The 5th Annual ‘SDGs and Business Conference’
On Wednesday 6th November, the APPG for the UN Global Goals hosted the 5th Annual SDGs and Business Conference in the Attlee Suite in Parliament, in partnership with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the UN Global Compact and Bond, the UK network for international development organisations.
We were very pleased to have the Minister for International Development, Anneliese Dodds, in attendance, who spoke about the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals to the priorities of the new UK government. She commended the work of businesses in incorporating the SDGs into their own business practices, and spoke about how achieving the SDGs will be a partnership between government, business and civil society actors.
Following the Minister’s speech, there were two panels, the first chaired by Jess Toale MP, Chair of the APPG for the UN Global Goals, and speakers Andrew Wilson, Deputy Secretary General of Policy at the ICC, Sarah McDonald, VP Sustainability, Haleon and Lars Karlsson, Global Head of Trade and Customs Consulting at Maersk. They discussed the role they see for the private sector in supporting the SDGs, how policy innovations can better support businesses in aligning their operations with the SDGs, what some of the ways are in which businesses can tackle SDG-related challenges, particularly those intensified by the current global landscape, and how trade digitalisation can help overcome existing barriers to sustainable development.
Following a break for a coffee, a second panel, chaired by Ryan Henson, CEO of the Coalition for Global Prosperity, and with speakers Bobbie Mellor, Global Head of ESG, Vodafone, Adam Elman, Director of Sustainability for EMEA, Google and Rachel McEwen, Chief Sustainability Officer, SSE, discussed what the most effective step their companies have taken in the past year to contribute to the SDGs, how businesses can balance the need for expanded connectivity with their environmental commitments, and how tech companies can drive sustainable practices beyond their operations and support other sectors in meeting the SDGs? They also discussed the regulatory and financial challenges in scaling renewable energy, and how AI can help to accelerate the energy transition.
Following the panel, there was time for MPs, business representatives and civil society representatives working on the SDG agenda to network and discuss their organisation’s work towards SDG implementation. These continued the productive discussions that had taken place on the panels, and we look forward to welcoming back business representatives next year for the 6th Annual Conference, as they continue to advance the SDG agenda through their own work.
We would like to thank the Minister Anneliese Dodds for her contributions, and for the support from the ICC, UN Global Compact and Bond in helping to make the event a success.