Travelling towards a new era of sustainability. This is one of the primary objectives of the Global Compact of the United Nations, a global initiative launched to encourage companies throughout the entire world to adopt sustainable policies in relation to their corporate social responsibility. To reach this target, every year a few companies are chosen, on this journey, which are capable of being leaders, pioneers and pathfinders. How? Through their sustainability policy based on innovation, the tangible effects of their actions and the value added which their ideas can bring in terms of environmental, social and economic sustainability.
The selected companies are defined as Global Compact Leads and in 2020 there were 41 of them in the entire world, including Pirelli, the only one from the tyre sector. Global Compact identifies them as the companies most highly committed on a global level to the implementation of the Ten Principles of the Global Compact of the United Nations relating to human rights, employment, the environment, the fight against corruption and support for the sustainable development goals of the United Nations (Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs).
The announcement of the final selection took place in the context of the 75th General Assembly of the United Nations, focused upon the need for renewed global cooperation and on the economic recovery following Covid-19, during the virtual event #UnitingBusiness LIVE which brought together governments and business and civil society leaders to underline their commitment to the goals of the UN.
For Pirelli this represents a highly prestigious award. Indeed, in order to qualify as a LEAD participant, a company must communicate its own progress through an annual report on sustainability which illustrates in detail the progress made in the application of the Ten Principles and the level of their implementation. Furthermore, participants must take part in at least two Global Compact “Action Platforms” in accordance with the Ten Principles and with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each Platform brings together companies, local Global Compact networks, the principal experts, civil society, the Governments and the partners of the United Nations in order to resolve complex questions and to innovate in matters related to the SDGs.
This year Pirelli demonstrated its own commitment to the Global Compact by participating in the “Action Platforms” entitled “Decent Work in Global Supply Chains” and “Sustainable Finance”. The purpose of the first platform is to promote respect for human rights and for basic workplace principles within one's own supply chain. In the context of such a working group, Pirelli and the other participating companies have, in the past, subscribed to the Commitment to Action, undertaking publicly to provide the sustainable management of their own supply chain, and have drawn up a document for use by company employees who work in the purchasing area to support them for the integration of sustainability into their daily decision-making processes.
The Sustainable Finance platform, on the other hand, deals with re-defining the future of corporate investments, by underlining the role which these must include in order to promote development which is sustainable. In this regard, Pirelli is a founding member of the “CFO Taskforce for the SDGs”, the working group set up by the United Nations Global Compact in order to place corporate finance at the centre of the agenda for sustainable finance, and, in September 2020, it was one of the signatories of the “CFO Principles on Integrated SDG Investments and Finance”, the purpose of which is to promote investments which support the implementation of the SDGs.
Being part of the Global Compact of the United Nations, to which Pirelli subscribed in 2004, bears witness to the company's conviction that effective solutions must be pursued through a holistic approach to development, which combines economic, social and environmental capital, and builds upon the joint strength of companies and stakeholders on a global level.
