Ayala’s sustainability thrust cited by UN

Ayala Corporation Chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala has been named as one of the United Nations SDG Pioneers by the UN Global Compact in recognition of the company’s sustainability strategy.

The first SDG Pioneer from the Philippines, Zobel is one of ten individuals from around the world recognized for championing sustainability through their own companies and mobilizing the broader business community to take action in pursuit of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs.

“Each of the 2017 SDG Pioneers is exhibiting how companies and pioneering individuals can be a force for positive change in addressing the issues we all face today,” said UN Global Compact CEO and Executive Director Lise Kingo,.

He added that, “Mr. Zobel has been impactful in reaching a wider segment of the business market through innovation and diversification. He has been a Pioneer in the inclusion of long-term sustainability in business strategy and operations.”

Zobel’s leadership drove Ayala to embrace shared value creation, to better integrate the developmental challenges that society faces into Ayala’s strategies and business models.

“I believe that now, more than ever, a deeper engagement with society is indispensable to the survival and success of private enterprises. From both a practical and moral standpoint, businesses cannot thrive in an environment rife with economic inequity,” said Zobel.

He noted that, “ignoring these issues threatens our ability to create long-term value and jeopardizes the sustainability of the enterprise and markets.”

Apart from reinventing its business models to meet the needs of a wider segment of the population, Ayala has entered sectors critical to national development and inclusive progress: power, infrastructure, healthcare, and education.

Sustainability now plays a significant role in the Ayala businesses. Under Zobel’s leadership, Ayala Corporation drove the shift to the integrated reporting framework, which captures in detail the group’s positive impact on society through its contribution to the SDGs.

Ayala Corporation is the first com- pany in the Philippines to produce an integrated report.

Another milestone is underway, as Ayala moves to include long-term sustainability targets for its businesses —which will form part of the companies’ and management’s key result areas.

Each year, the UN Global Compact celebrates a group of SDG Pioneers – business leaders doing an exceptional job of taking action to advance the Global Goals.

Hundreds of nominations were received from diverse regions of the world, from which 10 finalists were selected, exemplifying how business can be a force for good in addressing the challenges we face as a global society. Each Pioneer will be recognized during the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit 2017 on September 21 in New York.

A Pioneers Selection Group, comprised of experts from the UN, academia, civil society and the private sector, ranked the nominees based on a set of criteria, resulting in the ten 2017 UN Global Compact SDG Pioneers. Access the list of 2017 SDG Pioneers.

The world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, the UN Global Compact calls on companies to align strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption, and take actions that advance societal goals.

In the Philippines, over 20 companies and non-business organization have joined the initiative, and the Global Compact Network Philippines has supported their efforts to advance sustainable business practices since 2016.