The Global Corporate Sustainability Report 2013, released by the UN Global Compact, found that many companies are defining goals and setting policies but still have much work to do in terms of implementing these policies. For example, 65 per cent of the companies who too part in the report develop sustainability policies at the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) level, while only 35 per cent train managers to integrate sustainability into strategies and operations.

The report surveyed nearly 2,000 companies across 113 countries, and provides a snapshot of the actions taken by businesses to embed responsible practices into their strategies, operations and culture.

The report also stresses that commitment to sustainability principles such as the protection of human rights, transparency and accountability, environmental stewardship and social inclusion affect companies’ performance.

“Corporate sustainability is serious business. It influences long-term financial success. What used to be external to the company is now internal,” the Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, Georg Kell, told reporters in New York.

“Social issues such as poverty are also business issues and businesses can take on them proactively and be part of the solution or continue to ignore them at their own risk.”

The report also found that while small and large companies are committing to the UN Global Compact in equal numbers, larger companies are significantly more likely to move beyond commitment to action across all issue areas. However, the survey also notes that smaller companies are increasingly taking steps to catch up to their larger peers.

Supply chains are a major obstacle to implement sustainability policies, the report states. Even though the majority of companies have established sustainability expectations for their suppliers, they have the challenge of tracking their compliance and help suppliers reach their goals in this matter.

Mr. Kell added that despite challenges, more companies are recognizing the importance of sustainable practices and are joining the Global Compact to align their core business strategies with UN principles and global development priorities.

Launched in 2000, the UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate responsibility initiative, with more than 8,000 companies in some 144 countries. It seeks

The report will provide the backdrop for the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit 2013: Architects of a Better World on 19-20 September in New York. The Summit will bring together 1,000 chief executives and leaders from civil society, government and the UN.

Full report here.

“Here in Rwanda, WFP is providing the life-saving food assistance that we are known for to tens of thousands of refugees, but we and our partners are also supporting community-based agriculture and livelihoods projects that assist the poorest and most vulnerable Rwandans as they build a brighter future for their families,” said the agency’s Executive Director, Ertharin Cousin, at the end of her three-day visit to the country.

“When speaking with small-scale farmers and rural families, I could see very clearly the difference that rural development initiatives have made in helping people improve their lives.”

Ms. Cousin said the progress made on development in Rwanda illustrates the importance of close and effective partnerships between UN agencies, communities and government in helping in empowering people to lift themselves out of poverty.

“I met one woman farmer who started with nearly nothing, and now has become so successful that she’s been able to build her family a new house, and put her children though school,” said Ms. Cousin, who also met with displaced persons and refugees on both side of the border shared by Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

During her visit, Ms. Cousin also visited the Nkamira refugee transit centre and a successful terracing and watershed management project in Rulindo district, in northern Rwanda. She also visited and spoke with farmers in eastern Rwanda who belong to an agricultural cooperative in Kirehe district through which they are selling their surplus maize and beans to WFP via the Purchase for Progress initiative, known as “P4P”.

P4P aims to use WFP’s purchasing power to help connect smallholder farmers to markets. In Rwanda, the programme has grown from a WFP project into a national initiative, boosting productivity and improving the lives and livelihoods of small-scale farmers.

Since 2011, WFP has purchased 33,000 metric tons of combined food commodities – maize and beans – worth $15.5 million, through a combination of P4P purchases and regular food procurement.

WFP and the Rwandan Government are also exploring ways to link the P4P programme to food-for-education initiatives, providing students with a daily school meal grown in their own communities and turn schools into regular customers for local farmers.

This was Ms. Cousin’s first visit to Rwanda as WFP Executive Director. While in the country, she also met with top Government officials, including Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi, and with the heads of UN agencies in Rwanda.

“If inequalities continue to widen, development may not be sustainable,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the General Assembly’s thematic debate on inequality. “That is why equity is emerging as a central plank in discussions on the post-2015 development agenda.”

Ban stressed the importance of reducing inequalities at a time when the world is being affected by a series of significant changes, including economic instability, the impact of climate change, and political unrest in many regions.

“Societies where hope and opportunities are scarce are vulnerable to upheaval and conflict,” he said. “Social and economic inequalities can tear the social fabric, undermine social cohesion and prevent nations from thriving. Inequality can breed crime, disease and environmental degradation and hamper economic growth.”

Ban noted that the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been “remarkably” successful, but added that progress has been uneven, and underlined the importance of the post-development 2015 agenda addressing these inequalities and promoting shared prosperity.

