Last week the United Nations Global Compact convened over 600 leaders from business, civil society, the UN and Government in Dubai to drive business awareness and action in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the region. Hosted by Global Compact Network UAE, the four-day series of events entitled Making Global Goals Local Business – Dubai explored the actions and partnerships needed to advance the SDGs at the local level, particularly in the realm of peace and the humanitarian agenda.

“Already in the first year since the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals, we are seeing companies around the world – and here in the UAE – responding to the vision of the global goals. The SDGs are helping to outline new markets and opportunities for companies to contribute to improving our world,” said Lise Kingo, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact.

The Global Compact Network UAE is one of the fastest growing country networks in the global initiative, reflecting the rising interest of business in the region on sustainability. Ms. Kingo urged more companies in the Gulf and MENA regions to join the UN Global Compact and determine how their operations, products and services can support the planet and better serve markets today and in the future.

Representing the Global Compact Network UAE, Mahmoud El Burai laid out the crises afflicting the world – including conflict, poverty, inequality and climate change – and the urgency of taking action right away. “It is a long way to go, and the SDGs are our starting point,” he said. “We are here to transform our world and we have to leave a legacy. We must unite and be one voice: the voice of wisdom and the voice of making a difference.”

Peace and the SDGs

A central focus of the week was the UN Global Compact’s Annual Business for Peace Event, recognizing the fundamental role of peace in advancing all of the SDGs. Held on 26 October, the event convened 250 participants across sectors to help move the peace agenda from aspiration to action and identify opportunities for companies to align their strategies with SDG 16 – the new universal goal on peace and good governance.

Addressing the peace event, H.E. Dr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment in the UAE, emphasized the deep connection between peace and sustainable development and outlined the work underway in the UAE around the SDGs.

On the role of business, Minster Al Zeyoudi said, “We see business as an important partner in realizing the ambitious 2030 Agenda as governments alone cannot undertake all that is required. But this not to be taken as a mere charity or to be ticked off as a corporate social responsibility item on the list. Business should consider engagement with the SDGs as a business opportunity because they make business sense.”

Moderated by Zainab Salbi, author and media commentator, the Business for Peace event showcased how companies are taking actions to support peace and humanitarian crises in all regions of the world. Multi-national and domestic companies shared their experiences promoting rule of law and inclusive societies, empowering women and fighting corruption to support the achievement of SDG 16. With respect to humanitarian crises, the need for private sector support was emphasized by UN entities and NGOs to help respond to the large movements of refugees and migrants. Education, employment and basic needs were identified as key areas for business action.

Global Compact Local Networks from Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Germany, Indonesia, Nigeria, Uganda, Ukraine, Turkey also shared their efforts to mobilize the private sector around issues such as violence containment, refugees, interfaith and intercultural understanding, and peace negotiations.

Additional Dubai events included:

24-25 October: Global Compact Local Networks from nearly 60 countries and representatives from over 30 UN agencies, funds and programmes focused on building private sector action on the SDGs country by country. Discussions centered on how to accelerate collaboration among business, the UN Global Compact and UN partners in local contexts, and in coordination with national SDG action plans. Participants shared examples of successful and scalable UN-Business partnerships, as outlined in the recently released UN Global Compact Partnership Passport.
25 October: Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) Business for Peace Forum was hosted together with the American University of Sharjah, bringing together academics, practitioners, civil society, international organizations and NGOs to discuss cutting-edge academic research on how business can advance peace with a focus on peacebuilding and conflict-sensitive due diligence in alignment with SDG 16. PRME is a sister initiative of the UN Global Compact.
27 October: 2nd Regional Forum on Sustainability in Action: Business and the Sustainable Development Goals was hosted by the Pearl Initiative, Global Compact Network UAE and the UN Global Compact. Bringing together over 600 senior representatives from public and private companies, state-owned entities, government, the UN, civil society and academia across the MENA region, the Forum explored opportunities to provide solutions and innovate around the SDGs and the global goals’ themes of prosperity, people, planet, peace and partnership.

