A taskforce comprising business leaders from the Group of 20 nations has recommended that every company contribute 0.2% of profits to a fund that will go toward achievement of sustainable development goals.
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A taskforce comprising business leaders from the Group of 20 nations has recommended that every company contribute 0.2% of profits to a fund that will go toward achievement of sustainable development goals.
The proposal is in line with India’s so-called corporate social responsibility law, which mandates a contribution of 2% of net income by large listed firms. Nations have stalled or gone into reverse on a third of the SDGs, namely no poverty, zero hunger and climate action, whereas progress on other goals is “weak and insufficient,” the United Nations said in its SDG report this year.
Below are comments from key B-20 members. They were speaking at the annual summit in New Delhi before political leaders assemble in the Indian capital next week.
- A global fund to accelerate achievement of sustainable development goals is among the key proposals made by Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran, this year’s chairperson of B-20.
- Most of the time business has a habit of advising but not necessarily doing enough, said Uday Kotak, chief executive of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. Such a fund could be used in priority areas of climate change, energy transition, biodiversity and ocean pollution, Kotak said
- A solution has to be found to help mitigate the climate change impact on the global South, a problem largely created by developed and G-20 nations, Lynn Forester de Rothschild, billionaire businesswoman and philanthropist, said in an interview to Bloomberg. It’s unlikely global corporations will agree but one way is if governments can seek to collect this as a tax, she said
- Over 1400 business leaders from across the world collaborated through the year to make 54 proposals on themes ranging from global trade to skilling. But the B-20 lacks an implementation mechanism and India is keen to set up a global institute to provide continuity and follow through on proposals made every year by the G-20 host country, Chandrasekaran said
- Such an institute will monitor for effective international collaboration, according to Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman & Managing Director, Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd.
- Expanding G-20 to include the African union is among the other proposals made by the B-20. The world should start to focus on Africa for making it a base for food production, economic activities and digital initiatives, Sunil Mittal, the founder and chairman of Bharti Airtel Ltd. told Bloomberg.
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