Tokyo, 30 November 2020: In a (virtual) plenary session during the International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP), business representatives discussed the role of companies in driving progress on sustainability, highlighting the need for innovation, mindset shifts and metrics to deliver long-term prosperity and resilience in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The session, recorded on video and available in English and Japanese, aimed to address how the concept of sustainable development is being integrated into the response to COVID-19 by the business community, and to discuss policy directions and multi-stakeholder collaboration necessary to pursue sustainable development in the COVID-19 era.
The session featured the following speakers:
- Masaya Futamiya, Chair, Committee on Responsible Business Conduct & SDGs Promotion, Keidanren Director – Chairman, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.
- Michael Salvatico, Head of Asia Pacific ESG Business Development, Trucost, part of S&P Global
- Filippo Veglio, Managing Director & Senior Management Team, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
- Nobue Amanuma, Research Manager, Sustainability Governance Centre, IGES
Filippo Veglio advocated WBCSD’s position that the SDGs, and the pathway to prosperity for people and planet that they represent, are, in many ways, more important than ever before. “The Goals should be at the forefront of business thinking as we plan our long-term response and recovery from COVID-19. They provide us with a ready-made universal framework to help realize our collective ambition of building forward better”, he stated. He also laid out how WBCSD supports companies in making the SDGs a matter of priority in view of identifying the areas where a business is best equipped to drive real action and impact.
ISAP 2020 was held under the banner of Just Transitions Toward Sustainable Societies in Asia and the Pacific: Building Forward Better for Our Future Beyond COVID-19. Each year ISAP is organized by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) with the aim of sharing information and facilitating diverse discussions on sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific, with the participation of front-line experts and diverse stakeholders from international organizations, governments, business and NGOs.
More information
- SDG Essentials for Business e-learning platform – available in English, Japanese, Spanish and Chinese
- SDG Business Hub
- WBCSD activities & outputs focused on Japan
