Corporate sustainability gaining global momentum
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E-mail Xinhua, June 5, 2012
Georg Kell, the executive director for the UN Global Compact, announced?Monday that a corporate sustainability has reached global momentum that has been pushing for the Rio+20 summit, which is to be held late this month in Brazil.
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Georg Kell, the executive director for the UN Global Compact. [File photo] |
![Georg Kell, the executive director for the UN Global Compact. [File photo]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20120605/0014222d98501137ab4525.jpg "Georg Kell, the executive director for the UN Global Compact. [File photo]")
"The momentum behind the businesses, environmental, social and governance issues, is gaining global momentum," Kell said at a press conference here to brief reporters on the findings of the Global Compact's 2011 Implementation Survey.
"The business case for corporate sustainability is gaining global recognition," Kell said. "But this is the time for business leaders to follow words with the action and ensure that responsible practice becomes part of the corporate DNA."
Business efforts to advance corporate sustainability will also be in the spotlight at the Rio+20 -- the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.
Together with several partners, the Global Compact will be hosting the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum, a gathering of more than 2,000 executives and leaders from government, civil society and the UN system focusing on the role of business in advancing sustainable development through innovation and collaboration.
Launched in 2000, the UN Global Compact is a call to companies around the world to align their strategies and operations with 10 universal principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption, and to take action in support of broader UN goals.
Meanwhile, Kell also pointed out there is much work to be done. In the certain areas of sustainability, there has been a lack of progress. He mentioned that concerns are still within the areas of corporate lobbying in advocacy, leading with the biggest gap.
"Only 20 percent of the companies which have an explicit policy do not align with their policies," he said.
The supply chain management is troubling, with "the majority of the companies, a 70 percent, who have not taken cohesive measures to implement (sustainable measures) in capacity building" as well as the environmental, human rights and anti-corruption polices, which seem to be lagging behind, according to Kell.
With these few setbacks, Kell announced that the UN Global Compact is set to make a huge venture for the upcoming sustainable energy summit in Brazil.
"The global compact is making a huge investment for Rio+20 Summit, we will organize a huge corporate sustainability forum with over 2,000 registrations already confirmed, and 1,000 companies already engaged," he said.