On 26th October 2016, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) launched the SDG Knowledge Hub in Geneva. It is a digital platform for the dissemination and sharing of information, knowledge and best practices to do with SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). This project will also be presented during a webinar on 3rd November. The platform aims specifically to publicise the objectives of the various States along their path towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and to communicate their progress, as it happens, about the SDGs to those interested.

As stated by Scott Vaughan – the President of the IISD - knowledge sharing and constant monitoring are necessary commitments to successfully achieve the 2030 Agenda objectives. It was with this in mind that the SDG Knowledge Hub was created. The SDG Knowledge Hub, accessible from the IISD site, suggests that the user selects a particular SDG, about which the Platform will provide several key data such as the number of news items, the number of events, the number of articles and the number of policies detected for the given goal. In addition, for each category of information (news, events, articles, policies) all the material produced so far is made available. IISD experts are responsible for selecting the information published, as participants in the events, while experts from partner organizations publish articles as external contributors. The user friendly platform allows the user to have immediate access to information from trusted sources and worthy of interest relating to the steps taken so far towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.

For further information, visit the website: http://sdg.iisd.org/

At the end of September, the first edition of the “Italian Business & SDGs Annual Forum” was held in Venice and organized by the Global Compact Network Italy Foundation in collaboration with the VIU - Venice International University and the University Ca' Foscari Venice and with the support of FriulAdria and Edison SpA.

Read more ...

On 26th of September the “Italian Business & SDGs Annual Forum” will be held in Venice, on the Island of San Servolo sponsored by the the Global Compact Network Italy Foundation (GCNI Foundation) in collaboration with VIU – Venice International University and the Ca’ Foscari University in Venice and with the support of FriulAdria and Edison SpA.

The Forum will bring together companies of all sizes, from various production sectors as long as they are engaged in, or intending to be, in the implementation of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda. Representatives of institutions, civil society, and academic and research institutions will also take part.

Read more ...

The Italian organization, working in over 100 associated companies, is the country partner of World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Global Network, made up of more than 60 CEO-led business organizations worldwide, united by a shared commitment to provide business leadership for sustainable development in their respective countries and regions.

Read more ...

Last 30 June, in Brussels, CSR Europe has elected a New Chair and Vice-Chair of its Board of Directors who will serve for the coming three years until CSR Europe’s General Assembly in 2019.

Read more ...

The Global Compact Network Italy Foundation participated, along with the CSR Manager Network and the Sodalitas Foundation, in a public consultation on the implementation of Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22nd October 2014 amending the Directive 2013/34/EU as regards the communication of non-financial information and of information about diversity on the part of certain companies and certain groups of large firms.

Read more ...

The White Paper “The UN Global Compact Ten Principles and the Sustainable Development Goals: Connecting, Crucially", recently published by the United Nations Global Compact, illustrates the philosophical and practical connections between the UN Global Compact Ten Principles and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This White Paper draws an important philosophical line in the sand in relation to the crucial importance of principles, especially the UN Global Compact Ten Principles.

Read more ...

The United Nations Global Compact and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding which defines an ongoing collaboration between the two organizations over the next three years. The collaboration, in general, will be aimed at reinforcing the private sector’s contribution to the achievement of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Read more ...

"It's really encouraging that an increasing number of CEOs recognize how SDGs provide firms with a roadmap to rethink their approach to
the creation of sustainable value. The challenge, now, is to strengthen this movement
by promoting the inclusion of more and more companies around the world"

Lise Kingo – UN Global Compact Executive Director
2016 Leaders Summit

The Leaders Summit 2016 was held in New York on 22nd and 23rd June. It is an event that is sponsored by the United Nations Global Compact every three years and aimed at the top positions (Presidents, CEO, Top Managers) in the firms and organizations that are part of the UN initiative. The Leaders Summit is generally an opportunity for a high-profile debate on the progress and development of the UN Global Compact throughout the world.

Read more ...

Last 30 June, in Brussels, CSR Europe has elected a New Chair and Vice-Chair of its Board of Directors who will serve for the coming three years until CSR Europe’s General Assembly in 2019.

