IMPACT 2030 is the Global Summit at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. It’s the only private sector-led coalition aligning employee volunteering in the services of the Sustainable Development Agenda – a first-of-its-kind plan to ensure a sustainable existence for seven generations.
Key Themes on Change and Transformation:
Connecting Innovation to the Private Sector
Ambassador Marc-Andre Blanchard, Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations, explained that Ambassadors are coming together to act definitively and tangibly to break down silos, bring people together, and involve the private sector. Particularly, the private sector must act to make a difference. Richard Dictus, Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program, followed up by saying that we need new innovations and corporate partners to collaborate on creating the solutions that address the world’s most pressing problems.
The World’s Largest Lesson
Sir Ken Robinson, speaker and author of the World’s Largest Lesson campaign, believes that our species is a mere blink of the eye in the history of the Earth. The Sustainable Development Goals are an effective way of keeping us focused on what we can do to preserve our planet and our species. He makes three main points:
- Population growth and the movement of people are key issues. We now have 50% of the population living in cities. If we don’t get it right in cities, then we’re not going to get it right – period.
- Our use of resources has tripled over the past 40 years, and much of it has been wasted rather than recycled. We created the problems, and now we need to solve them.
- Volunteerism is so important. When employees are more engaged, they are more engaged with their work. If people are disaffected at work, then it’s because of the conditions we’ve created – much like the situations we’ve created with our planet.
The Role of Millennials
Bradley Heslop, Founder of Wessex Social Ventures, indicates that millennials are looking to businesses to become leaders of change. Therefore, it should be a priority to get millennials more involved. Millennials are good at adapting and can help companies adapt as well. Malini Mehra, CEO of Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE), added that the millennial generation is the most educated in history. It’s also the generation facing the most challenges. Therefore, we have to reach and engage each generation in different ways, and millennials are no exception.