UN Secretary-General Urges More Companies to Embrace Sustainability

(Seoul, 31 October 2012) – At a meeting of international business leaders in Seoul today, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for corporate sustainability to become a transformative force.

The meeting, convened by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), focused on scaling up solutions for sustainability following the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development – Rio+20 earlier this year. In his remarks, the Secretary-General emphasized that the corporate community delivered a common message in Rio that “business as usual no longer works”. He encouraged businesses everywhere to carry forward the recommendations of the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum, including on corporate innovations and collaborations designed to achieve progress in areas such as energy, water, climate, agriculture, social development and urbanization.

The Secretary-General emphasized the need to take corporate sustainability to greater scale in order to address pressing global challenges. “We need companies everywhere to deliver value not just financially – but also in social, environmental and ethical terms,” he said.

The Secretary-General highlighted a number of UN-backed initiatives designed to “take corporate sustainability to the next level.” He encouraged companies to join the nearly 7,000 corporate signatories in the UN Global Compact, and called for stronger support for the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment and Principles for Responsible Management Education. Other initiatives mentioned include Sustainable Energy for All, Caring for Climate, the CEO Water Mandate, the Women’s Empowerment Principles, and Every Woman Every Child.

• Read the Secretary-General’s Remarks to the World Business Council For Sustainable Development Annual Meeting: “Scaling Up Solutions” (as prepared)

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