WASHINGTON — When the UN Global Compact was founded 20 years ago, terms like “corporate sustainability” were far from the mainstream. But as the agency looks to finalize its future strategic plan under new leadership, there are questions about how it can adapt and stay relevant.
The UN Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, was founded in 2000 — a year after Kofi Annan, then-secretary-general of the United Nations, told the World Economic Forum, “We have to choose between a global market driven only by calculations of short-term profit and one which has a human face.”
That message is still as relevant today as it was then, several experts, UN Global Compact board members, and staff members told Devex. But to be effective and play a role in the changing landscape, which now has many more sustainability-oriented organizations and industry groups, they said the compact needs to evolve and change the way it works.