A high-level roundtable session with over 30 top Barbadian and Caribbean private sector officials was held to discuss priorities for a sustainable future, and how governments in the region could better support their small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The meeting, which was co-hosted by Barbados’ Ambassador to the United Nations, World Trade Organization and other International Organisations in Geneva, Matthew Wilson; and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact, Sanda Ojiambo, was held in the margins of the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Global Supply Chain Forum, yesterday.
Ambassador Wilson noted that the session was a precursor to the launch of two major initiatives aimed at further supporting the value proposition of the Caribbean Network, including Barbadian SMEs. The two initiatives are the Global Compact Network Caribbean and the new global programme fostering sustainable SMEs and supply chains.
“In the region, we have a small, yet innovative private sector, and one of the most pertinent issues that individual countries and sectors will have to face going forward is the green transition. How to invest in the circular economy and corporate sustainability solutions while also making a profit and maintaining jobs, and how to survive when we (Caribbean) are often standards and policy takers rather than standards and policymakers,” he stated.
CEO Ojiambo highlighted that the United Nations Global Compact is the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world and has been working for several years in the region but has plans to ramp up engagement.
She noted that the Caribbean has seen a rapidly evolving sustainability landscape, and this has led to enhanced participation and scrutiny of discussions around environmental, social, governance, and other sustainability topics.
Ms. Ojiambo pointed out the need for businesses to make more efforts to invest in sustainability standards and to use the Global Compact 10 Principles to guide their corporate sustainability efforts.
The session concluded with a pledge to attract more Caribbean companies to incorporate the 10 Principlesinto their strategies, policies and procedures to support their Sustainable Development Goals.
Currently, there are 32 active Caribbean participants, and the meeting was held to garner even more support. Participants included the Head of the Barbados Private Sector Association, the Barbados Manufacturers Association, the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Barbados Private Sector Association, and the Barbados International Business Association.
Private sector actors participating included Sagicor, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and representatives from Trinidad, Grenada, and other Caribbean countries. (PR/GIS)
Caption: Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact, Sanda Ojiambo (front row, 6th from left) and Barbados’ Ambassador and Chair of WTO’s Small Business Working Group, Matthew Wilson (front row, 5th from right), hosted a group of Caribbean CEOs during a meeting at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre yesterday
