News
SDG Innovation Accelerator for Young Professionals Camp 2
10 April 2025
On 10 April 2025, we held the second camp of our 2025 SDG Innovation Accelerator for Young Professionals. Through interactive sessions and workshops, participants:
- Analysed their companies’ operations, strategies, and processes through a breakthrough innovation lens, narrowing down their SDG business challenges;
- Worked to define their target group/beneficiary of their SDG business challenge and mapped out key stakeholders needed to develop an impactful SDG solution;
- Set ambitious desired outcomes for solving a specific SDG business challenge, aligning measurable actions with system-level impact.
Special thank you to our hosts Arup for another great camp.
2030 Vision: Uniting Europe in the Fight Against Illicit Financial Flows Collaboration Lab
25 March 2025
On 25 March 2025, we held the 2030 Vision: Uniting Europe in the Fight Against Illicit Financial Flows Collaboration Lab in Paris, bringing together stakeholders from the private sector, civil society, government, and academia to engage in a critical dialogue on combating illicit financial flows in Europe.
Hosted alongside the OECD's Global Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum, the event focused on identifying risks, exploring opportunities, and prioritising collective actions to strengthen governance frameworks and advance business integrity in alignment with the SDGs.
We heard from:
- Delia Ferreira Rubio, Former Chair of Transparency International
- Gabriel Cecchini, Senior Anti-Corruption Consultant, United Nations Global Compact
Thanks to Pacte mondial de l’ONU - Réseau France for hosting us.
LAUNCH: Updated Guidance on Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015
25 March 2025
On 25 March 2025, the Home Office released updated guidance on Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The updated guidance clarifies compliance expectations and provides practical advice based on insights from the past decade. It also promotes a collaborative, global approach to tackling modern slavery and was developed with input from key stakeholders, including the UN Global Compact Network UK, through the Forced Labour Forum.
The launch event featured a keynote address by Jess Phillips MP, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence against Women and Girls, along with presentations from Sodexo, BT, and Unilever. A panel discussion with representatives from academia, business, and civil society also took place.
Please find the updated guidance here.
SDG Innovation Accelerator for Young Professionals Camp 1
14 March 2025
On 14 March 2025, we held the first camp of our 2025 SDG Innovation Accelerator for Young Professionals. Innovators from 11 companies came together to explore how businesses can drive meaningful impact through the SDGs, identify sustainability-related risks and opportunities, and develop strategies for sustainable business transformation.
A special thanks to Arup for hosting us.
Economist Impact Event
11th & 12th March 2025
During the Economist Impact Sustainability Week on 11th & 12th March, the UN Global Compact team showcased our initiatives at our dedicated booth. Attendees had the opportunity to engage with our team, learn about our latest sustainability programmes, and discover how joining the UN Global Compact can drive real business impact. A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth to chat and share their sustainability journeys!
SDG Ambition Session 1
29 January 2025
On 29 January 2025, we held our first SDG Ambition Accelerator session, which focused on equipping participating organisations with the tools to effectively prioritise the SDG Ambition Benchmarks. Through matrix mapping and industry-specific insights, participants identified key benchmarks that align with their strategic goals and long-term sustainability plans. They are now better prepared to set clear, actionable goals that contribute to both their corporate priorities and the broader sustainability agenda.
Our next session will focus on understanding the sustainability business case, where participants will define pathways and actions to achieve SDG Goals. A special thanks to RELX for hosting us.
UN Business & Human Rights Forum
25-27 November 2024
For three days on the week of the 25th of November, we joined colleagues in Geneva to attend the 13th Annual United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights. This global event brings together experts, leaders, and advocates to discuss and advance positive business impact on human rights.
The forum provided access to the latest insights on social sustainability, ethical practices, and practical strategies through talks, events, and networking. It brought together business leaders, civil society organisations, and activists.
Thank you to all members who met with us while there.
