New York, U.S.A., Dec. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The UN Global Compact CFO Coalition for the SDGs (“the Coalition”) today announced the appointment of an Advisory Board to guide on key aspects of its strategy, program and impact. The Advisory Board will also provide industry and geographical expertise; help coordinate sector and issue focused exchanges between CFOs and the broader sustainable finance community and provide leads and contacts for recruiting new members to the Coalition.
The CFO Coalition for the SDGs was formed in March 2022 to expand and accelerate the work of the CFO Taskforce (launched in Sept 2019) which laid the groundwork for the formation of a broader coalition of CFOs to fully harness the potential of corporate finance. The Coalition provides a platform where CFOs and other corporate officers can collaborate with peers, investors, financial institutions and UN agencies to develop principles, frameworks and recommendations to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into corporate finance and create a market for mainstream SDG investments. The UN has estimated that the world will need to spend between $3 trillion and $5 trillion annually to meet the SDGs by 2030.
The Coalition aims to:
- Leverage credible commitments from CFOs in the Coalition to direct trillions of corporate investments towards the SDGs and create a $10 trillion market for SDG-directed finance by 2030.
- Expand the CFO Leadership Group from 72 participants to 100 by 2023
- Foster a community of 1,000 CFO signatories to the CFO Principles by 2023.
Commenting on the formation of the board, Marie Morice and Jerome Lavigne-Delville who lead the CFO Coalition for the SDGs said:
“Recognition is growing among investors and governments that there are enormous opportunities for the private sector to play a critical role in the transition to a sustainable, resilient and climate-safe future. The CFO Coalition for the SDGs, as an initiative of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the world’s largest corporate responsibility initiative, is re-envisioning the role of CFOs as architects of long-term sustainable value creation. We look forward to the guidance and contributions from our new Advisory Board as we continue to expand our footprint across the world.”
The new Advisory Board is composed of 11 members: two Co-Chairs who provide overall guidance and leadership on the strategy, program and impact of the Coalition and help run Advisory Board meetings; seven Sector Leads each representing a macro-sector and a Secretariat of two UN Global Compact CFO Coalition Co-Heads.
Christian Stracke, Co-Chair of the CFO Coalition for the SDGs and Global Head of Credit Research, PIMCO said:
“The CFO Coalition’s mission is clear—to create a global movement of chief financial officers committed to SDG investment and finance. The creation of the new Advisory Board will bring important oversight, governance and sector perspectives as the initiative builds internationally.”
Alberto De Paoli, Co-Chair of the CFO Coalition for the SDGs and CFO of Enel, said:
“The evolution of the CFO Coalition, with an even increased support of CFOs from the largest international companies in the new Advisory Board, comes at a time when the engagement to drive the world towards a sustainable development is more crucial than ever.”
The new Advisory Board for the CFO Coalition for the SDGs has been created as the Coalition’s latest survey reveals CFOs are increasingly setting targets to quantify the impact of sustainability targets. Current members of the Coalition have already invested $110 billion towards the SDGs with a 55% year on year increase in SDG finance.
The Co-Chairs and Sector Leads are appointed for a period of two years by the UN Global Compact.
From Europe, the Advisory Board is comprised of Co-Head Marie Morice with Juergen Esser, CFO, Danone representing the consumer product sector; Carole Ferrand, CFO, Capgemini representing the consulting sector and Co-Chair Alberto Di Paoli, CFO, Enel representing the Energy and Utilities sector. From America, the Advisory Board is made up of Co-Head Jerome Lavigne-Deville with Fernando Tennenbaum, CFO, AB InBev representing consumer product sector and Maher Al-Haffar, CFO, Cemex representing the construction, materials and real estate sector. From Africa, Dilip Pal, CFO, Safaricom represents the Telecom and Tech sector and from Asia-Pacific, Koushik Chatterjee, CFO, Tata Steel, represents the industrial goods sector.
In 2023 the CFO Coalition for the SDGs will publish six macro-sector profiles, based on the same sectors represented in the Advisory Board as a unique aggregator of SDG-related data and information from corporations. The profiles will showcase best practices from CFOs on sector-specific SDG-aligned Investments and SDG-linked financing, based in large part on the data received from the CFO Principles Annual Implementation Reports in 2022. These best practices are set in the context of emerging consensus among experts on the type of investments and targets appropriate for the sustainability transition in specific industries. These include standard setters such as the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the International Capital Market Association (ICMA); research institutions including sell-side research; management consultants and emerging regulations such as the EU taxonomy where applicable.
Notes to Editors
About the United Nations Global Compact
As a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Our ambition is to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the Sustainable Development Goals through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. With more than 17,000 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 69 Local Networks, the UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative—one Global Compact uniting business for a better world. For more information, follow @globalcompact on social media and visit our website at unglobalcompact.org
About the CFO Coalition for the SDGs
The CFO Coalition for the SDGs is a platform where global CFOs and other corporate officers can collaborate with peers, investors, financial institutions and UN agencies to develop principles, frameworks and recommendations to integrate the sustainable development goals (SDGs) into corporate finance and create a market for mainstream SDG investments. For more information, visit cfocoalition.org
Contact
Alex Gee
gee@unglobalcompact.org
