NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 1 – CommITed Enterprises, a new channel in English of the Italian Permanent Mission to United Nations in New York’s podcast ‘Voci dal Palazzo di Vetro’ was launched last weekend to present Italian companies engaged in the fields of sustainability and sustainable development within the framework of the UN Global Compact. Guests of the week, hosted by diplomatic officials of the Mission Ludovica Murazzani, Head of Press and Communication Office, and Matthias Claivaz, in charge of Agenda 2030 and sustainable development, are the President of the Global Compact Network Italy and professor at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa, Marco Frey, and Executive Director Daniela Bernacchi.
The Global Compact Network Italy was created to coincide and include the interests of Italian companies with the concept of economic sustainability, a subject for which Marco Frey has a particular personal and academic interest since the eighties, during his teaching at the Bocconi University in Milan. The objective was to create a more inclusive and sustainable global economic system, broadening the adherence to the Ten Principles of the GC and to those of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through dialogue and cooperation between all stakeholders, from institutions to private companies and civil society.
The Ten Principles derive from principles included in binding UN instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ILO Declaration, the Rio Declaration and the Convention against Corruption, and are divided into the four macro-areas of respect for human rights, employment, environment and fight against corruption. They are models of behaviour to which companies must adapt in order to build a more sustainable and inclusive working environment, with the participation of civil society and associations.
Director Bernacchi explains how the network works and the priorities for the current year. The first step is to promote and offer training to companies in order to share existing opportunities in the field of sustainability. This is done through the creation of panels, webinars, events and in-depth platforms on macro-topics such as climate action, responsible finance, gender equality or circular economy. Another key activity for the inclusion of the private sector is networking between companies. The GCNI organises meetings between companies in order to share ‘best practices’, experiences and testimonies of successful companies, individuals or associations in the field of sustainability, including the Leaders’ Summit which brings together the entire GC network or Uniting Business Live organised in the margins of the General Assembly in September.
In 2022 the programmes promoted by the Italian network will focus on climate action and gender equality, with the main objective of promoting the role of women in the private sector. “We must put together the three dimensions (economic, social and environmental) to create a new business model that ensures inclusion and at the same time takes into account the environment,” said President Frey, while Director Bernacchi stresses “the aspect of prosperity for future generations. We have a responsibility to work sustainably and ensure a prosperous world for the future generations that inhabit it today”.
As the world’s largest corporate citizenship strategic initiative, the UN Global Compact counts on a membership of more than 18,000 companies on a global scale. Italy has about 430 companies (up 80% in the last three years) of which 65% are part of small and medium-sized enterprises, from all business sectors. In addition to private companies, 40 members between universities and associations are present in the network. (@giorgiodelgallo)
