Worldwide
Sustainable development is now considered a new business paradigm, a new level of its corporate citizenship and responsibility, which involves more than just updated formats of private sector involvement in solving social and environmental issues: it is also a transformation of business models and corporate strategies themselves in the interests of society, nature and people. The context of these changes is set by the modernisation of the global economy, which is aimed at implementing modern, integral win-win-approaches to managing resources, risks, and the vast spectrum of impact seen in environmental, social and humanitarian spheres at all levels – from the office to the planet.
With this in mind, extensive international sustainable development agendas (UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)) have become commonplace not only for national governments, the non-commercial sector, academic institutions and civil society, but also for businesses. The UN has recognised the role of business in solving global issues and the formation of a favorable inclusive environment. Taking into account the adaptive, creative, technological, intellectual and resource-based potential of business, it formally included it as one of the main driving forces behind achieving SDGs.
In Russia
The values of sustainable development and the SDGs are supported by leading businesses in Russia as well. Russian business leaders are actively implementing new standards of responsible business practices in the context of this global agenda, participating further in the work of international UN platforms and the UN Global Compact project, developing systemic charity and corporate volunteering, and trying out new sustainability practices. Such practices include considering environmental and social effects, forming new stakeholder relationship models, as well as reconsidering the role and objectives of the business in the context of sustainable development: its principles are integrated into long-term strategies, which covers investment.
Over the past few years, Russian business has been showing undisputed and significant progress in understanding the features of its involvement in sustainable development processes across different aspects.
The topic-based aspect – definition of the top priorities for SDG implementation, areas of effort focus, motivation, expectations, etc.
The structural and managerial aspect – improvement of the sustainable development management system; the responsibility here is to be borne by the higher management level, etc.
The financial and investment aspect – involvement in the global agenda has started to be considered as more than just a cost reduction strategy following risks, but also as a factor of investment attractiveness, financial preferences, etc.
However, a further qualitative step forward requires considerable effort and collective action: detailed elaboration and transition from discussion of priorities to the implementation of the methodology for achieving selected principles, to the actual transformation of business strategies and business models to encompass sustainable development and SDGs, to then measuring the specific practical results both in terms of social and environmental effects and in terms of growth and development of the business itself in the global economy.
One of the stages of consolidated movement in this direction will be the National Sustainable Development Forum, a Russian platform for discussion and sharing professional experience, promoting current aspects of improving corporate practices aimed at sustainable development, and the involvement of advocates of the global agenda from across the regions of Russia. The Forum will also allow socially responsible business in Russia to present to the international community its position and investment prospects in the new sustainable development paradigm in a more clear, vivid and demonstrative manner.
Forum guests
Representatives of executive and legislative authorities, international institutions, UN Global Compact, local networks of the UN Global Compact, UN initiatives and agencies, diplomatic missions; top management of large businesses (Russian and international corporations and companies), leading banks and investment institutions; leaders of business associations (unions), initiatives and companies working in the interests of sustainable development; representatives of public and non-governmental organisations and media; international experts.
AGENDA
9:00 – 9:30. Participant registration. Morning coffee break
9:30 – 10:30.
Interactive session (pre-forum) - master class. How global trends are changing businessThis interactive session will look at the global trends in Corporate Sustainability, how the UN Sustainable Development Goals are changing the landscape, and the tools that are emerging in response. The session will also look in detail at one of the most cutting-edge frameworks - the Future-Fit Business Benchmark - which has been developed to enable businesses to plan a route toward true sustainability. The session will contain a short workshop in using the Future-Fit Benchmark, as well as plenty of time for questions and discussion.
Speaker
Martin Rich, Co-founder, Executive Director, Future-Fit Foundation (Great Britain)
10:30 – 11:00.
Presentation of the photo exhibition «Planet Earth. Fragile Perfection» (in the coffee break area)
The Golden Turtle International Wildlife Festival presents a photography exhibition from around the world entitled «Planet Earth. Fragile Perfection.» The exposition is organised as part of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda through 2030. The photographs reflect the beauty and majesty of the wildlife on all six continents of planet Earth as well as from the largest part of its surface, the World Ocean. Each photograph carries a serious meaning and is accompanied by the facts about global issues in the field of ecology.
