​​The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the United Nations Global Compact and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) have joined forces to mobilize the private sector as a key player in achieving our world’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs, to be launched by the United Nations in September 2015, seek to end poverty, ensure a life of dignity and opportunity for all, and protect our planet’s stability.

1. Guide companies on existing principles, methodologies and standards to assess and   communicate their impact across the SDGs;
2. Present an inventory of indicators that can be used by companies to assess impact against particular SDGs and their corresponding targets; and
3. Provide direction on how companies can enhance the quality of their sustainability goals, position them as commitments, and communicate them in a meaningful and credible manner.
Business is called upon to join in this momentous endeavor to implement the Sustainable Development Goals. Visionary and forward-looking companies must take the lead in pushing the sustainable development agenda forward, and make the case for business everywhere to join in the effort to achieve the SDGs.

BCSDH’s ”Future Leaders” talent program (which was launched in February) has arrived at its second half. Participants of the first BCSDH talent program are 23 talented professionals from BCSDH’s member companies, nominated by their leaders, who with full confidence and respect we can consider the future generation of leaders.

The aim of the programme is to help potential business leaders, who are currently talented professionals, to understand the complexity of corporate sustainability and to enable them to incorporate sustainability elements into their future decision-making processes.

This program is unique in Hungary as participants are on a 9 month-long “learning journey” with a diverse group of practicing business leaders and professionals. Every and each professional day is hosted by one of our mentor companies – which also offers participants an opportunity to get to know these 8 companies well.  

The first day, which was hosted by Siemens, was about getting to know each other and becoming familiar with the theoretical framework of sustainability. The day finished with an interview with Martin A. Dale, CEO of Siemens, and a walk-through of Siemens’ turbine factory. During the next occasion (which took place at a Grundfos factory in Tatabanya), the topic of taking a strategic approach was under the light spot. The mentors of this topic were also two top leaders – Michael Nixon from Nestle and László Török from Grundfos (both Managing Directors). The topic of Responsible Management topic was elaborated with the precious help of MOL and Coca-Cola. Once again, apart from the professional materials that were supplied, an important role was played by the personal meetings – this time with György Mosonyi, President of the Supervisory Board of MOL and former CEO of MOL, and Managing Director of Coca-Cola, Nikos Kalaitzidakis. In the “Telenor Ház” we talked about Ethical Operations with senior managers and professionals from the CEU Business School, Trancparency, Telenor and BEM. For our next topic (which will be respect for basic human values), Zwack Unicum is hosting the program as a symbolical representative and will close the event in an informal manner with a liqueur tasting at which it will announce the project topics that the participants will work on during their “summer break”.

Marketplace of solutions takes place every two years and accompanies a program of the International Conference on Corporate Responsibility

To whom? To CSR experts, summit participants and the general public

Date: May 21-22, 2014

Place:  Old Marketplace (Stará Tržnica), Námestie SNP, BRATISLAVA

Further information: Nadácia Pontis I slavomira.urbanova@nadaciapontis.sk I http://www.cee-csr-summit.eu/en/

The outcomes of the WBCSD Urban Infrastructure Initiative (UII) suggest that all cities seeking to realize their sustainability objectives can benefit from engaging with business early in the planning and strategy development process. Early engagement leverages the capability of business to identify innovative and cost-effective solutions to complex, cross-cutting urban sustainability challenges.

Cities are at the leading edge of the global sustainability agenda. By 2050, 70 % of the world’s population will live in cities and they are rising to this challenge by pursuing ambitious objectives that will make them more competitive, resource-efficient, resilient and inclusive.

Realizing these visions in practice is a complex challenge for city leaders. In particular, they will typically necessitate major transformations in the design, construction and operation of a city’s infrastructure systems – including buildings, energy, mobility, telecommunications, water, sanitation and waste management services – and optimizing the inter-linkages between these systems.

Businesses that are committed to sustainability and experienced in delivering effective solutions can help cities navigate these challenges and turn a high-level vision into practical and implementable action plans. Business can play a vital role not only in providing specific infrastructure, technology, services and financing solutions, but also in contributing to the strategy that will support the overall optimization of urban systems to drive sustainability.