Agreed upon by world leaders at a UN summit in 2000, the MDGs set specific targets on poverty alleviation, education, gender equality, child and maternal health, environmental stability, HIV/AIDS and malaria reduction, and a global partnership for development. The post-2015 development agenda is expected to build on the progress achieved by the MDGs.

“We need solutions to the economic and financial crises that will benefit all,” he said. “An inclusive approach to sustainable development; greater efforts to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; more investment in health, education, social protection and decent jobs – especially for young people.”

General Assembly President Vuk Jeremić noted that the achievement of the universal transition to sustainability requires a greater commitment from countries to bridge the divide between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’, and urged Member States to work together to tend to the needs “of the increasing many that have been left behind.”

Jeremić also warned that refraining from addressing this issue would bring about an era of global discontent that would have profound consequences across the world.

Fully incorporating the fight against inequality in the sustainable development agenda, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which countries agreed on last year at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), will be critical, he added.

“The private sector is among the new, emerging and innovative sources of forest financing,” Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Hu Wongbo said during the tenth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF10). “Private sector financing has the potential to play a major role in the implementation of sustainable forest management.”

The Forum’s two-week session in Istanbul is expected to conclude this Friday with a number of key decisions, including on financing. An estimated $70 to $160 billion in global funding will be needed for sustainable forest management, or SFM, according to a 2012 study cited by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his report to the Forum.

“Most countries are unable to raise adequate public funds for the forest sector, and reinvestment of revenues in forest management has been minimal,” Mr. Ban says, adding that the private sector, including forest communities, smallholders, industry and other investors, is a key source of financing.

While funding continues to be sought from traditional sources such as government budgets at the national level, and official development assistance, or ODA, at the international level, Mr. Wu noted that decision-makers are increasingly aware of the “changing landscape” of forest financing.

“Large companies are, undoubtedly, one of the least tapped sources of forest investment and financing. Yet they are also among our most important partners in the implementation of sustainable forest management.”

Experience on the ground has shown that there are win-win opportunities for all in sustainable forest management – for private companies, for local communities and for the environment, he stated, citing his own country, China, where businesses, farmers and local governments work together to fight soil erosion, land degradation and to promote reforestation.

“In many cases, companies have been able to secure returns on their investments in resource conservation; local farmers have continuously improved their sustainable livelihoods; and local economies have flourished,” he said.

The private sector can help in many ways, including through large-scale investments using direct financing or carbon credits; through public-private partnerships aimed at reliable provision of health, education and transportation for remote, forest-dwelling communities; or through government-regulated sustainable practices for forest management on timber concessions or private lands.

“However, we must also take a hard look at the impediments that discourage private investment in many countries,” Mr. Wu added. “To attract them to invest, we must all work side by side. It is the only way forward.”

Tuukka Castrén, Senior Forestry Specialist at the World Bank, agreed that the money needs to come from different sources. “ODA will play a role, and often it can play a catalytic role.

“But for genuine scaling up, we need to engage the private sector,” he said, adding that businesses, which have a legitimate interest in making money, can make a profit through sustainable forest management.

The World Bank Group provided close to $490 million in financing for forests in fiscal year 2012. Forest resources are crucial to the Bank’s mission of eradicating poverty because of their contribution to the livelihoods of the poor, the potential they offer for sustainable economic development, and the essential environmental services they provide.

While the Bank does not have data on the growing interest by the private sector in investing in sustainable forest management, “we have the feeling that the wind is blowing in that direction,” said Mr. Castrén.

He added that the largest investor group in sustainable forest management is the millions and millions of smallholder farmers who plant two or three trees on their farms to provide shade, fuel wood and provide watershed management functions.

“They are also investors and play a fundamental role in the whole system, even though we are not able to capture their contributions in our statistics.”

Another key source of financing for sustainable forest management is the UN-backed Global Environment Facility (GEF), which announced during the Forum that its financial support for forest management programmes recently hit the $500 million mark.

Ian Gray, Senior Forest Specialist at the GEF, noted that there are so many different demands in sustainable forest management that it is necessary to have a broader approach to financing.

“I think we’ve been hearing this week from many of the delegates that SFM is such a broad topic that you actually need a suite of funding processes and mechanisms. Some of those will be from national funds. But there is also a need and a call for the private sector to be able to contribute to that.”

“The Internet offers a lot of potential and opportunities for sustainable development,” said the Director of the Division for Public Administration and Development Management of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Haiyan Qian.

