A viewpoint by Bjørn Kj. Haugland, Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) at the certification company DNV GL Group. He is responsible for DNV-GL Group's sustainability agenda, and is the Chairman of DNV GL Corporate Sustainability Board.
2015 is an extraordinary year for corporate sustainability, with the launch of the UN’s new Sustainable Development Goals in New York last month, and the COP21 climate talks taking place in Paris in December.
With these milestones, profound changes are underway in terms of the expectations society has of business. The process of developing the new Sustainable Development Goals included the voice of the private sector, and the goals will not be achievable without multi-stakeholder collaboration. This inclusion of corporations sends a clear message about the important role for business in global development, and serves as a critical driver in pushing companies to contribute towards the goals.
At DNV GL Group, we believe that leaders from all parts of society, whether from business, politics, academia or NGOs, have one common responsibility – to build resilient and sustainable societies. In order to get there, we need to shift to a new strategic mindset.
Collaboration with multiple stakeholders, including regulators, is crucial to developing pathways to a sustainable future. At DNV GL, we have initiated a range of initiatives with partners that we think provides some food for thought.
Adopt a thought leadership position
To build a thought leadership position in your field of expertise, it is beneficial to team up with partners from other businesses, government and civil society. At DNV GL, the Global Opportunity Network has been an important partnership to make our mark on the sustainability agenda.
We developed the Global Opportunity Report to explore global sustainability challenges. The content came out of the Global Opportunity Network, a partnership with UN Global Compact (the UN’s main platform for engaging with businesses), and Scandinavia’s largest independent think tank, the Monday Morning Global Institute.
Together, our aim was to demonstrate how global sustainability challenges and risks can be seen as opportunities, and to consequently provide an open platform for innovation, where stakeholders worldwide can explore and capture sustainability opportunities and solutions. This approach was particularly effective as The Global Opportunity Report was particularly timely; it was released as global leaders met in Davos in 2015.
Mark the calendar
It is impossible to drive social change on your own. Therefore it is imperative to build a broad network of stakeholders across sectors, who you can collaborate with through various initiatives.
At DNV GL, we bring together influential thought leaders and key players from business, academia, civil society, and government at our annual sustainability roundtable. The roundtable invites action-oriented discussions and reflections on how we can mobilise change and drive the push for sustainability forward. Debating how we can move from a map of actions towards a strategy of change, and crucially, what role both the group and DNV GL can play in the process, the result of our conversations are presented in a white paper widely shared with our stakeholders.
Leverage your expertise to provide valuable insights and drive social change
All corporations have their own field of expertise. But how can they leverage this knowledge to drive social change? At DNV GL, we regularly publish research reports on the topic of sustainability, leveraging our broad expertise in technology, energy, maritime and climate.
As the UN Global Compact – the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative – marked its 15th anniversary in 2015, we were asked to assess the impact Global Compact has had, in making business more sustainable. Has the global economy changed for the better? And what has been the impact of the Global Compact? The final report was presented in the UN General Assembly in New York earlier this year, and concluded with setting out three pathways for the future – our recommendations for how we can work together to achieve the vision of a sustainable and inclusive global economy, and what the Global Compact can do to scale its impact.
We also wanted to add a human angle to the findings to bring them to life in a more visual way. So we also launched NEXT Sustainable Business, which is a compilation of unique stories on the importance of corporate sustainability from progressive and inspiring leaders, including Ban Ki-moon, Georg Kell, Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, and Kofi Annan. These third party comments provided compelling content to further add to the story we were telling.
Entering the era of mass collaboration
As identified by our UN Global Compact assessment, collaboration is not only on the rise, but it is also changing form. 15 years ago, companies were facing issues alone – and a high degree of mutual scepticism and mistrust characterised relationships with other stakeholders.
Today, stakeholder dialogue, consultation and partnerships have become part of business, and cross-sector collaboration is being actively used to foster technological innovation and product development. This will only have a win-win effect for society and the environment.
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