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Overview of the
ECCK Webinar Series 2021:
Sustainable Development Goals
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In order to contribute to a better world, the ECCK has set for 2021 Sustainability as a focus area. With that said, it launched and operated a monthly webinar series on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from February to October.
The motivation behind this webinar series was to promote the SDGs and to make a considerable audience aware of the high importance of those. Businesses play an important role in changing the world to a better one but information on companies’ efforts, achievements but also challenges are not widely known. We believe the webinar series helped to disseminate this information to a broader audience including businesspeople, academics, and governmental officials.
Christoph Heider, President of ECCK, said, “United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are a very important milestone in opening the future for the next generation. We believe that this webinar series will provide a platform to promote the importance of the efforts and roles of private sector for the successful implementation of the SDGs and to explore various solutions to the challenges for businesses.”
With H.E. Ban Ki-moon, the 8th Secretary-General of United Nations, supporting this initiative, the webinar series was successfully held by sharing stories of global CEOs on companies’ insights and efforts to contribute to the SDGs.
Baker Hughes: Leading ESG Strategy for the Energy Industry
Across the many industries that come together at ECCK, the first webinar session held on February 24 was led by Mr. Lorenzo Simonelli, Chairman and CEO of Baker Hughes, on the topic of ‘Leading ESG Strategy for the Energy Industry’. During the session, Chairman Simonelli discussed Baker Hughes’ commitment and concerted efforts to meet the sustainable development goals.
“We advance our purpose through our values and that shapes how we work at the most basic level our values of grow, collaborate, lead and care at the embodiment of the UN sustainable development goals.”, said Chairman Simonelli. “As a signatory of the UN Global Compact, we support the Paris climate agreement and believe that individuals, corporations and all national governments must collaborate to achieve the goals of that landmark agreement. The global energy sector must pursue a path to net zero carbon emissions by mid-century. We are positioning Baker Hughes as the leading energy technology company to help enable the energy transition supporting our customers efforts to reduce their carbon footprint with a range of emissions reduction products.”
BASF SE: Paradigm shift: towards a resource efficient economy
The second webinar was presented on March 11 by Saori Dubourg, Member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE, on the theme of “Paradigm shift: towards a resource efficient economy”.
“Now more than ever we need to rethink the role of business in society and take on a new perspective on value creation. Herein, we must take ownership and think beyond existing frameworks. It is about being more thoughtful with our resources and impact. It is about balancing values in all our decisions, where the impact on the environment is in balance with the needs of a growing society. It is a paradigm shift. And we can only do this together. Collaboration is key.”, said Saori Dubourg during her presentation.
The LEGO Group: LEGO Group’s Sustainability Journey; Creating Impact for the Builders of Tomorrow
Held on April 29, Mr. Tim Brooks, Vice President of Environmental Responsibility, and the Sustainable Materials Center at the LEGO Group led the third webinar series on the theme of “LEGO Group’s Sustainability Journey; Creating Impact for the Builders of Tomorrow”.
During his presentation Mr. Brooks mentioned “Children are the builders of tomorrow. That is ultimately one of Lego’s key mottos and our key purpose is to inspire the builders of tomorrow. The world in the future, in particularly, is related to sustainability but also all kinds of creative and societal changes. The world in the future is dictated by the children here today. What kind of world do we want? What is our goal in helping guide children through creativity learning sustainability dimension? These are some of the questions that need to be taken into consideration.
Swiss Re Group: Time to act – Swiss Re’s sustainability journey
On May 26, ECCK’s fourth live webinar on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals was hosted in partnership with Swiss Re Group. Presented by Guido Fürer, Group Chief Investment Officer and Member of the Group Executive Committee of Swiss Re Group, the webinar was presented under the theme of “Time to act – Swiss Re’s sustainability journey”.
During his presentation, Guido Fürer introduced Swiss Re’s approach to sustainable development goals. “We insure, invest, operate and share our knowledge in a way that tackles sustainability challenges and creates long-term value,” said Group Chief Investment Officer Fürer. “We try to lead certain topics that we feel close and to make a difference. As an example, we try to quantify sustainability performance and impact because one of the nice things about insurance is that it gives prizes to certain risks. If we have a price signal, then this can impact people’s behavior but also the marketplace.”
Solvay: Sustainable Development Drive at Solvay
Dr. Ilham Kadri, CEO and President of the Executive Committee of Solvay led the fifth webinar session on June 22 under the theme of “Sustainable Development Drive at Solvay”.
“Our world has an ever-growing population and limited resources, and we are facing environmental and social challenges like never before. At Solvay we are raising the bar with a holistic view on Climate, Resources and Better Life. I truly believe that sustainability is a path to profitability and plays a role in any company’s future success,” said Dr. Ilham Kadri.
Evonik: Evonik Improves Life Day In, Day Out
Sixth webinar held on August 19 was carried out in partnership with Evonik. Presented by Dr. Harald Schwager, Member & Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Evonik, the webinar was held under the theme of “Evonik Improves Life Day In, Day Out”.
During his presentation, Dr. Harald Schwager introduced Evonik’s approach to sustainable development goals. “Sustainability is the most important topic for the world, for society and for the economy.” said Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board Schwager. “If we want to develop sustainability solutions, we need industries and companies like Evonik. Without industries, without the innovative strength of the industries, creativity, and its research, development will not be able to anchor sustainability of people in the lives of everyone.”
Mercedes-Benz: Sustainability, technology and innovation: Mercedes-Benz on the way to a carbon-neutral and digital future
The seventh webinar held on September 14 was presented by Dr. Sabine Lutz, Vice President Group Research, Sustainability and RD Functions Mercedes-Benz AG under the theme “Sustainability, technology and innovation: Mercedes-Benz on the way to a carbon-neutral and digital future”.
"We, as Mercedes-Benz, are changing, it is about shaping intelligent and sustainable future mobility. We all need to focus on fighting climate change around the globe. You can feel it in every corner. Times are changing and so we will." mentioned Dr. Sabine Lutz during her presentation.
Kyobo Life: Kyobo Life’s Human-centered Stakeholder Relationship Management Approach to Achieve Sustainability
Finally, the final webinar session of ECCK SDGs Webinar Series led in partnership with Kyobo Life, a Korean life insurance company, was held on October 21. President of Kyobo Life Yeol-hyun Yoon and Executive Vice President of Kyobo Life Kumjoo Huh presented during the webinar under the theme of Kyobo Life’s Human-centered Stakeholder Relationship Management Approach to Achieve Sustainability.
During his presentation Mr. Yeol-hyun Yoon mentioned “Kyobo Life is based on the founding mottoes of 'promoting national education' and 'forming national capital'. In other words, we consider the national education is the foundation for a nation’s economic development. This company was founded on the basis of social value creation at the very beginning, and since that, sustainability has been deeply reflected in the company's management philosophy.”
Closing the ECCK Webinar Series 2021: Sustainable Development Goals
With the webinar hosted in partnership with Kyobo Life, ECCK’s UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) webinar series marked its finale in October 2021. The webinar series was held virtually every month with the hope of providing a platform to promote the importance of the efforts and roles of private sector for the successful implementation of the SDGs. We send our sincere gratitude to business leaders across various industries who provided informative sessions and all the participants.
If you wish to watch previous webinar sessions, please visit ECCK's Youtube Channel!
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