Qian’s remarks, delivered on her behalf, were addressed to more than 1,600 delegates from 128 countries at the conclusion of a four-day conference of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

The Forum included the participation of governments, intergovernmental organizations, business representatives, the technical community, civil society organizations, as well as any individual Internet users interested in Internet governance issues.

The theme for this year’s Forum was ‘Internet Governance for Sustainable Human, Economic and Social Development,’ reflecting the increasing role of the Internet in the evolution of the various aspects of development, across all countries.

“We need to build capacities to address challenges and implement strategies, not only in our own countries and organizations, but also to assist others, especially those in developing and the least developed countries, as well as countries with economies in transition,” Qian urged.

The question of promoting sustainable development – which aims to meet human needs through resource-use that also preserves the environment – was central to the landmark UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), which took place in Brazil in June this year.

One of the main Rio+20 outcomes was the agreement by member States to launch a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals, which will build upon the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – set in 2000 for achievement by 2015 or earlier – and converge with the post-2015 development agenda.

In her remarks, Ms. Qian said IGF’s “inclusive, participatory and transparent governance process” plays a “critical role” in driving the growth of the Internet, which she said was “clearly” bringing new social and economic opportunities to so many people in the developing world.

“This session of the IGF has again provided the valued platform for continuous consensus building and learning opportunities for all,” she said. “I am sure each one of us will bring back to our respective countries and organizations new ideas and approaches on how we can best deal with these crucial issues.”

The forum emerged after 2005, when countries attending the second of two conferences of the UN-sponsored World Summit on the Information Society asked the UN Secretary-General to convene a new space for dialogue on Internet governance policy. Though not a decision-making body, it saw its initial five-year mandate renewed for a further five years by UN General Assembly.

IGF noted that activist groups drawn from civil society had demonstrated an “appetite to drive (the) global Internet agenda by attending the Baku conferences annual meeting in relative force.

“Civil society… was the highest represented stakeholder group at the forum,” IGF stated in a news release, citing others as Internet governance experts, government officials, international development representatives, academics, private sector representatives and other “inquiring global citizens.”

IGF said participation of women also increased significantly from previous years, and cited youth representation and activity as a “notable achievement” of this year’s meeting.

Several dozen experts and panellists participated in the gathering from remote hubs around the world – a development IGF said had become a “major strength” of the forum process. It also highlighted the rising use of social media platforms by delegates, noting that their use spiked “significantly” – enabling discussion to continue beyond the meeting rooms.

“There were thousands of ‘Tweets’ about the forum each day, which reached millions of others on the social information-sharing network,” IGF said.

The forum concluded on a day the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) also highlighted the importance of communications for advancing development. The Paris-based agency did so in remarks delivered at UN Headquarters in New York to the UN General Assembly’s Second Committee, which deals with economic and financial matters.

“UNESCO approaches the issue of communication-in-the-service-of-development from the vantage point of fostering an environment in which freedom of expression, independence and pluralism of the media can exist,” UNESCO’s Senior Public Information and Liaison Officer in New York, Suzanne Bilello, told the committee, which is open to all 193 UN Member States.

“Of particular interest to us therefore is the need to ensure that the communication-for-development agenda gives sufficient emphasis to promoting free, independent and pluralistic media, whether on radio sets, mobile phones or printed pages, and including access to communication channels, such as community media, and not forgetting, also, the importance of media and information literacy,” she said.

Bilello added that, without progress in all those parameters, “societies cannot advance more specific practices, like health or agricultural communication, to optimum effect and participation by poor and marginalized people.”

The forum, which is being conducted through various social media platforms, seeks to provide people with the opportunity to be part of ECOSOC’s Special Ministerial Meeting on Monday, which will focus on making progress on the issues discussed at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Brazil in June.

Selected questions from the forum, which has theme of “Building the Future We Want”, will be answered by experts during an interactive dialogue at the Meeting, which will also be broadcast live from UN Headquarters in New York.

Some 100 Heads of State and government, along with thousands of representatives from non-governmental organizations, the private sector and civil society attended Rio+20, all seeking to help shape new policies to promote global prosperity, reduce poverty and advance social equity and environmental protection.

The event’s outcome document, entitled “The Future We Want”, called for a wide range of actions, including beginning the process to establish sustainable development goals; detailing how the green economy can be used as a tool to achieve sustainable development; strengthening the UN Environment Programme (UNEP); promoting corporate sustainability reporting measures; taking steps to go beyond gross domestic product to assess the well-being of a country; developing a strategy for sustainable development financing; and, adopting a framework for tackling sustainable consumption and production.

