the UN Climate Action Summit to COP 25
OUR TWO FLAGSHIP PUBLICATIONS IN 2019
Our 2019 Progress Report and CEO Study (with Accenture Strategy) were published in September and attracted top tier media coverage:
- Financial Times | Moral Money special: UN green roof, protesters and what’s ahead
- Reuters | Political uncertainty poses obstacle to U.N.'s global goals, businesses say
- Harvard Business Review | What 1,000 CEOs Really Think About Climate Change and Inequality
- Business Insider | CEO survey finds desire to accelerate sustainability by 2030
- Daily Mail | UN head urges "decade of action" to address world crises
In 2019, we also published the following publications:
WE ARE PROUD OF OUR SUCCESSES IN 2019 AND GRATEFUL TO ALL OF YOU FOR MAKING IT POSSIBLE
We hope you will join us in 2020 as we mark our 20th anniversary and kick-off a new decade of business action and impact to create the world we all want.
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Credits:
UN Global Compact Communications Team: Dan Thomas, Sofina Mirza-Reid, Colleen Connors, Leila Puutio, Lyubava Kroll, Matthew Hunter, Rebecca Purba. Communications Interns: Victoria Gramuglia, Dantae Gagnier, Ané Coetzee, Kinu Nagayama, Megan Galvin, Martina Weisel. Photo credit: UNFCCC/Silvia Pascual, Sam Barnes/Web Summit via Sportsfile