This week, the UN General Assembly will convene in New York to take stock of the progress the global community has made towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At a time when the world is faced with a multitude of crises, progress has fallen behind when people need it the most. It’s clear that we need to take every opportunity to do more in order to meet the 2030 targets. The good news is that many people and organizations alike are taking action and demonstrating that everyone can contribute in their own way to help achieve the goals.
For example, as the CEO of the world’s largest talent company, I’ve asked my team to focus our efforts on how we can drive more impact for people – via fair and decent work, championing gender equality and eliminating inequalities, and reducing our impact on the environment – which benefits everyone. Many other organizations have taken similar steps. I believe we can all help accelerate this work in three very important areas.
Providing decent work for all
According to the UN, poverty rates have surged in the last few years, with an additional 165 million people falling into poverty between 2020 and 2023. Having a fair and decent job (Goal 8) is a pivotal stepping stone towards lifting individuals out of poverty and improving their quality of life. When people have access to stable employment opportunities that provide fair wages, they gain financial security and stability. This stability, in turn, allows them to meet their basic needs, such as food, housing, and healthcare, without constant worry.
In recent years, digitization’s rapid advancement has reshaped employment dynamics. Gig and platform work have gained global prominence, offering opportunities but also risks to workers. I believe it’s critical that we adopt new ways of working and new ways of organizing work, but this also requires that as employers we focus our sights on ensuring all talent have access to social protection systems and we are able to create quality jobs and skilling opportunities to reduce inequalities and social exclusion.
Achieving gender equality and eliminating inequalities
Inequalities based on income, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity and religion hurt our long-term social and economic development, raise poverty levels and destroy people’s sense of fulfillment and self-worth by discouraging them from participating in the labor market. We know that a woman earns only 82 cents for every dollar a man makes, and that unemployment for disabled people can be as high as 90% in some countries. Unfortunately, poorer people often are discriminated against in their search for employment. These types of biases both harm people and the global economy. This is why Goals 5 and 10 — aimed at advancing gender and other forms of equality — are important to the UN’s roadmap for prosperity and peace.
Examples of initiatives at work include the Women Transforming the Workplace, a Canadian initiative launched more than 10 years ago to empower and give voice to working women. And Transcend in the US, a nonprofit partnership that aims to train and develop members of underrepresented groups for careers in account management, financial services, non-clinical healthcare and technology. These and other initiatives show that local efforts of all sizes can make a difference in fulfilling the vision of UN members.
Reducing your impact on the environment
Extreme weather continues to affect people around the world, which is why collective efforts to combat climate change (Goal 13) must be accelerated. Every organization can and must do what they can to reduce their impact on the environment. This includes joining the Net Zero coalition — a group including businesses, governments, educational institutions and communities. Its members have come together to sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible.
Look for ways to leverage your day to day business to make a positive impact on the environment. For example, we leverage our daily business as a talent provider to accelerate the training of candidates that can help accelerate the green energy transition, solar panel or wind turbine installers for example.
Your employees can be a great source of action, and our research shows 42% are not willing to accept a job with a company not championing social and environmental issues. So, support action networks that share best practices and volunteer efforts in their local environmental activities such as waste clean-up and tree planting days.
Consider setting Science-Based Targets (SBTis) to cut your emissions. From committing to responsible business travel to employing sustainable methods of transportation to making use of energy efficient buildings, we can all make meaningful changes in the way we affect climate change.
When the UN General Assembly concludes its meeting next week, I trust that we will come away with more concrete plans for accelerating progress and louder calls to action. By working together to advance effective programs aimed at promoting decent work, equality and education, the global community, inclusive of business, can ensure we transform our world for people, planet, and prosperity.
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