1. Consider hiring refugees

As of 23 May, almost 60,000 refugees from Ukraine currently reside in the Netherlands. One of the most effective ways for businesses to help is to provide them with work. The European Union Member States grant temporary protection to refugees from Ukraine, giving them access to residency, employment and services such as medical care. For example, refugees from Ukraine are allowed to work as employees from 1 April, whereby the employer does not need a work permit and only has to report it to the UWV. Organizations such as Tent Partnership for Refugees and Refugee Talent Hub offer advice on the right programs and guidance for hiring refugees. UN Global Compact Network Ukraine and Poland have set up the project, ‘Give a Job for UA‘. Vacancies for Ukrainian refugees are collected via jobs@globalcompact.org.ua and posted for free on the dedicated pages of Jooble and Happy Monday.

2. Support people forced to flee financially

In response to the growing refugee crisis as a result of the conflict in Ukraine, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and humanitarian partners are appealing for increased financial support to help refugees and the neighbouring countries generously hosting them.

By launching an updated Regional Refugee Response Plan for the Ukraine situation, UNHCR and partners are seeking US$1.85 billion to support a projected 8.3 million refugees in neighbouring countries, namely Hungary, the Republic of Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, as well as other countries in the region, including Belarus, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.

To learn more about the needs and what businesses can do, support UNHCR’s Ukraine Situation Supplementary Appeal.

3. Get inspiration from other companies

Many members of the Global Compact Network Netherlands and other Dutch companies provide humanitarian aid through their services or expertise. For example, the Philips Foundation provides aid to hospitals, emergency supplies and financial support for people forcibly displaced in Ukraine. The company also calls on its employees to donate. Another example is KPN, they do not charge for calling and texting to Ukraine.

Booking.com provides financial support for refugees from Ukraine and doubles the donations from its employees. In addition, Adyen uses its technology to support the response in Ukraine. In stores that use Adyen’s payment platform, customers are given the option to make a donation at checkout.

4. Take the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights as a starting point for business decisions made in the context of the crisis in Ukraine

A due diligence process helps companies to identify, prevent, mitigate and take responsibility for any unavoidable negative impact of their activities on people and the environment. In this way, any additional negative consequences for the people of Ukraine can be prevented.

Curious about what your company can do to support people forced to flee? Contact Victorine van Beuningen, Lead Corporate Partnerships UNHCR Netherlands, vanbeuni@unhcr.org, +31 6 12 62 40 63.

For more information about Global Compact Network Netherlands, please contact: Linda van Beek, Executive Director Global Compact Network Netherlands,Beek@unglobalcompact.nl, +31 6 11 20 94 00.

According to the United Nations: “..the water-food-energy nexus is central to sustainable development. Demand for all three is increasing, driven by a rising global population, rapid urbanization, changing diets and economic growth”. The WEF-nexus relation is incorporated in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG-2 (food), SDG-6 (water) and SDG-7 (energy). Since these are interlinked, doing business as usual is not an option. Therefore, stakeholders in each specific country have to apply a water-energy-food nexus approach and identify barriers and challenges.

Collaboration of Urban Stakeholders

On June 4, 2021, Global Compact Network Netherlands and Closer Cities hosted an online Round Table that brought together urban stakeholders, such as Arcadis, PostNL, Proptech NL, RSM, Gemeente Leeuwarden, Witteveen+Bos, and others, to tackle urban challenges. They explored how cities can make better use of urban knowledge that the private sector has developed over years to create more sustainable and livable cities and how collaboration could lead to the positive change in the realization of SDGs.

To intensify the connection, organisations partnered on the international conference on ‘Water-Energy-Food nexus in cities’ that took place on May 12, 2022 at the Floriade Expo in Almere, the Netherlands. The WEF-nexus conference connected over 150 experts from the private sector, public sector, knowledge institutes, NGOs, civil society, and international delegations during the 3 roundtable discussions. The event revolved around Solving Urban Challenges Together, aligned with the philosophy of the Netherlands.

How do cities deal with challenging interdependencies between water, food and energy?

Food production related to efficient use of energy and water can be very challenging. The Water-Energy-Food nexus is full of complicated interdependencies. Decisions in one field will often have consequences for the other two.

During the one-day international conference on Water-Energy-Food nexus in cities, experts and participants focused on the exchange of effective local approaches and discussed questions like: how can we scale up good practices? What role do context variables – like climate, city size, geography, governance – play in the exchangeability of effective approaches? What can stimulate the co-creation of effective approaches? The experts represented various WEF-nexus related projects, such as accelerating climate ambitions in cities through public private partnerships; adaptive horticulture in Dubai, UAE; farm of the future in Lelystad, Netherlands; training of farmers in Kumasi, Ghana; city-region food systems approach related to water, energy, food.

