SDG Webinar Series – next session Wednesday June 24
NEW: Chambers Ireland Sustainable Development Goals Webinar Series – 2nd session Wednesday June 24
The first in Chambers Ireland Sustainable Development Goals Webinar series took place this week, and it enjoyed a large and engaged attendance.
Run over five consecutive Wednesdays, the next webinar, on June 24, will focus on Goal 8 – Climate Action, to be hosted by Mia Fahey McCarthy of SSE Ireland.
Click here for registration & further info on the 2nd Webinar : https://bit.ly/30UNF7n
The remaining Webinars in the series are:
24th June | Goal 13 – Climate Action | 1:15PM – 2PM
1st July | Goal 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
8th July | Goal 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities
15th July | Goal 5 – Gender Equality
Background
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an ambitious set of targets adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 that provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.
They cover a range of areas from poverty eradication, reducing inequality, economic growth, access to education services to environmental protection.
These goals represent the inter-dependency of our ecosystem and it reflects the reality that an action in one area will affect outcomes in another area.
Led by the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, with a whole-of-government approach, Ireland has taken on the responsibility for promoting and overseeing national implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and these goals.
In one way or another, almost all the Goals reflect the objectives of the Chamber network.
Focus on Five Goals
That being said, Chambers Ireland has chosen to focus on five of the Goals that we believe we can both contribute directly towards and champion through our work in the Chamber Network.
If Ireland is to fully implement the SDGs domestically by 2030, each represented dimension of society must be included in the progress. We believe that Chambers Ireland, with its wide geographical reach to all regions of the country, is in a strong position to do so.
We have chosen to focus, initially on Goals 8, 13, 11, 9 and 5, and we commit to championing the Goals in all the work that we do, to ensure that making progress in achieving these goals is reflected in all the work that we do.
Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
Goal 13: Climate Action
Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Goal 5: Gender Equality
Watch Chambers Ireland Sustainable Business Breakfast featuring Mary Robinson
Ian Talbot, CEO Chambers Ireland outlines how The Sustainable Development Goals provide a framework to drive CSR for all
“Poverty eradication, access to quality education and reducing inequality and are just some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by all United Nations Member States. In total, there are 17 Global Goals that provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.
The SDGs can serve as ambitious yet also practical goals for businesses to strive towards. They can act as an important tool for driving Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for businesses through aligning CSR initiatives with the targets of the SDGs, while providing perspective on the wide-ranging global and social issues that businesses’ actions can help to address. The broad scope of the SDGs allows businesses and their employees an opportunity to make an impact in a variety of different ways.
Chambers across Ireland are encouraging sustainable development
In every major town, city and region in the country. Each chamber strives to develop sustainable and economically vibrant communities, which puts us in the position to positively impact engagement with the SDGs throughout Ireland.
We have instilled a strong CSR culture within our membership, evolving from simple volunteering to extensive cross-organisational programmes. We are now working with our members to embrace SDG actions relevant to their businesses with the same enthusiasm and commitment they have displayed on CSR for the betterment of our local and national communities, creating a prosperous future for all while protecting the environment.
This year, on the fourth anniversary of the launch of the goals, Chambers Ireland and our network of Chambers resolved to collectively sign a national SDG charter, representing our pledge to support the implementation of the SDGs across all of our activities. We will champion these goals through our policy work and our internal company culture.
Council supports UN’s 2030 agenda for sustainable development
Chambers Ireland has established a Sustainable Business Council, which works to further align and engage our members, using the SDGs as a tool to drive increased participation in corporate social responsibility (CSR).
The council’s outputs feed directly into our overall SDG outputs for business, as do the outputs from our global organisation, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The ICC is the only business organisation that has observer status at the UN, achieved in particular for its commitment to contribute directly to the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This global reach and connectivity makes us capable of promoting the SDGs in the business community across Ireland.”
