The Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency was held for the third time in May 2010. Over the years, the conference has seen the world’s largest gathering of leaders, thinkers and doers in the field of sustainability reporting, with debates being convened on how reporting can be used to help build a better future. Thought leaders from business, finance, government and civil society have been brought together to debate the political, strategic and practical choices confronting the world and expert practitioners have led workshops and interactive sessions to define the building blocks of more effective reporting.
The first Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency, held by the
Global Reporting Initiative
The Global Reporting Initiative (known as GRI) is an international independent standards organization that helps businesses, governments and other organizations understand and communicate their impacts on issues such as climate change, human righ ...
(GRI), took place in October 2006, with over 1,200 participants. In May 2008, the second Amsterdam Global Conference was held. This climate neutral conference brought together over 1,000 participants from 58 countries. The 2010 Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency was held from 26–28 May 2010 at the Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre in The Netherlands.
2010 conference themes
* Rethink Our resource consumption has gone beyond what our planet can sustain, yet billions continue to live in poverty. The world’s population is set to increase massively and more and more people will, understandably, expect to live the lifestyles currently enjoyed by the few. This unsustainable outlook has become a core business issue, requiring companies and governments to rethink the fundamentals.
* Rebuild As we climb out of global recession we have a unique opportunity — and an urgent need — to rebuild our economies to meet the challenges of the future, not the past. We have the opportunity to drive the transition to sustainable practices, where sustainability is at the core of public policy and business strategy, evident in products and processes, and key to consumer choices.
* Report Sustainability reporting can be an effective tool for change. Credible disclosures map out current positions and point the way forwards, towards solutions that benefit both business and wider society. Full economic, environmental and social accountability is based on transparent communication. Transparent communication changes perceptions, builds trust, and motivates action towards greater sustainability.
2010 conference in review
The third GRI Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency attracted more participants than ever before and from a greater number of countries. In 2010, 77 countries were represented with over 1200 attendees. Participants enjoyed a diverse range of topics in 60 main hall, parallel, and academic sessions on best practices in ESG disclosure and the future of sustainability reporting.
During the Opening Plenary, GRI’s chief executive Ernst Ligteringen outlined two goals for the next decade:
# GRI proposes that
environmental, social, and governance
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG), is a set of aspects, including environmental issues, social issues and corporate governance that can be considered in investment, investing. Investing with ESG considerations is sometimes referred t ...
(ESG) reporting should become a general practice to help markets and society take informed and responsible decisions. GRI advocates that by 2015 all large and medium-sized companies in OECD countries and fast-growing emerging economies should be required to report publicly on their ESG performance, or if they don’t, explain why.
# GRI proposes that ESG reporting and financial reporting need to converge over the coming decade. GRI advocates that a standard for integrated reporting should be defined, tested and adopted by 2020. In line with this, The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Project (A4S) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) announced the formation of th
International Integrated Reporting Committee(IIRC).
History
Over 1000 participants from more than 50 countries attended each of the first biennial conferences in 2006 and 2008. Of the participants, over 40% came from countries outside of Europe. 10% of participants at the previous two conferences were CEO/Board of Director level, and over 30% were vice presidents, senior managers, or heads of departments. Industries represented included automotive, food and beverage, mining and metals, apparel, IT, oil and gas, construction and real estate, media, telecommunications, and logistics. In addition representatives from finance, NGOs, accountancy, government and regulatory bodies attended the previous two conferences.
Conference speaker alumni include:
* His Royal Highness
Willem Alexander, Prince of Orange, The Netherlands
*
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
, former United States vice president
* Sir
Mark Moody-Stuart
Sir Mark Moody-Stuart KCMG (born 15 September 1940) is a British businessman, He was appointed non-executive chairman of Anglo American PLC in 2001, serving until 2009. He has been chairman of Hermes Equity Ownership Services since 2009.
He is a ...
, chairman Anglo American
*
Kumi Naidoo
Kumi Naidoo (b 1965 in Durban, South Africa) is a human rights and climate justice activist. He was International Executive Director of Greenpeace International (from 2009 through 2015) and Secretary General of Amnesty International (from 2018 ...
, honorary president CIVICUS (now executive director at Greenpeace International)
*
Rajendra K. Pachauri
Rajendra Kumar Pachauri (20 August 1940 – 13 February 2020) was the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 2002 to 2015, during the fourth and fifth assessment cycles. Under his leadership the IPCC was awarded ...
, chairman Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
*
Achim Steiner
Achim Steiner (born 17 May 1961) is a Brazilian-born environmentalist who currently serves as the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and chairman of United Nations Sustainable Development Group.
Before joining UNDP, he w ...
, executive director United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)
*
Margot Wallström
Margot Elisabeth Wallström (; born 28 September 1954) is a Swedish politician of the Swedish Social Democratic Party who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden and Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2014 to 2019 and Minister for Nordic Cooper ...
, vice president European Commission
*
Queen Rania of Jordan
Rania Al-Abdullah ( ar, رانيا العبد الله, ; born Rania Al-Yassin, 31 August 1970) is Queen of Jordan as the wife of King Abdullah II.
Rania was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents. She received her bachelor's degree in busi ...
Organizers
This conference was organized by
Global Reporting Initiative
The Global Reporting Initiative (known as GRI) is an international independent standards organization that helps businesses, governments and other organizations understand and communicate their impacts on issues such as climate change, human righ ...
based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The
Global Reporting Initiative
The Global Reporting Initiative (known as GRI) is an international independent standards organization that helps businesses, governments and other organizations understand and communicate their impacts on issues such as climate change, human righ ...
has pioneered the development of the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting framework and is committed to its continuous improvement and application worldwide. This framework sets out the principles and indicators that organizations can use to measure and report their economic, environmental, and social performance.
References
External links
See also
*
Integrated reporting
Integrated reporting (IR, or in International Integrated Reporting Council publications) in corporate communication is a "process that results in communication, most visibly a periodic “integrated report”, about value creation over time. A ...
*
Socially responsible investing
Socially responsible investing (SRI), social investment, sustainable socially conscious, "green" or ethical investing, is any investment strategy which seeks to consider both financial return and social/environmental good to bring about social ...
*
Corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a form of international private business self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropic, activist, or charitable nature by engaging in or supporting volunteering or ethicall ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amsterdam Global Conference On Sustainability And Transparency
Sustainability