While there are already excellent examples of cities and business working together at the strategic level, this is the exception rather than the rule.

The WBCSD established the UII to advance the urban sustainability agenda by showcasing the critical role that business can play as solutions providers and by providing a platform for collaborative strategic engagement between cities and business. The UII brings together 14 leading member companies – Cemex (Co-Chair), GDF SUEZ (Co-Chair) Siemens (Co-Chair), ACCIONA, AECOM, AGC, EDF, Honda, Nissan, Philips, Schneider Electric, TNT Express, Toyota and United Technologies – with an array of knowledge and skills to help unlock opportunities for urban authorities to create cities that are more sustainable, efficient and livable.

This multi-sector, multi-company group worked with the following leading cities: Turku (Finland); Tilburg (The Netherlands); Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara in Gujarat State (India) ; Yixing (China) ; Kobe (Japan) ; Guadalajara (Mexico) ; and Philadelphia (USA). In each city, the UII mobilized a multi-disciplinary team of company experts to work collaboratively with senior city officials. These teams took an integrated, cross-sector approach to analyzing the city’s major sustainability challenges and to developing an innovative “solutions landscape” (i.e., a portfolio of practical solutions) to address these challenges.

This final report summarizes the work done in these cities and highlights the lessons learned and potential applications where the early collaborative engagement with business should be considered by cities. It makes a number of recommendations for cities, businesses and other key stakeholders to take this critical agenda forward. The WBCSD believes that the example of the UII and these recommendations can provide clarity and guidance on how cities and business can make early collaborative dialogue happen in practice to produce real benefits.

WBCSD-UII-FinalReport-Summary
WBCSD-UII-FinalReport

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) released a new guide that aims to expand business understanding and use of biodiversity information to help manage their environmental impact.

IUCN and partners are developing a series of ‘knowledge products’ which are platforms of knowledge that include assessments of authoritative biodiversity information supported by standards, guidelines, data, tools and training.

Biodiversity for Business – A guide to using knowledge products delivered through IUCN  is specifically targeted at companies to help them better understand and use knowledge products to assess environmental risks and opportunities in their operations. The guide aims to show how knowledge products can help assess, value, manage and report on business impact and dependency on biodiversity and to help  comply with environmental standards and certification schemes.

“It is important for IUCN to demonstrate what kind of knowledge is out there and how it can be used by companies as an input to their decision-making,” said Giulia Carbone, Deputy Director, IUCN Global Business and Biodiversity Programme.

“We wanted to ensure that this knowledge is not only used by the NGO community, but also by companies, since it is critical in assessing and managing risks and opportunities.”

The guide, developed by the IUCN in close collaboration with the WBCSD and its member companies, focuses on four knowledge products:

• The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species^TM, which assesses the risk of  species  becoming extinct;
• Protected Planet (powered by the World Database on Protected Areas), which documents the extent, quality and diversity of protected areas;
• Key Biodiversity Areas, which identifies areas of global significance for biodiversity;
• The Red List of Ecosystems, which assesses the risk of ecosystem collapse.

“This guide has been developed for business and sustainability managers and environmental consultants to increase their understanding of which biodiversity knowledge products are available for use and how they can be deployed across companies to improve management of natural capital,” said Violaine Berger, Director, Ecosystems & Agriculture at WBCSD.

“It nicely complements the WBCSD’s Eco4Biz Guide, which provides a structured overview of existing ecosystem services and biodiversity tools and approaches to support business decision-making.”

After decades of working together, the WBCSD became a member of IUCN in 2013. This was a milestone in terms of enhanced collaboration and business engagement, allowing for scaled-up solutions to better achieve IUCN’s vision: a just world that values and conserves nature.

More information on IUCN’s Business and Biodiversity Programme

More information on WBCSD’s work programme on Ecosystems

Biodiversity for Business- A guide to using knowledge products delivered through IUCN