Geneva, 12 January 2024: The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is proud to announce the official merger of Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG) with the Equity Action Imperative to create the B4IG Equity Action Platform, establishing a powerful joint initiative dedicated to tackling inequality and driving transformative business action.
Since its launch in August 2019, B4IG mobilized business leaders from 35 companies around a Pledge for action in support of inclusive growth. This was followed by the adoption of a Roadmap for inclusive recovery by B4IG members, in November 2020. Since then, the coalition has explored and developed practical solutions to mobilize leading companies and coordinate with governments to scale up business action on inequality.
Throughout collaborations between B4IG and WBCSD, the potential to combine the efforts of the two networks to advance an inclusive growth agenda emerged. Thanks to these synergies, the new B4IG Equity Action Platform creates one trusted community of leading businesses with a standing commitment to equity. As such, it gives access to a rich network of experts, methodologies, and leading practices that help businesses transform value chains and navigate an increasingly complex market landscape.
“It’s an exciting opportunity as the integration of B4IG under WBCSD will deliver an even greater value to our members and partners, and create more impact on key topics such as human rights, diversity, equity & inclusion, just transition, living wages and social metrics.” – Camille Putois, Member of the WBCSD Imperatives Advisory Board and former CEO of B4IG.
Looking ahead, the B4IG Equity Action Platform is getting ready to launch a next phase of action for the Business Commission to Tackle Inequality (BCTI), an ambitious business-led, multi-stakeholder initiative focused on shaping future-proof, equitable and inclusive markets and systems. In February 2024, the 70+ members of the BCTI will embark on a two-year continuation to elevate inequality as an essential boardroom agenda, coordinate shared action and system-level progress across the 10 areas of its Tackling Inequality Action Agenda, and foster markets where social performance and accountability are a given.
“Since its inception, B4IG has led the way in elevating tackling inequality and inclusive growth as a boardroom agenda. We are grateful for the work done and thrilled to welcome the B4IG community into our WBCSD family of 250 corporate members and into our next phase of work with the Business Commission to Tackle Inequality.”– Carolien de Bruin, Senior Director, Equity Action, WBCSD.
With the extension of BCTI for another two years, our collective aspiration is to leverage the Tackling Inequality Action Agenda to trigger and deliver more action in support of the 10 areas of impact where companies and investors can play an essential role, transitioning the platform from a framing role to one where we actively work with our members to jointly elevate the ‘S’ in ESG agenda, and increasing our ability to transform our own operations through joint learning to deliver impact.
Shifting focus from ambition to concerted action, the second phase of the BCTI’s work will widen its scope across essential sectors and diverse regions. Centered on five key themes - Human Rights, Living Wages & Incomes, Just Transition, Diversity Equity and Inclusion, and Social Performance and Accountability - this collaboration, together with WBCSD's Pathways and Imperatives workstreams and in partnership with the United Nations Global Compact, aims to break through silos and engage various sectors and regions for a localized, context-driven impact.
For more information on this merge, please contact Marcus Burke, Manager, Equity Action, WBCSD.
