This year marks the beginning of the “Decade of Action” towards achieving the SDGs. While accelerated actions are urgently needed to achieve the SDGs, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed serious health and economic challenges worldwide, rolling back some of the important progress on the SDGs that has been made so far. The business community has played a crucial role in implementing the SDGs, but many companies have been dealt a severe blow from COVID-19 and this may well cause them to change their priorities on sustainability issues. This session will gather together representatives from business groups to discuss how business leaders view COVID-19 and the SDGs, and how the concept of sustainable development is integrated into their short- and medium-term COVID-19 responses and recoveries. The session will also look at the long-term perspective, and debate to what extent current socioeconomic systems should be redesigned in order to transition to sustainable, resilient and inclusive societies, and if so, how policies and engagement with non-business stakeholders could facilitate businesses in their efforts to become more sustainable.
To gain a better understanding of how the concept of sustainable development was integrated into response to COVID-19 by the business community, and to discuss policy directions and multi-stakeholder collaboration necessary to pursue sustainable development in the COVID-19 era
SpeakersChair, Committee on Responsible Business Conduct & SDGs Promotion, Keidanren Director - Chairman, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.
FUTAMIYA Masaya
Chair, Committee on Responsible Business Conduct & SDGs Promotion, Keidanren Director - Chairman, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.
Masaya Futamiya is Chairman of Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. which has been taking a leading role in CSR in Japan and was awarded “Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World” in 2009 and 2010. Sompo group is included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices for 20 consecutive years and MSCI ESG Leaders Indexes ・MSCI SRI Indexes for 2019.
He joined Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. (then, Nippon Fire & Marine Insurance) in 1974 and was appointed as President from 2011 to 2016.
Also externally, he was appointed as Chairman, Keidanren Committee on Nature Conservation since 2015 and Chairman, Council for Better Corporate Citizenship (CBCC) since 2015.
Chairman, Keidanren Committee on Responsible Business Conduct & SDGs Promotion. Board member of the Redefining Value for WBCSD since 2015. Committee Member, SDGs Promotion Roundtable Meeting since 2016. Chairman, Japan Network for Public Interest Activities (JANPIA) since 2017.
Head of Asia Pacific ESG Business Development, Trucost, part of S&P Global
Michael Salvatico
Head of Asia Pacific ESG Business Development, Trucost, part of S&P Global
Michael Salvatico leads environmental, social and governance (ESG) business development in Asia Pacific for Trucost, based in Sydney. He works with investors and companies to consult on industry trends, assess their ESG performance and advise on the integration of tools that help manage ESG exposures and opportunities.
Prior to joining Trucost, Michael was an Executive Director at MSCI Inc. and oversaw the company’s ESG Research in Australia and New Zealand. His career experience involves working in portfolio analytics, quantitative investment analysis and ESG research. Before MSCI Inc., he was part of the highly rated research team at Bank of America - Merrill Lynch where he was head of Emerging Markets quantitative analysis.
Michael was a cofounder in the Climakind initiative to reduce global carbon emissions by promoting a price on carbon and a thought leader in solutions to the rising levels of global carbon emissions.
Michael received a Master of Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia, and a Bachelor of Commerce with Merit from the University of New South Wales.
Managing Director & Senior Management Team, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
Filippo Veglio
Managing Director & Senior Management Team, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
Filippo Veglio is Managing Director at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), a CEO-led, global coalition of some 200 leading corporations. The Council is the leading voice of business supporting companies in scaling up true value-adding business solutions to some of the most pressing global sustainability issues and in creating the conditions where more sustainable companies will succeed and be recognized.
As part of the Senior Management Team, Filippo heads up a variety of teams engaging senior representatives of member companies across various industry sectors, business organizations, multilateral institutions, NGOs, media and academia. The focus areas under his responsibility encompass People, Sustainable Development Goals, Vision 2050, Transforming Mobility, and three Outreach functions (Communications, Events, and Global Network of partner organizations).
Filippo joined WBCSD in 2005. He holds an M.A. in International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. A Swiss national and fluent in six languages, Filippo was formerly a professional tennis player and has been a member of the Swiss Davis Cup team.
Senior Policy Researcher, Sustainability Governance Centre, IGES
Nobue Amanuma
Senior Policy Researcher, Sustainability Governance Centre, IGES
Nobue Amanuma is Senior Policy Researcher at the Sustainability Governance Centre, IGES. Before joining IGES, she worked at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) from 2013 to 2017 and supported the regional process to formulate, implement, follow-up and review the SDGs. Her research focuses on SDGs and the social aspects of environmental sustainability. She is currently looking into how various actors, particularly governments and businesses in Japan and abroad, work toward the achievement of the SDGs. She has recently published a book with her colleagues in Japanese, explaining the basics of SDGs to the business actors, and setting out approaches and tools with which companies could integrate sustainability into their businesses. She holds a Masters in International Development from the University of Pittsburgh.