CSR

A new international summit powering a better future: Sustainability 2030 launches

By Business & Finance
20 September 2019

Sustainability 2030 is Dublin Tech Summit’s response to the need for a solution-based discussion on our future. 

The inaugural Sustainability 2030 summit will focus on Sustainable Solutions for a New Decade and will take place in Dublin in June 2020.

Irish businesses are increasingly committed to good CSR, and guided in their practice by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN’s global priorities for the next decade. Recognising this, the team behind Dublin Tech Summit (DTS) are putting together an international summit which will bring together leaders who are looking to create a new and better future, with better ways to do business.

The Sustainability 2030 summit will convene thought leaders, policy makers, heads of industry, investors and experts in their field for an engaging exchange of insights and strategies to overcome challenges and seize opportunities in the ever-evolving, business ecosystem. 

“Sustainability 2030 is designed to provide attendees with the tools needed to achieve their business sustainability goals while offering a unique opportunity to network with your peers,” says Dublin Tech Summit (DTS) Managing Director Tracey Carney. 

The UN SDGs have set clear targets which society and business are compelled to engage with in order to guarantee our futures. The complex structure of the SDGs comprises 17 goals, 169 targets and 230 indicators, along with periodic progress reviews and Voluntary National Reviews issued by signatory nations. The Agenda states: 

We are resolved to free the human race from the tyranny of poverty and want and to heal and secure our planet. We are determined to take the bold and transformative steps which are urgently needed to shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path.”

Ireland and Irish business has a chance to be a leader in this space. Business leaders are increasingly aware that there is an expectation with them to engage with the SDGs and to show leadership and forward thinking. 

The expectation is on business to lead the charge, even before government. A survey earlier this year found that 75% of respondents expect business to lead the way in times of uncertainty.

With this in mind, Sustainability 2030 will equip attendees with the thought leadership and tools they need to bring their organisation forward into the future. Along with Green Tech, Legislation and Business for Good, some of the core themes of Sustainability 2030 will be:

Sustainability: 

Meeting your current business needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. 

Responsibility: 

Owning our future and making responsible decisions that will reduce business’ negative impact on the environment.

Circular Economy: 

Insight into the development of a circular economy to help shape a sustainable future for all.

The challenge of sustainability is matched by opportunity, as evidenced by the US$12 trillion of business opportunities in the sustainable development economy identified by the Business and Sustainable Development Commission, which is made up of top global CEOs.

It is also pertinent to respond to the desires of the workforce, and the socially engaged Millennials and Gen Z cohort have expectations of their employers that CSR and sustainability will be high on their agenda—as many employers have time and again come to realise, it is no longer a nice-to-have, but a need-to-have. 

For more info see www.sustainabilityx2030.com