United Nations Global Compact Network Sri Lanka (Network Sri Lanka), the country network of the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, recently launched a rousing call to action for corporate leaders of participant companies and across the country: commit to ambitious sustainability targets and amplify Sri Lanka’s progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through a new global initiative called ‘Forward Faster’.
Azusa Kubota, Resident Representative UNDP Sri Lanka said, “UNDP is working collaboratively with all of you to make sure our work contributes to a healthier planet and people, and investments required to recover the socio-economic status of the country are SDGs-aligned. The private sector obviously plays an indispensable role in driving this change.”
Marc-André Franche, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, emphasized the private sector’s role and welcomed deeper cooperation. “As private sector leaders, you have a great responsibility to set examples as champions of sustainability. The United Nations is your partner in these endeavours. We are committed to working with each of you and re-envisioning our pathways towards the SDGs.”
The ‘Forward Faster’ initiative of the UN Global Compact, calls on business leaders worldwide to take measurable, credible, and ambitious action in five key areas gender equality, climate action, living wage, water resilience, and finance & investment. These areas can accelerate progress across all SDGs, enabling the private sector to collectively make the biggest and fastest impact by 2030.
At an event titled ‘Compass 2024’ and themed ‘Towards a Resilient Future Through Corporate Impact’, Network Sri Lanka introduced the Forward Faster initiative locally to ignite private sector leadership in driving transformational change.
The event featured distinguished speakers including UN representatives, a presentation from the 2021 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Pioneer for SDG 12 Responsible Production and Consumption from Sri Lanka.
Unveiling UN Global Compact Network Sri Lanka’s overarching plan for 2024, Rathika de Silva, Executive Director, UN Global Compact Network Sri Lanka explained the roadmap will help participating companies enhance governance strategies, set ambitious targets across priority areas and unlock innovation opportunities.
Today Network Sri Lanka includes 75 business and non-business organisations, joining over 20,000 companies in the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.
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