Global Compact Paper Outlines Priority Actions for Business

(New York, 29 January 2009) - Today, the United Nations Global Compact Office released the paper Global Sustainability in the 21st Century: An Action Plan for Business in conjunction with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s speech delivered at the World Economic Forum.

The UN Global Compact Office argues in the paper that today’s confluence of global threats, most prominently the global economic downturn and climate change, provides the most compelling case for business to embrace corporate responsibility. Specifically, a call is made for companies to take an expanded view of risk and opportunity management that includes environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and to increase focus on long-term value creation.

Global Sustainability in the 21st Century: An Action Plan for Business outlines pertinent lessons from the financial crisis that should be applied in order to tackle pressing global issues. Within this context, an action plan for business is provided in the areas of (1) implementation and disclosure of ESG issues, (2) climate change, (3) collective action, and (4) global frameworks and national regulation.

The paper builds on The Global Economic Downturn: Why the UN Global Compact and Corporate Sustainability Are Needed More Than Ever , released by the UN Global Compact Office in October 2008, which explored a range of questions regarding corporate responsibility in the wake of sharp global economic adjustments.


Global Sustainability in the 21st Century: An Action Plan for Business (pdf)

The Global Economic Downturn: Why the UN Global Compact and Corporate Sustainability Are Needed More Than Ever (New York, 17 October 2008)

 

Contact:

Carrie Hall
Communications Manager
UN Global Compact
hallc@un.org
+1 917 367 5232