Hans Daems, Group Public Affairs Officer at Hitachi Europe, will take the role of Chair and Marina Migliorato, Head of Sustainability Innovation & Stakeholders Engagement for Enel, will take responsibility for the post of Vice-Chair.

For further information, click here

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in Geneva is promoting an e-learning course on Introduction to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) from 4 to 22 July 2016.

The course aims to introduce the participants to the concept of CSR, operationalizing the term and ensuring a cohesive definition of CSR and its applications for corporate sustainability. The learning materials and tools allow participants acquire relevant introductory knowledge that will help them and their organizations to better address social responsibility concerns through a United Nations perspective.

Full information about the course is available at https://www.unitar.org/event/full-catalog/introduction-corporate-social-responsibility-0.

Deadline for registration is 3 July 2016.

The International training Centre of the ILO is organizing a training course on International Labour Standards and Social Corporate Social Responsibility, taking place from 21-25 November 2016 in Italy, Turin.
The course aims to strengthen the capacity of participants to understand the principles of international labour standards as they relate to company operations and the implications for CSR policies and practices geared towards decent work and sustainable development.

For further information: http://www.itcilo.org/en/areas-of-expertise/enterprise-development/international-labour-standards-and-corporate?set_language=it

The Global Compact Network Italy Foundation participated, along with the CSR Manager Network and the Sodalitas Foundation, in a public consultation on the implementation of Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22nd October 2014 amending the Directive 2013/34/EU as regards the communication of non-financial information and of information about diversity on the part of certain companies and certain groups of large firms.

The joint contribution (download) produced by the three organizations mentioned above, was sent on 3rd June to Office IV - IV Directorate of the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

For any questions and/or further information, send an e-mail to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The first Meeting in 2016 of the Founding Members of the Global Compact Network Italy Foundation was held on April 28th, at the Rome headquarters of ABI - Italian Banking Association. On the agenda, among other points, was the election of the new members of the Foundation's Board of Directors (who, after their own election, were called to appoint the Chairman and the Secretary General of the organization).

Read more ...

The Global Compact Network Italy Foundation’s Board of Directors met on 28th April and reviewed and accepted the requests for membership to the Global Compact’s Italian Network which were presented by the Etimos Foundation and Philip Morris Italy, who already participate in the initiative at international level (United Nations Global Compact). By joining, the two organizations have acquired the GCNI Foundation’s status of "Founding Member".

Read more ...

The Global Compact Network Italy Foundation (GCNI Foundation) has published its third activities report  referring to the period 1st January 2015 to 31st December 2015. The Report is one of the main information and communication tools that the Foundation uses externally.

Read more ...

“Integrating sustainability as a critical success factor”: throughout the year, the CSR Manager Network is offering SMEs a full education and specialist consultancy program of workshops, webinars, sustainability reporting consultancy and laboratories, to help small businesses turn sustainability into a success factor.

Read more ...

The UNFCCC’s Kyoto Protocol (1997) strongly grasped itself, as one of its fundamental elements, to the development of a market for carbon emissions. From that moment on, governments around the world have been increasingly pursuing market-based mechanisms to reduce CO2 emissions.
Despite the growing and recognized role of market mechanisms in climate mitigation and the call for carbon pricing in the Paris agreement by both governments and businesses, the agreement ended up making reference to carbon pricing only in a non-binding political section of the text, stating that countries "recognize the important role of providing incentives for emission reduction activities, including tools such as domestic policies and carbon pricing".

Read more ...

On 8th February 2016, in line with the UNEP – United Nations Environment Programme initiative "UNEP Inquiry - Design a Sustainable Financial System" and the launch of the Working Group "Green Finance Study Group" co-chaired by Britain and China in the context of G-20; following up on what was signed at the Paris Agreement, the launch of the 2030 Agenda, and the growing focus on environmental and climatic risks that afflict the financial world as well as the real economy, Italy launched the "National Dialogue on Sustainable Finance" at a national level.

Read more ...