Golden Turtle is a unique international environmental education project, the spirit and philosophy of which are aimed at preserving nature through art. Its goal is to promote the development of environmental awareness and human behavior. Golden Turtle is among top-three highest profile and most significant photography contests in the world dedicated to wildlife. This is the only world-class Russian project in the field of professional photography for wildlife, painting, and eco-design.
The exhibition was earlier presented at the UN headquarters in New York for Earth Day 2019.
Speakers
Andrey Sukhinin, President of the Golden Turtle Festival
Elena Khanga, Ambassador of the Golden Turtle Festival
10:45 – 11:00.
Coffee break 11:00 – 11:40.
The opening of the Forum's business meeting Moderator
Alexander Plakida, Chairman of the Managing Council, National Global Compact Network Association; Deputy Chairman of the Board, ACIG
Speakers
Lise Kingo, CEO & Executive Director, UN Global Compact (video message)
Vladimir Kuznetsov, Director, UN Information Centre in Moscow
Andrei Sharonov, President, Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO
Sergey Vershinin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
11:40 – 13:30. Focusing session.
Business strategy of sustainable development and the corporate system of sustainable development managementModerator
Alexander Plakida, Chairman of the Managing Council, National Global Compact Network Association; Deputy Chairman of the Board, ACIG
Discussion focus
- Global practice. International expertise.
- Sustainable development – motivation for business. Conscious motives: detailed elaboration and specification. Hidden motives: assistance in awareness and intensification.
- Interpretation of SDGs within business strategies and public reporting: from brief references to an understanding of problem solving capacity at the non-national scale.
- Transformation of business models according to SDGs: objectives, mechanisms, practices, effects.
- Assistance in strategic business planning in the interests of SDGs. What principles and models can used as a guide when forming strategies for sustainable development, SDGs achievement?
- Demands for methodological support of strategies for sustainable development, SDGs achievement.
- International management standards for sustainable development. Implementation of standards across corporate management codes, HR systems, corporate practice.
- Russian companies and global brands. Filling in the gap in integrating sustainability values and guidelines across corporate strategies. International assistance. Activity and competence advancement.
- Voluntary report-review of the Russian Federation on the achievement of SDGs in 2020. Assistance for working groups and public dialogue on the subject.
Speakers
Sergey Bobylev, Head of Department, Professor, Head of the Center of Bioeconomics and Eco-Innovation of the Faculty of Economics, MSU
Svetlana Gerasimova, Head of the School of CSR and Sustainable Development, Moscow International Higher Business School MIRBIS; Programme Director, Strategy and Practice of Sustainable Development project office
Vladimir Gerasimov, Head of Regional Communications, Lukoil
Svetlana Ivchenko, Director of Social Policy, Nornickel
Irina Korshunova, Senior Director for Sustainable Development, McDonald's in Russia
Faiza Lahlou, Director of Communications in Europe, Head of Corporate Reputation and CSR, Procter & Gamble
Mikhail Mileshin, Member of the Board, Vice President of Marketing, Segezha Group
Gergana Petrovska, Member of the Board, Global Compact Network in Bulgaria
Martin Rich, Co-founder, Executive Director, Future-Fit Foundation (Great Britain)
Evgeny Shvarts, Director of Conservation Policy, WWF Russia
Alena Yuzefovich, undergraduate student of the Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability programme, Blekinge Institute of Technology (Sweden)
Irina Zhukova, Director of Sustainable Development and Corporate Programmes, Philip Morris International in Russia
13:30 – 14:00. Lunch break
14:00 – 15:00. Practical session.
Science and technology as an aid for SDGsModerator
Alexander Podkovyrov, Head of Entrepreneurship Programme (MBA), Moscow International Higher Business School MIRBIS; Mentor for technology startups and projects in the field of corporate social activities and sustainable development of territories
Discussion focus
- Innovative SDG-related business thinking: opportunities and prospects.
- Science, innovations, technology: partnership with business in order to achieve SDGs.