Role of private sector in WEF-nexus

The private sector has an essential role to play in the WEF-nexus, holding pivotal knowledge in addressing the water, energy, and food challenges.

One element of contribution is technology and innovation, driven by the private sector, that helps to improve efficient use of water, energy and food and ensure security of the natural resources.

Another important factor is leadership and ambition. For instance, UN Global Compact members are involved in the initiative CEO Water Mandate that mobilizes business leaders on water, sanitation, and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Key Takeaways from WEF-Nexus Conference

The first round of discussion uncovered which knowledge was present in the room and how these projects, experiences, and ideas of participants helped realizing the SDGs. Sandra Pellegrom (SDG coordinator, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and Gillian Martin Mehers (founder and CEO Bright Green Learning) were interviewed about sustainability and sharing sustainable solutions.

The second round tried to monitor how urban knowledge sharing is done so far: Ellen Minkman (TU Delft), Peter Scholten and Jet Bakker (IHS) concluded that one-way transfer, two-way exchange and co-creation exist. Which boosts and barriers do stakeholders experience while sharing their knowledge with others? Trust among sharing partners, open communication and establishing a clear goal were considered most stimulating, while key barriers include speaking different languages or using different jargon, politics and legislation, and power dynamics.

Finally, participants discussed the next steps: what is necessary to expand urban knowledge sharing? Negar Noori (EUR) and Robbert Nesselaar (Co-founder Closer Cities) introduced the metaphor of knowledge “transplantation” and raised the question when a city is comparable enough to share with. The table discussions quickly concluded that the issue is not about finding cities that are comparable, but about having comparable challenges or a comparable context.

Global Compact Network Netherlands stressed the importance of speaking the same language—the universal language of the 17 SDGs— for collaboration between the private sector, government, and the public sector. Speaking the language of the SDGs within this triple helix enhances the ability for different actors to tap into the knowledge of the private sector (and the other way around) and co-create solutions around the SDGs. For the private sector, it is crucial to establish collaboration in an early stage and to cooperate with municipalities in a pre-competitive phase to tackle urban challenges together and contribute to the realization of the SDGs.

Arcadis—a loyal member of Global Compact Network Netherlands— added to that by emphasizing the significance of sharing similar objectives between the public and private sector and creating mutual benefits to make cities comparable enough to share with and improve the urban knowledge sharing among them.

About Closer Cities Project and the WEF-nexus page

Closer Cities is a 10 -year urban research project (2021-2030) dedicated to developing a better understanding of urban knowledge sharing to help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Closer Cities is a non-profit initiative based on partnerships and cross-border collaboration with knowledge institutions, NGO’s, municipalities, governmental institutions, and the private sector. If you are working or have worked on a WEF-nexus project, Closer Cities invites you to share your project at the WEF-nexus page. For updates on events, research, urban projects, and news, refer to this website: www.closercities.org.

Despite these proactive approaches to increase younger people’s climate literacy, one can argue that this approach is not enough. It highlights a need to raise (all) citizens’ climate literacy and particularly businesses’ climate literacy.

As businesses become increasingly conscious of their environmental impacts, advancing this awareness and promoting the adoption of more sustainable practices and the integration of SDGs into businesses strategy is both crucial and has proven to be profitable in the long-run if executed correctly. Global Compact Network Netherlands aims to advance this awareness and business shift into more sustainable practices. As stated, learning never stops and at Global Compact Network Netherlands, we support this ambition by providing several resources, programmes, such as the Young Professionals Program, and engagement opportunities to learn more about the climate and how to implement sustainable practices.

One can complete courses such as How to Account for your Scope 1, 2 and 3 Emissions, How to Set a Science-Based Target and Delivering on Net-Positive Water Impact for Growth and Resilience amongst many more to deepen your climate knowledge and sharpen your climate education toolkit.

If we are to remain within the target 1,5℃, this will become increasingly important as current and future business leaders need to be equipped with the knowledge and ambition to be the change makers that are so needed in today’s society.

Although awareness of climate change and environmental degradation is crucial, it has also brought about a significant phenomena that has been termed ‘eco-anxiety’ or ‘climate anxiety’. A global study recently showed that approximately 80% of young people are worried about climate change, and 59% are extremely worried. Climate anxiety is a practical anxiety that connects to emotions such as worry, fear, despair, grief and hope. Whilst raising awareness through education is important, climate anxiety also reinforces the need for citizens, businesses and government to be equipped with the practical knowledge and tools to be able to take action and turn despair into hope and change.

How the SDGs are leading the way to world happiness and peace (and why caring became cool)

Ask any marketeer or branding expert worth their salt where a good business strategy starts, and they’ll say one thing: Know your purpose.

Oh, how times have changed. If you could time travel to a boardroom in the 90s to ask what their purpose is, there would be no hesitation. Make as much profit as possible and distribute it amongst shareholders. With a contemporary view of business, this might seem hollow, but it is actually a solid objective for any company looking to survive and grow. So what’s changed?