It also focuses on improving gender equity; recognizing the importance of voluntary commitments on sustainable development; and stressing the need to engage civil society and incorporate science into policy; among other points.

“In Rio, governments renewed and strengthened political commitment to sustainable development. They provided a foundation for building the future we want,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told ECOSOC members during the Council’s recent high-level segment. “We need an agenda that is concrete, action-oriented and focused on poverty eradication, inclusive economic and social development, environmental sustainability and peace and security for all.”

“Higher demand will be met increasingly by supplies that come to market at higher cost. With farmland area expected to expand only slightly in the coming decade, additional production will need to come from increased productivity, including by reducing productivity gaps in developing countries,” the Organization of Economic Co-operation (OECD) and Development and the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) state in the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook.

The report estimates that agricultural output growth will slow to an average of 1.7 per cent annually over the next 10 years, increasing resource constraints and environmental pressures, as well as driving up food prices.

“For consumers, especially for the millions of people living in extreme poverty, high food prices have caused considerable hardship,” FAO’s Director-General, José Graziano da Silva, said in a news release. “We need to redouble our efforts to bring down the number of hungry people. We must focus on increasing sustainable productivity growth, especially in developing countries, and especially for small producers.”

The report calls for governments to implement policies to address productivity and sustainability, while also recognizing that the private sector will be crucial for agriculture in the future.

“Governments should encourage better agronomic practices, create the right commercial, technical and regulatory environment and strengthen agricultural innovation systems (e.g. research, education, extension, infrastructure), with attention to the specific needs of smallholders,” the report notes.

It also emphasizes that developing countries should promote agricultural infrastructure investment in rural areas to improve storage, transportation and irrigation systems, as well as electrification, information and communication systems.

In addition, investing in human capital will also be crucial and public spending on health care, education and training should be assigned for this purpose.

“Global goals are easily set, but seldom met,”  said the 22 human rights experts in an open letter to governments, as the first round of informal negotiations ahead of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) opened in New York. “A real risk exists that commitments made in Rio [de Janeiro] will remain empty promises without effective monitoring and accountability.”

The Rio+20 conference, to be held from 20 to 22 June in Brazil, is expected to lay the foundation for a set of global sustainable development goals to complement and strengthen the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the anti-poverty and social development targets that have an achievement deadline of 2015.

“Learning from the mistakes of the Millennium Development Goals, the new sustainable goals must integrate the full range of human rights linked with sustainable development, and human rights must be the benchmark for whether or not inclusive, equitable and sustainable development is occurring,” the independent experts said.

Two decades after the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, and 10 years after the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, the mounting effects of climate change and environmental degradation have raised the stakes, they said. Both the goals to be elaborated in Rio and the means of reviewing progress must be based on human rights, they added.

“Human rights have guided 60-plus years of progress by providing a legal baseline for political actions. Human rights must now be the glue in Rio: they must bind countries to the commitments they make. States have an opportunity in Rio to create the transformative changes needed or else fare no better than in previous global attempts in this regard.”

They suggested that Rio+20 establish an international accountability mechanism similar to the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review, which subjects each country’s human rights record to a State-led peer review on the basis of information submitted by the country concerned, UN entities, civil society and other stakeholders.

At the national level, governments should establish their own national accountability mechanisms, including independent monitoring and civil society participation, in order to evaluate progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals.

“Science tells us that we are reaching a set of environmental tipping points. We must therefore make Rio+20 the political tipping point.

“Our futures and planet are at stake, and we have three months to shape the ideas and political consensus that this huge task requires,” said the experts dealing with, among other issues, water and sanitation; indigenous peoples; internally displaced persons; toxic waste; health; minority issues; adequate housing; and extreme poverty.

As negotiations on the Rio+20 outcome document resumed at UN Headquarters, countries submitted additional comments since the initial round of talks in January. The “zero draft” of the document, entitled ‘The Future We Want,’ was based on more than 6,000 pages of submissions from UN Member States, civil society groups and businesses, among other actors.

“The reason we are gathering here now is because at Rio+20 we must agree on solutions to major global challenges for the sake of everyone, with an eye towards tomorrow’s generations,” said Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Secretary-General of the Rio+20 conference.

“Rio+20 can be the moment when we say we determined the future we want. I urge everyone to realize the opportunities afforded at Rio+20 and to seize them now.”

In addition to the submissions by States, the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability has made 56 recommendations, including a proposal to move towards a “new political economy” that would change the way the world measures economic progress to include social and environmental consequences.