CEOs on board with UN sustainability goals

Many CEOs believe that the UN Sustainable Development Goals will be achieved through participation from the private sector, and most think that the goals are an opportunity for companies to rethink sustainability, a new survey finds.

The survey of more than 1,000 CEOs finds that they believe the UN sustainability goals give their companies a "framework to restructure sustainability efforts" and nearly 80 percent of respondents think they can contribute to these global goals through their companies' core businesses.

Almost all the CEO respondents believe that they have a personal responsibility to make sure their companies plays a core role in society and that doing so helps them differentiate themselves among competitors in the industry.

The survey was conducted by consulting firm Accenture in partnership with the UN Global Compact, a UN initiative that works with businesses to adopt sustainable policies and promote corporate social responsibility. It works with more than 13,000 corporate participants and stakeholders in 170 countries.

The survey was released on Thursday in conjunction with the 2016 UN Global Compact Leaders Summit held in New York City.

"The adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals gives companies a clear and universal road map to make global goals, local business," said Lise Kingo, executive director of the UN Global Compact, in a statement about the study.

"CEOs are accepting a mandate for radical action, and see a window of opportunity for transformation. At the UN Global Compact, we will engage businesses globally with governments and civil society on the SDGs, aiming to unleash the full potential of the private sector to reshape the global economy and deliver the world we want by 2030," she said.

Peter Lacy, managing director of Accenture Strategy, said that CEOs feel the need to reshape business models to support a responsible and sustainable global economy, and that digital technologies allow companies to innovate in order to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

The study found this year's results to be very different from when respondents participated in a 2013 survey, when "respondents expressed a sense of frustrated ambition in their efforts to become more sustainable," the report said. Business leaders today are making progress on embedding sustainability into their businesses.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents said their company can quantify the business value of their sustainability initiatives, up from 38 percent in 2013, the survey found.

Companies with revenue of $1 billion and above showed the most commitment to sustainability with 76 percent of them engaging with investors on its value to their businesses, according to the report.

Ban Ki-moon, secretary-general of the UN, said on Wednesday that governments and the private sector "must align their investments and infrastructure decisions with sustainable development goals." He said that they must also work together on the goal of limiting global temperature rises.

"Achieving the SDGs (sustainable development goals) will require unprecedented cooperation and extraordinary leadership, and it will require us each to be a pioneer, forging ahead into new territories," he said.

"That means taking personal and corporate responsibility for how we do business and who we choose as our staff and partners. It means taking stock of our decisions as consumers and investors. It also means the raising our voices and taking a stand when it matters."

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com