CSR Europe will also launch the 2020 White Paper: The European Pact for Sustainable Industry: Making the Green Deal a Success - in collaboration with Globescan, highlighting how companies can help building back better

From October 26th to 30th, CSR Europe, Europe’s leading business network for Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility, is set to hold its annual European SDG Summit. Focused on “Impactful Partnerships to Build Back Better”, it will bring together high-level speakers from a wide variety of sectors, and invite business leaders, industry federations and EU policymakers to join forces for a European Pact for Sustainable Industry.

The Pact aims at bridging the EU economic silos – across borders and value-chains – to foster the transformation required to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals in line with the direction set by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Fully virtual, free & open to anyone, the Summit will offer participants the opportunity to network, attend solution-driven dialogues, and get the latest insights from business leaders, industry federations and EU policymakers throughout a number of insightful plenary sessions, on topics including:

The European Pact for Sustainable Industry: Building Back Better Together – with European Commission Executive Vice-President, Frans Timmermans, and European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, as well as top CEOs from across Europe.
Sustainable Finance for Business Transformation – with the European Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, together with MEPs Pascal Canfin and Sirpa Pietikainen.
Circular Economy - with Jean-Eric Paquet, Director-General for Research and Innovation at the European Commission
Environmental Protection & Human Rights in Supply Chains – with Björn Böhning of the German Presidency of the European Council and Koen Doens, Director General for International Cooperation and Development at the European Commission.
The Future of Work is Now – with CSR Europe President Etienne Davignon, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit.

Making the Green Deal a Success

Building on the 2019 CEO Call to Action for a Sustainable Europe – endorsed by 380 CEOs in Europe – CSR Europe will also release its 2020 White Paper at the Summit, in collaboration with Globescan.

To overcome the COVID-19 crisis and build back better, sustainability leadership requires an additional investment that goes far beyond the borders of companies; including investments into the entire sector and throughout corporate value chains. This requires a change in thinking, learning, working, producing, consuming, and investing. At every level, from local to global, CSR Europe and its members and partners believe that everyone has a duty to collaborate constructively, actively, and on an ongoing basis to protect Life on Earth.

European Commission Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans said: “We have no choice but to act. We put out the Green Deal to change the direction of growth in the long term and are setting out how we will build our new future, whether it regards energy, industry, farming, food, or biodiversity. While we fight the health and economic crises that have taken over our daily lives, we cannot forget that the climate crisis already has one foot in the door. The cost of climate action may seem high, but it is dwarfed by the cost of inaction.”

CSR Europe President, Etienne Davignon said: “‘Business as usual’ is no longer an option. Enterprises, large and small, and every industry federation, must adopt a sustainable and inclusive approach to growth. The COVID-19 crisis is yet another urgent reminder to fulfil our duty to care AND our duty to collaborate. The European Pact for Sustainable Industry will empower enterprises and their sector federations – thereby making the Green Deal a success.”

Ilham Kadri, CEO, Solvay, said: “Some 380 CEOs, including myself, are calling for a New Deal for Europe. That is why we at Solvay, together with CSR Europe, have just launched the European Pact for Sustainable Industry (2021-2024). Our ambition is bold: to accelerate the shift from a Volume Economy to a Shared Value Economy, leaving no one and no talent behind. Our target is clear: by 2024 we want all European Industry Sectors and Federations to roll out a mature and integrated Sustainability Strategy. We are calling on everyone, not just the big companies; Sustainability should become the driver for the inclusive and green growth of our 27 million enterprises in Europe.

Francesco Starace, CEO, Enel, said:“We need to take this opportunity to rethink our business models, accelerating the green transition and the digital transformation while making sustainability a mainstream of our economy.”