‘Treat sustainability as the norm’, UN Global Compact urges
Almost all companies around the world have sustainability targets that are in line with the global average, but are not high enough to have a significant impact on achieving the 2030 sustainability development goals, according to Sue Allchurch, chief of Outreach and Engagement at UN Global Compact.
Speaking to a group of media prior to her speech at the “Unlocking the Global Pathways to Resilience, Growth, and Sustainability for 2030” panel discussion on Monday, she noted that a strong commitment to sustainability has been made, with some positive progress.
However, those commitments and goals are not ambitious enough.
If a goal is not set high enough, it will take a long time to achieve, and in today's world, there may not be enough time to wait, For example, the UN Global Compact study found that closing the gender pay gap will take 257 years based on the current target.
“And rather than aiming for 10% female CEOs in the company, why not increase the number to 40-50%?” she said, adding that the higher the number, the greater the challenges, but at the end of the day, sustainability is the global new norm and will be the path to reaping the benefits.
Unfortunately, despite more than 90% of CEOs worldwide recognising their leadership role in ensuring the sustainability of their businesses and supply chains, most companies still fall short of their target in terms of timeframe.
According to the most recent study, the world is not on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and, perhaps more worryingly, 85% of indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals are off track.
Allchurch highlighted the cyclical and structural barriers impeding progress towards the SDGs.
Cyclical barriers like inflation, interest rates, competing priorities, and geopolitical instabilities, she said, are beyond companies' ability to solve. Businesses should therefore focus on structural barriers such as long payback periods, inability to influence the supply chain, a lack of policy incentives, and a lack of SDG impact measurement and data.
“Among these barriers, CEOs are most concerned about their inability to influence supply chains. The CEOs we’ve spoken with across Asia, including here in Thailand acknowledge that they need strong government support to persuade their suppliers,” Allchurch explained.
She emphasised that, due to the complexity of current problems, sustainable solutions can only be achieved through close collaboration between the private and public sectors.
“The global outlook is at present full of complex challenges. Among the several issues, the eight most pressing are inflation and price volatility, scarcity of talent, threats to public health, climate change, trade regulation, a lack of relevant skills for the future of work, warfare and conflict, and political polarisation,” she noted. “An innovative and sustainable approach is needed to find the right solution that is good for all parties and leaves no one behind.”
Recognising that high ambitions would make it difficult for companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to transform and thrive in the green economy era, Allchurch pointed out that there are now numerous agencies and non-governmental organisations available to assist and support those companies as they embark on the green journey.
The UN Global Compact is among them.
“What we [UN Global Compact] are looking now is how we increase those ambitions, how we move further, the barriers that our businesses are facing and what we can do to alleviate those difficulties,” she said.
With the aforementioned mission, she stated that, aside from providing a global network, know-how, training courses, workshops, and consulting services, UN Global Compact serves as a bridge between the public, private, and people sectors to facilitate conversation.
In its current efforts to improve equal living wages for all workers, she pointed out that the UN Global Compact has successfully brought together the government, relevant labour parties, and key companies in 18 countries to discuss and agree on living wages.
“You must have a conversation and a journey over time to determine what will propel the entire country forward, because the main goal is to lift you out of poverty and to help a country rise. You have to have a national conversation, a national plan,” she said.
Meanwhile, as a supporter and facilitator, she explained that the UN Global Compact launched the “Forward Faster” campaign to guide corporations of all sizes around the world to take action in five core selected areas that have been shown to have the potential to accelerate progress across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
These five selected areas are where the private sector can collectively have the greatest, quickest impact by 2030.
“Each area has specific actions to help you build a more resilient company while also building a resilient society and planet,” she said.
Encouraging all companies to join UN Global Compact, she pointed out that a sustainable journey is fundamental to conducting business.
“Treat sustainability as the norm. Consider it part of your core business, and the UN Global Compact is here to help. We can help and make real progress. Also, please set high enough goals. Let's try to go as fast and hard as we can,” she said.
The UN Global Compact, established in 1999, is the world's largest corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility initiative, with over 20,000 corporate participants and other stakeholders from over 167 countries. The organisation is made up of a global agency and local “networks” or agencies in each participating country.