- Business solutions and products which approximate the achievement of SDGs: types, features, potential, tasks, examples.
Speakers
Evgenia Chistova, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, VimpelCom
Polina Lyon, Head of Project Office for Sustainable Development Programmes, State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM
Julia Pakina, Architects Team Leader and Business Development Manager, IBM Client Center, R/CIS, IBM
Agasi Harutyunyan, Acting Director, FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation
Irina Zhukova, Director of Sustainable Development and Corporate Programmes, Philip Morris International in Russia
14:45 – 16:05. Panel discussion.
Business and human rights Moderator
Marina Vashukova, Executive Director, National Global Compact Network association
Discussion focus
- Business and human rights. The UN narrative.
- Is Russian business keen to talk about «Business and human rights» within the UN narrative?
- Entrepreneurship guidelines in the context of UN-declared human rights (Guidelines). Does Russia need a national plan?
- Is business ready to contribute to activities such as the promotion and implementation of the Guidelines in business practices? The results of an expert survey of business representatives. Proposals and prospects.
- Opportunities for business to contribute to the UN activities within «Business and human rights» (Working group of the UN Human Rights Council, UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, joint initiatives of a national network of the UN Global Compact and the Program of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, etc.).
Speakers
Rashid Aluash, responsible for the joint programme between the Russian Federation and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Mikhail Fedotov, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation; Chairman of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights
Daria Grigorieva, Head of Sustainable Development, UK Polyus
Marina Moskvina, Managing Director, Labour Market and Social Partnership Management, RUIE
Tobias Privitelli, Minister, Deputy Ambassador, Swiss Embassy in Russia
Nikolay Shmatkov, Director, FSC Russia
Rustam Zakiev, Director of the Communications and Social Projects Department, RUSAL
Natalia Zolotova, Head of the Department of Universal Cooperation on Human Rights in the UN System, Department for Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
16:05 – 16:15. Coffee break
16:15 – 18:00. Strategic session.
Effective involvement of business in the achievement of SDGs. Major obstacles and assistance measuresModerator
Marina Vashukova, Executive Director, National Global Compact Network association
Discussion focus
- Barriers and growth areas for business involvement in sustainable development processes. New challenges and new opportunities in the context of SDGs.
- Prioritisation factors (belonging to a Russian or international brand, ownership, industry specialisation, company / business size, etc.). Internal and sectoral features.
- Understanding the global agenda from the stakeholder viewpoint. The price of loyalty.
- Consolidation of stakeholders. The joint development of approaches to achieve SDGs, mechanisms of implementing innovative business models according to SDGs, monitoring and assessment of SDG achievement.
- Government authorities' involvement in the dialogue on SDGs. Initiatives of businesses and leading business associations. The search for joint solutions aimed at accelerating progress towards SDGs.
- Recommendations on non-financial reporting in terms of SDGs. Measurement and analysis of indicators in non-financial reporting in terms of SDGs.
- The demand for information and analytical studies aimed at assistance in strategic business planning in the interests of SDGs.
Speakers
Samantha Ducey, Director, Partner Solutions, Global Impact (USA)
Elena Feoktistova, Managing Director for Corporate Responsibility, Sustainable Development and Social Entrepreneurship, RUIE
Ole Lund Hansen, Head of the UN Global Compact Local Networks (video message)
Ivan Kukhnin, Head of Sustainable Development Services, Director, Deloitte
Yulia Mazanova, Director of Corporate Communications and Social Policy, Metalloinvest Management Company LLC
Vakhtang Partsvania, Chief Sustainability Officer and work with state bodies, Scania Rus
Natalia Poppel, Head of CSR and Branding Department, SEVERSTAL
Maksim Remchukov, Chief Sustainability Officer, Sibur
Alexander Skrabowski, Chairman of the Coordination Council, Global Compact Network in Belarus
Ekaterina Son, CEO, Effie Awards Russia
Marina Tatarskaya, Director for Public Relations, Ferrero Russia
Natalia Zaitseva, Head of the Centre for Sustainable Business Development, Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO
18:00. Conclusion. Evening cocktails