Watch back sessions from the forum here: https://www.ohchr.org/en/events/sessions/2024/13th-united-nations-forum-business-and-human-rights
SDG Roadshow - Belfast
5 September 2024
On 5 September, we kicked off our SDG Roadshow in Belfast. To help businesses set and achieve ambitious corporate goals which are in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the event explored key issues to mitigate risks associated with environmental, social, and governance factors, and helped companies understand their role in shaping the business ecosystem for sustainability through partnerships and advocacy in their local community. Through interactive workshops and roundtables, the event explored local actions for advancing the Goals, how companies can build internal buy-in to embed the SDGs across core business functions and foster regional partnerships between sustainability professionals.
We heard from:
- Jo Appleby, Impact
- Diane Emerson, Arup
- Diana Donovan, PA Consulting
- Carl Whyte, Belfast City Council
- Stuart Hollinger, Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce
- Carol Forster, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful
Thank you to Impact for facilitating an interactive and insightful session, and PA Consulting for hosting us.
Find out more about the 2024 SDG Roadshow here: https://www.unglobalcompact.org.uk/sdg-roadshow-2024/
Food Sector Exchange
10 July 2024
More pre-competitive collaboration, upskilling of workers across companies and supply chains, and knowledge-sharing between industries will be needed to accelerate sustainability in the food sector through the Sustainable Development Goals.
On 10 July 2024, representatives from business, government, academia, and civil society came together to discuss how we can anticipate major sustainability challenges to stay ahead of the curve, and explored emerging trends and upcoming regulations in the food sector. Our expert speakers discussed enabling a Just Transition, investing in a sustainable food system, and assessed emerging issues facing the food industry.
Fashion Sector Exchange
2 July 2024
Convening 80+ professionals across the fashion, textiles, and sustainability industries, the UN Global Compact Network UK Fashion Sector Exchange mobilised stakeholders to gain a better understanding of current sustainability issues in the sector and get ahead of the curve.
Expert speakers from UN Environment Programme, Monica Vinader, SOJO, The Stylist Group, Responsible Jewellery Council, UK House of Lords, and more highlighted the need to accelerate transformative change amongst consumers, businesses, suppliers, and policymakers by shifting the narrative, restructuring business models, collaborating for action, and driving policy forward.
Read the key takeaways here.
Sustainability Reporting Webinar Series
June/July 2024
The UN Global Compact Network UK hosted the Sustainability Reporting Webinar Series throughout June-July 2024 to unpack the current sustainability reporting landscape for UK companies and provide practical guidance on how businesses should prepare. Aimed at sustainability and finance professionals leading non-financial disclosures, this series highlighted concrete actions companies can take to plan, execute, and communicate their sustainability reports.
Discussions and Q&A sessions in the five-part series brought together representatives from leading companies already implementing these changes in their disclosures and experts shaping the landscape of sustainability reporting to provide guidance and highlight best practices across a range of sectors and various stages of the reporting journey.
Find out more about the series and access the recordings here.
Business Associations Climate Action Guide & Climate Policy Engagement Roundtable
20-26 June 2024
Interest in corporate climate lobbying is quickly rising up the agenda, with a number of stakeholders – including investors – now asking companies to monitor and align their direct and indirect lobbying activities with the Paris Agreement goals.
To help companies meet these expectations, the UN Global Compact Network UK co-authored a new guide providing a step-by-step overview and recommended actions for how companies can assess and engage their business associations to support Paris-aligned policy agendas, and in turn, the delivery of their own corporate climate transition plans. You can read the guide here.
Following publication, we co-ran a roundtable during London Climate Action Week to discuss the importance of climate policy engagement and gather initial feedback on the guide from a range of company and business association representatives.
Special thank you to Exponential Roadmap Initiative, Race to Zero, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), We Mean Business Coalition, Climate Action for Associations (CAFA), InfluenceMap, and Volans for their support co-authoring the guide and convening the roundtable.
International Anti-Corruption Collective Action Conference
24 – 25 June 2024
24 June 2024 marked the 20th anniversary of the Tenth Principle of the United Nations Global Compact. The principle calls upon businesses to work against corruption in all of its forms, including bribery and extortion.
