A dramatic rise of interlinked global challenges is forcing business executives to navigate new levels of uncertainty. The war in Ukraine is producing alarming cascading effects across a world already impacted by COVID-19 and climate change. The risks of generations lost, as well as waves of food insecurity, energy shortages, unfolding debt crises, and social unrest are very real. In this context of uncertainty, more and more chief executive officers (CEOs) are stepping into broader leadership capacities, propelled by business necessity and by evolving societal expectations of their role. The UN Global Compact has compiled perspectives from CEOs across the globe, to provide policymakers, companies, and the public with practical insights into business leadership in today’s novel and dynamic operating environment. This report describes how today’s CEOs face complex challenges to their operations—and to their sustainability agenda.

This report is a first step towards a uniform mechanism for business to report on their contribution to and impact on the SDGs in an effective and comparable way. It contains a list of existing and established disclosures that businesses can use to report, and identifies relevant gaps, where disclosures are not available.This Analysis is primarily intended to be used in combination with the document “Integrating the SDGs into corporate reporting: A practical guide.

Identifies practices that businesses can implement to advance decent work and improve occupational safety and health (OSH) globally. Co-developed by the United Nations Global Compact and the International Labour Organization, the brief focuses on the role that businesses can play in ensuring safe and healthy workplaces, especially when operating in countries with deficient national safety and health and employment injury protection schemes. It further recognizes the important link between sound OSH practices and effective employment injury insurance schemes: the most desirable mechanisms to protect the incomes of workers who suffer work-related injuries and cover their medical costs.

This publication is an introduction to SDG Ambition — an new initiative of the UN Global Compact. By raising ambition, deepening integration, and embracing new technologies we believe business can become a leading actor in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With the launch of SDG Ambition, the UN Global Compact is proud to share its new SDG Implementation Framework, which aims to guide companies to deepen integration of the SDGs and Ten Principles into business strategy, operations, and stakeholder engagement.

Since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, more and more companies are disclosing how they are impacting them and contributing to their achievement. The examples featured below help businesses and interested stakeholders identify select current corporate SDG reporting practices. The examples focus on one or a few elements of the broader corporate reporting process and steps outlined in the ‘Practical Guide Integrating the SDGs into Corporate Reporting.’ Please consult the Practical Guide for best practices on SDG reporting.

The Decent Work Toolkit for Sustainable Procurement will enable companies, procurement professionals and suppliers to develop a common understanding on how to advance decent work through purchasing decisions and scaling up efforts to improve lives around the globe. With a focus on trust and transparency, the Decent Work Toolkit for Sustainable Procurement is publicly available to all and contains real-life examples of buyers and suppliers jointly addressing decent work concerns in global supply chains.

Provides practical guidance to companies on how to use the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an inspiration for innovation and orient their innovation processes to better address the SDGs. Featuring step-by-step guidance and illustrative examples of companies leveraging new business models and disruptive technologies to advance the SDGs, the Framework is a toolkit for any company to leverage the SDGs to uncover new products, services and business model opportunities.  

This guide explores the role of corporate finance and investments in scaling finance for the Sustainable Development Goals, including how FDI, financial intermediation and public-private partnerships can be a source of finance for less liquid SDG investments that cannot be invested directly by portfolio or institutional investors. This includes providing access to finance in countries with less developed financial markets or for SDG solutions that are too small or illiquid to attract portfolio investors.   This publication is available in English and Spanish

Represents more than a decade of research on sustainable business. Together with the UN Global Compact Progress Report, it forms the world’s most comprehensive research to date on business contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals. The 2019 study draws on insights from more than 1,000 CEOs from 21 industries and 99 countries, including over 100 in-depth interviews, and nearly 1,600 senior business leaders who responded to the UN Global Compact implementation survey.

The RELX SDG Resource Centre showcases the latest in science, law, business, events and more that can help drive forward the SDGs, drawing on content from across the whole of our company and from key partners as well. The aim is to support the UN in implementing the SDGs and to broaden awareness and understanding of the SDGS for our customers, governments, researchers, companies, NGOs and individuals.

Provides a summary and highlights of the inaugural SDG Investment Forum in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The publication highlights the potential role of social dialogue in fostering stability, equity, productivity, sustainable enterprises and inclusive growth. It also showcases some successful examples.