What the UNEP FI has achieved in 25 years

Eco Business

Defying sceptics, the UNEP Finance Initiative has created positive impact on a global scale. UN Global Compact founding director and Arabesque chairman Georg Kell looks at what the UNEP FI has achieved in a quarter of a century.

Image: Linh DoCC BY 2.0

The United Nations (UN) is often perceived as an outdated bureaucracy. A closer look, however, shows that it is not only doing essential work on humanitarian issues such feeding millions of refugees and helping children in need, but it also plays a critical role in cultivating the thin layer of civilisation that keeps us apart from chaos and hate. It upholds universal values against the onslaught of the dark forces of ideological extremism, nationalism, and protectionism.

Business Can Earn a Licence to Lead

Ethical Boardroom Magazine, Winter 2017 edition

Ethical Boardroom Magazine, Winter 2017 edition

Society is rewriting the rules around what being a 'responsible company' means. How do you go from a resource taker to a marker builder and still generate value?

Political upheaval, technological disruption and environmental constraints are making the business environment more complex and less predictable than ever before, posing new challenges for strategic orientation and decision-making. Underpinning these developments are long-term trends – often unfolding in small but cumulative increments – that are reshaping the business environment and the role of business in society.