Corruption impedes business growth, escalates costs, and poses serious legal and reputational risks for companies. However, systemic corruption issues are too complex for any company to tackle alone. The private sector must work collectively to unlock the business benefits of good governance.
The UN Global Compact Network UK, along with Country Networks from across the globe, were at the Basel Institute on Governance’s International Anti-Corruption Collective Action Conference to explore the future of innovative anti-corruption collective action initiatives.
2024 SDG Innovation Accelerator for Young Professionals
12 – 13 June 2024
The fourth camp of our 2024 SDG Innovation Accelerator for Young Professionals took place on 12 and 13 June 2024. Over two days, our Innovators prototyped, tested, and validated solutions to their SDG business challenge. Our Innovators learned about prototyping, how it is applied in different industries/contexts, and how it can be applied to their solution. Using an impact management framework, participants learned and practised how to develop a basic impact pathway with related metrics to measure and communicate the progress and impact of their solutions across different stages. The last part of the day involved deepening the understanding of impact management by including more steps (setting targets, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and communicating) to guide participants on how to validate their SDG solutions.
Thank you to Impact for facilitating an interactive and insightful session, and Duke Corporate Education and Irwin Mitchell for hosting us.
Find out more about the programme here: https://www.unglobalcompact.org.uk/global-goals-sdginnovation/
Reuters Events’ Responsible Business Europe
11 June 2024
On 11 June, our Executive Director spoke in the opening keynote session at Reuters Events’ Responsible Business Europe conference along with Eliot Whittington (Executive Director, Systems Change, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership) and Renata Jungo Brüngger (Member of the Board of Management. Integrity, Governance & Sustainability, Mercedes-Benz Group AG).
They spoke about integrating sustainability throughout the business. Steve said that a clear and credible commitment to sustainability from the top was an essential starting point and then sustainability needed to be integrated into the goals (and incentives) of every team and individual in the business. He noted that it was fortunate there was a strong business case for sustainability for almost every business function from human resources through finance, marketing, procurement, and operations.
Transformational Governance Workshop
20 February 2024
Increasing investor, customer, and employee expectations are pressuring companies to be more accountable, ethical, inclusive, and transparent. Implementing Transformational Governance can drive responsible business conduct, improve ESG performance, and strengthen public institutions, laws, and systems.
To guide businesses to stay at the forefront of governance, thought leadership, and action by applying a broader approach to the “G” in ESG, we hosted a workshop on Tuesday 20 February 2024 in partnership with RELX.
We explored the new UN Global Compact Transformational Governance Self-Assessment Tool, a free tool that enables companies to assess their baseline, identify areas of improvement, and gain actionable insights.
The thought leadership and knowledge contained in the tool can help companies strengthen their policies and procedures, and inspire impactful actions - both within their company and in society. The tool is confidential, based on self-reporting, and is meant to be a learning platform.
Key takeaways:
- SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) is the least understood by business but arguably the most consequential to business. Responsible businesses want to operate in communities where there are institutions, laws, and systems that protect their rights and the rights of the individuals they employ and serve.
- Transformational governance (“TG”) provides a framework for businesses to address rising shareholder and stakeholder expectations by adopting an expanded vision (and ambition) for governance that aims to have an impact both internally on a company and externally on society.
- The TG Self-Assessment Tool is a free and voluntary tool that enables companies to assess their TG baseline, identify areas of improvement, and gain actionable insights. The thought leadership and knowledge contained in the tool can help companies strengthen their policies and procedures, and inspire impactful actions - both within their company and in society.
- Corporate action on TG includes internal measures, such as implementing a Code of Ethics, creating training and a culture of integrity, and ensuring the same standards across the supply chain. Externally, businesses can move beyond legal minimums to advance peace, justice, and strong institutions.
- Through TG, businesses have the opportunity to positively contribute to SDG 16 by implementing targeted measures in the areas of ethical leadership, integration of ESG factors in business relationships with third parties, rule of law, and advocacy and influence including responsible lobbying.
UN Global Compact participants have exclusive access to curated content, toolkits, and workshops that help them address their business challenges.
Please get in touch here if you are interested in becoming a member.
