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Action 2020: Deploying Business Solutions to Address Societal Targets

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s cornerstone Vision 2050 report calls for a new agenda for business, laying out a pathway to a world in which nine billion people live well, and within the boundaries of the planet. This is not only a best-case scenario for sustainability and pathways for reaching it, it is also a tool for thoughtful leadership and a platform for beginning the dialogue that must take place to navigate the challenging years to come.
 
A workshop on Action 2020 in Southeast Asia was held on June 27 by Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD) to take Vision 2050 one step further to deliver tangible outcomes.
It is WBCSD’s platform for businesses to take action on some of the most critical sustainable development challenges that need to be addressed by 2020 and beyond. Action 2020 encompasses five key components: Priority Areas; Societal Must-Haves, Business Solutions; Impact measurement and action monitoring; and Enablers of scale.
 
According to Mr. Constant Van Aerschot, Executive Director of Singapore BCSD, the value proposition of the Action2020 is the set of business solutions designed with a focus on the environmental and social areas where they have the capacity to make an impact. They are designed to reduce risks, deliver savings and create opportunities for businesses, while addressing environmental and social goals. 
 
In addition, Action 2020 brings together companies and partners around common goals, avoiding duplication and promoting best practices. It is a platform for scaling up impact through collaboration: The platform is led by the WBCSD but with emphasis on partnerships and engaging more companies through partner organisations. In South East Asia, these include: Indonesia BCSD, BCSR Malaysia, Philippine Business for the Environment (PBE), BCSD Singapore and Vietnam BCSD; Collective business impact creates greater leverage to engage policy-makers and other key stakeholders; Drawing on the WBCSD’s measurement and valuation expertise, Business Solutions has key performance indicators designed to support internal decision-making and, ultimately improve reporting; The WBCSD uses Action 2020 as a platform to advocate for enabling policies, financing mechanisms and regulatory changes needed to meet 2020 targets.
 
 
Action 2020 in South East Asia shall become the platform for sustainability in action, enabling businesses to contribute solutions to environmental and social challenges. It is the roadmap and plan of action for how businesses can positively influence environmental and social trends to address the urgent needs of people and the environment, while strengthening their own resilience to issues like climate change, demographic dynamics and skills shortages.
 
The mission of the platform is to lead and demonstrate the transformation needed to address the Priority Areas in the region so that we can develop a fair society within the planetary boundaries, addressing the needs of people and the environment, whilst creating an environment for businesses to continue to be sustainable.
Action 2020 in South East Asia shall be the platform through which businesses can contribute to many of the goals outlined in each of these communities. For example, AEC aims for markets to be “fully integrated into the global economy”. For this, local companies and MNCs which are part of Action 2020 can focus on “Implementing Sustainable Land-use Criteria in Supply Chains”, or on the “Growth Platform for Smallholder Farmers”.
 
This platform is meant be active beyond 2020 with milestones defined as the project develops. The initial phase will last until end 2015 and is split in two key deliverables: Phase 1: Goal setting and defining Must-Haves for South East Asia (Now to November 2014) and Phase 2: Identifying business solutions (2015 onwards).
 
About the ASEAN Communities, The ASEAN Political - Security Community (APSC) shall aim to ensure that countries in the region live at peace with one another and with the world in a just, democratic and harmonious environment.
 
 
The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) shall be the goal of regional economic integration by 2015. AEC envisages the following key characteristics: (a) a single market and production base, (b) a highly competitive economic region, (c) a region of equitable economic development, and (d) a region fully integrated into the global economy.
 
The AEC areas of cooperation include human resources development and capacity building; recognition of professional qualifications; closer consultation on macroeconomic and financial policies; trade financing measures; enhanced infrastructure and communications connectivity; development of electronic transactions through e- ASEAN; integrating industries across the region to promote regional sourcing; and enhancing private sector involvement for the building of the AEC. In short, the AEC will transform ASEAN into a region with free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labour, and freer flow of capital.
 
Source: Vietnam Business Forum Magazine

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