BUILDING BACK BETTER WITH THE SDGs
SDG AMBITION
FINANCING OUR FUTURE
COLLABORATION IN ACTION TO ACHIEVE THE SDGS
BUSINESS REPORTING ON THE SDGs
LOCALISING THE GLOBAL GOALS
EMBEDDING ESG INTO YOUR BUSINESS
DEBATING A CLIMATE-FIRST APPROACH TO THE SDGs
Paul Polman,
Co-founder and Co-chair,
IMAGINE
Jane Hutt MS,
Minister for Social Justice
Marvin Rees,
Mayor of Bristol
Lord McConnell
Co-Chair of the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development
Moderator
Francesco Gattei,
CFO,
Eni
Feriel Zerouki,
Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs,
De Beers Group
Louise Scott,
Director Global Sustainability and Climate Change,
PwC
Marcelo Behar,
Vice President of Sustainability and Group Affairs,
Natura &Co
Dorothee D’Herde,
Head of Sustainable Business,
Vodafone
Duncan Burt,
Director for COP26,
National Grid
Paul Simpson,
CEO,
CDP
Rt Hon Justine Greening,
former Cabinet Minister and Founder and Chair,
Social Mobility Pledge and Levelling Up Goals
The UN Global Compact Network UK’s RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS & SDGS SUMMIT was an interactive digital event featuring a series of critical discussions over the course of two days (20-21 July, 2021). We convened 2000+ CEOs, business experts, sustainability practitioners, investors and representatives from UK Government and civil society to address the challenges and show how companies are advancing the SDGs, to foster meaningful networking opportunities, and to provide inspirational sessions with actionable ideas to transform industries and societies and lead to a new sustainable future.
Thank you for joining our Responsible Business & SDGs Summit.
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BUILDING BACK BETTER WITH THE SDGs
Tuesday 20 July 2021 09:30 – 11:00 BST
The Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals is well underway. Now is the time for all stakeholders to raise their ambition for people, planet, and prosperity by taking action across all of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The COVID-19 pandemic has provided us with an opportunity to use the SDGs as a framework to help us recover better together. This event enabled a high-level discussion with business leaders on how to build back better from the pandemic and the need for ambitious action for the SDGs.
SDG AMBITION
Tuesday 20 July 2021 11:30 - 12:15 BST
The need for SDG Ambition today is clear. Though 81% of companies say they are taking action to advance the SDGs, less than a third are aligning their strategy and operations in practice. The UN Global Compact has developed 10 SDG Ambition Benchmarks that translate the SDGs for business. They are applicable across all industries and set the level of ambition required to achieve the Goals by 2030. This session explored the Benchmarks, demonstrated how the UN Global Compact Network UK’s accelerator programme can support your business to align with these ambitions, and heard from organisations that are integrating the SDGs into their core business management.
FINANCING OUR FUTURE
Tuesday 20 July 2021 12:30 – 13:30 BST
As the stewards of corporate finance, Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) have a critical role to play in ensuring that companies’ financial strategies are aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This session with the CFO Taskforce for the SDGs explored the new CFO Principles and the key steps companies can take to unlock private capital and create a market for mainstream investments for the SDGs.
COLLABORATION IN ACTION TO ACHIEVE THE SDGS
Tuesday 20 July 2021 14:00 – 15:15 BST
Developed by B Lab and the UN Global Compact, the SDG Action Manager is a web-based impact management solution to enable businesses to take action on the Sustainable Development Goals through 2030.
In this interactive workshop, participants learnt about the SDG Action Manager from the experts and heard from companies using it to improve their sustainability performance.
BUSINESS REPORTING ON THE SDGs
Tuesday 20 July 2021 15:30 – 16:30 BST
Interested in why you should report on the SDGs and how to best do so? Integrating the Global Goals into corporate reporting will help address the information needs of government, investors, and other stakeholders, and enhance your company’s accountability to society.
Hosted in partnership with GRI and PwC, participants explored three guides that can support your organisation in integrating the SDGs into your reporting processes and learnt from best practice business examples.
LOCALISING THE GLOBAL GOALS
Wednesday 21 July 2021 10:00 – 12:00 BST
Local leadership will be critical as the country builds back from the pandemic. Hosted in partnership with the APPG on the SDGs, Bristol City Office, and the Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development, this event convened high-level representatives from government, parliament, business, and civil society to discuss the importance of using holistic frameworks and local action to achieve policy objectives.
Guest speakers shared case studies and participants had an opportunity to network and discuss practical applications.
Wednesday 21 July 2021 13:00 - 14:00 BST
ESG investors (Environment, Social, Governance) are looking at companies' SDG impacts and using this information for their investment decisions. This session explored what impacts investors value the most, what disclosures they want to see, and how companies can ensure their SDG-related activities are aligned with investor expectations.
DEBATING A CLIMATE-FIRST APPROACH TO THE SDGs
Wednesday 21 July 2021 15:00 – 16:30 BST
The private sector has a key role to play in tackling climate change. With COP26 planned to take place this year, leaders are urging companies to set ambitious science-based targets and invest in a net zero future. Yet if business prioritises climate action above all other 17 SDGs, are we at risk of reversing years of development progress? If business doesn’t prioritise climate action, will climate change bring about the same outcome only irreversibly? This formal debate convened two teams of leading sustainability experts to explore these questions.
Special thanks to:
For any questions about the Summit, please contact the Global Goals Programme Manager, Jessica Lobo.