Top 50 domestic corporate leaders will be assembling here on Saturday under the aegis of the UN to formally adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the world body and discuss the way forward for implementation.
The SDGs are the continuum of the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which were under implementation from January 2000 to December 2015. These 17 SDGs are being implemented from January 2016 to December 2020.
UN Global Compact’ is the implementing agency for SDGs.
The Mumbai meeting assumes significance as this is for the first time the UN is involving private and public sector corporates globally to drive its development agenda. This is the first such meeting being held globally.
The companies that are attending the meeting include the Tatas (14 group firms), Reliance Industries, Vedanta, ONGC, Essar Group, the Birlas, L&T and the Adani group. Several MNCs like Mercedes will also be attending the session.
“The leaders of conglomerates will discuss ways and means to push the SDGs which aims at broadening the horizon for growth and transformation under the theme of people, planet and prosperity,” United Nation’s Global Compact Network India executive director Pooran Pandey told PTI here.
He added that India Inc will be the first in the world to adopt the SDGs and implement them at their companies.
“Corporate India will take the global lead to draw up an agenda for broadening the horizon for the country’s growth and transformation as envisioned under the SDGs,” said Lalit Gupta, the convener of the national convention of the UNGCNI and MD and CEO of Essar Oil.
Gupta also said the day-long meeting will be inaugurated by Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar. UN Global Compact global executive director Lise Kingo will be there too.
“These goals (SDGs) encompass a wide range of global issues with underlying targets directing signatories to imbibe the goals in their way of operations. What sets SDGs apart is their emphasis on leveraging partnerships between public and private enterprises to drive the agenda forward,” Pandey said, adding 348 SDG signatories from the country and 230 members will be paying a membership fee.
When asked about the success of MGDs, he said global average was around 50 per cent, and blamed lack of monitoring and reporting structures for the poor achievement.
“What sets apart the SDGs from MDGs is that the SDGs will be evaluated, monitored and reported in a time-bound manner, while the former was just a commitment with none of the aforementioned actionable demands,” Pandey said.
The UN Global Compact Network India helps in aligning stakeholders’ practises towards the 10 universally accepted principles of UNGC in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.
The India Network currently ranks among top 10 country level networks out of 103 local networks, with a pan-India membership of 230 organisations and 348 signatories. Globally, the Network has over 12,000 members out of which over 8,000 are companies with presence in over 165 countries.
The just-concluded 8 MDGs were adopted following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, while the 17 SDGs were adopted at the Copenhagen Consensus in September 2015.
Pandey said originally there were only 16 goals but since these were adopted by all the UN members in flat 17 minutes the last was added as a respect for the urgency shown by the member-nations.