When profit was purpose

Since the time of Milton Friedman, claiming the only social responsibility of business is to make profit, our societal perspective has clearly shifted. Most people no longer believe that a company should solely act out of its own self-interest. Instead, we demand an aspiration far beyond the organizational borders. And exactly this idea of looking across borders, or not seeing them at all, provides a clue as to what’s changed in the world. Thanks to the sweeping changes of the digital age, traversing geographical boundaries suddenly became as easy as clicking a button. Anyone from anywhere can upload anything to the internet, which can then be seen by anyone anywhere as well. Wow.

Arguably, this has shifted a worldview that was more locally or regionally oriented to one that is inherently global. And with it, the scope of our lives has become much larger. We concern ourselves with things happening thousands of kilometers away, from products to ideas. Though this has always been the case, the accessibility of information through the internet has made this more widespread than ever before. Instead of being a luxury of the privileged with access to information streams, these days anyone with an internet connection has the same power. But this access has come at a price. It showed us that the world is in serious need of better, well, everything!

The age of better

Better systems, better leaders, better products, better governments, and better businesses. The list goes on and on. Luckily, challenge also creates opportunity. Since the start of the 21st century, we’ve gradually seen more businesses pick one or another issue as their purpose and being highly successful, both in terms of impact and profit. Even more so, they are some of the coolest brands in the eyes of most young people. And who holds more authority on what’s cool than young people?

Though this effort is definitely something to be applauded, it raises the question of what should be our purpose as a whole. What are we aiming for as humanity? Enter the SDGs.

Towards world peace and happiness

This ambitious agenda outlined by the UN in 2015 creates a ‘game plan’ for governments and businesses to achieve what should be our mission as the whole of humanity. If you take a look at the purpose of the UN itself, it can be summarized as aiming to achieve and maintain world peace and happiness. With the SDGs providing a concrete roadmap to achieve this, all that’s left is for businesses to start their strategy development with the question: Which route are we going to take to achieve our goal as humanity?

World peace and happiness, here we come!

2. Invest in value chains that contribute to reforestation and sustainable agroforestry landscapes

An opportunity for companies lies in the conservation, restoration and protection of forests and other ecosystems. These solutions have the potential to contribute up to one-third of the climate mitigation needed to meet Paris agreement targets.

The project was inspired by the ongoing success of Aidenvironment’s Green Future Farmingprogram in Mt. Elgon, Uganda – funded by the IKEA Foundation – that has seen increased yield and tree cover, growth in farmer incomes and improved soil and water management in coffee production in the region.

3. Explore how to integrate sustainable agroforestry systems that are financially viable for companies and farmers

Aidenvironment has worked with companies on multiple projects aimed at improving crop yield and quality while increasing the sustainability of the entire landscape. In Kulon Progo, Indonesia, we support private sector investments in organic palm sugar and other agroforestry crops. In Carmen, Philippines we work with the private sector to increase banana productivity. These initiatives prevent landscapes from being ploughed or deforested for short-term returns on annual crops like maize and cassava. Other crops, such as banana, provide financial returns, avoids the use of harmful pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilizers, and reverses soil erosion and drying up of the land. For successful programs, creative collaboration with stakeholders is required to come up with sustainable agroforestry systems that are financially viable for both companies and farmers.

The impact of Aidenvironment’s programs advances multiple SDGs:

• SDG 1 No Poverty: Sustainable agroforestry solutions increase yields of smallholder farmers (up to 15%) and increase their household income (up to 10%),
• SDG 12 Responsible production and consumption: Sustainably produced crops reduce pressure on the environment and regenerate the landscape,
• SDG 13 Climate action: Reforestation and regenerative agriculture halts further landscape degradation, increases soil fertility and mitigates climate change effects such as erratic water cycles and erosion,
• SDG 15 Life on land: Efforts to make food systems and commodity supply chains more sustainable contribute to protecting biodiversity, standing forests and natural ecosystems.

Aidenvironment is open to providing guidance on these approaches. Please reach out to Joana Faggin for questions on our work on deforestation-free supply chains and Rommert Schram for our projects on reforestation and sustainable landscapes.

¹Aidenvironment’s database layers publicly available information on land use, land ownership, supply chains, corporate ownership structures and finance flows, which are then supplemented by satellite technology and on-the-ground investigations to identify deforestation hotspots, actors involved and other information that will allow companies to take appropriate measures to ensure the sustainability of their supply chains.

This article is by Aidenvironment, a not-for-profit sustainability research, advisory and implementation organization with a mission to protect and restore forest and agricultural landscapes and improve livelihoods. We combine evidence-based research, presence on the ground and multi-stakeholder insights to support public and private sector stakeholders in their sustainability goals.