Madrid, 10 February 2021: A total of 25 Presidents and CEOs of large companies have constituted the Spanish Business Council for Sustainable Development, a body led by Forética, a leading business organization in sustainability in Spain.
The Council is positioned as the high-level business convening platform where top company representatives generate a joint strategic response that raises ambition and enhances action in the face of the important environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges we face.
H.M. King Felipe VI is the Honorary President of this Council, composed of the following companies: Adif, Airbus, Banco Santander, Bankia, Bankinter, BMW, Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar, Enagás, Endesa, ENGIE, Ferrovial, Gestamp, GSK, HEINEKEN, Iberdrola, IBM, IKEA, ILUNION, ManpoweGroup, MSD, Naturgy, OHL, P&G, Sanitas and Solvay.
The first Executive Meeting of the Council took place today at the headquarters of Banco Santander Spain, led by Raúl Grijalba as Chairman of the Council and Germán Granda, CEO of Forética.
As part of the meeting, a joint declaration was issued, supported by the signatories below, underscoring their belief in the importance of business solutions in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Furthermore, the declaration highlights the role of alliances across companies, value chains, public sector, and civil society in achieving these ambitious goals, positioning them as means for improving Spain's competitiveness, generating employment, and catalyzing wellbeing for all citizens.
The declaration sets out the Council’s ambition to work towards raising the bar on its membership criteria in the coming two years along the following lines, and inspired by WBCSD’s recently announced new membership criteria:
- Set an ambition to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions if possible within this decade and by 2050 at the latest, and have a science-based plan to achieve this
- Set ambitious short- and medium-term environmental targets that contribute to the restoration of nature and biodiversity by 2050
- Support the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights by implementing a policy of respect for human rights and a due diligence process
- Support inclusion, equality, diversity and the elimination of all forms of discrimination
- Operate with the highest standards of corporate governance and transparency, through the disclosure of material sustainability information, and align Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) with environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related risks
Raúl Grijalba, Chairman of Forética and President of ManpowerGroup Spain, Portugal, Greece and Israel, said: "It is time to act. It is time to focus on strategies that ensure corporate sustainability and, above all, a clear contribution to society and the planet. That is why we are launching this Council, the high-level meeting place where the top representatives of the leading companies in sustainability in Spain convey a message of business leadership."
Germán Granda, CEO of Forética, added: "Corporate action is essential to address our greatest environmental and social challenges. The momentum of the Council will help to accelerate the adoption of ambitious sustainability goals as an opportunity to generate employment and well-being for society".
The constitutive meeting of the Spanish Business Council for Sustainable Development was inaugurated by Peter Bakker, President and CEO of WBCSD, who highlighted the high level of commitment to sustainable leadership of the members of the Council, "undoubtedly a key differentiating element when it comes to drawing a roadmap for business action in the critical decade ahead, which will enable the necessary systemic transformations towards the contribution and positive impact on global sustainability goals.” In addition, Peter Bakker thanked Forética, as a Global Network partner of WBCSD, for leading the constitution of this body in Spain.
Specifically, the Spanish Business Council for Sustainable Development is made up of the following top representatives of the 25 Forética sponsoring companies, who together will work with the vision of maximizing the positive contribution of companies and organizations to achieve a sustainable future:
- Isabel Pardo de Vera Posada, President of Adif and Adif AV
- Alberto Gutiérrez, President of Airbus Spain
- Luis Isasi Fernández de Bobadilla, President of Banco Santander Spain
- José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, President of Bankia
- Pedro Guerrero, President of Bankinter
- Manuel Terroba, Executive Chairman of BMW Group Spain and Portugal
- Eduardo Baamonde, President of Cajamar Caja Rural
- Antonio Llardén, Executive Chairman of Enagás
- José D. Bogas Gálvez, CEO of Endesa
- Loreto Ordóñez, CEO of ENGIE Spain
- Ignacio Madridejos, CEO of Ferrovial
- Francisco José Riberas Mera, Executive Chairman of Gestamp
- Cristina Henríquez de Luna, President and CEO of GSK in Spain
- Guillaume Duverdier, Executive Chairman of HEINEKEN Spain
- Ángeles Santamaría, CEO of Iberdrola Spain
- Horacio Morell Gálvez, President of IBM Spain, Portugal, Greece and Israel
- Petra Axdorff, CEO & CSO of IKEA
- Alejandro Oñoro, CEO of ILUNION
- Raúl Grijalba, President of ManpowerGroup Spain, Portugal, Greece and Israel
- Ana Argelich Hesse, President and CEO of MSD
- Francisco Reynés, President and CEO of Naturgy
- José Antonio Fernández Gallar, Second Vice President and CEO of OHL Group
- Vanessa Prats, Vice President and General Manager of P&G Iberia
- Iñaki Peralta, CEO of Sanitas and Bupa Europe & Latin America
- Jorge Oliveira, General Manager of Solvay for Spain and Portugal.
More information:
Goretti Hidalgo
Director of Communications and Institutional Relations
ghidalgo@foretica.es
