More than 20,000 business leaders from around the world and sustainability leaders including representatives from the United Nations, governments, civil society and academia met at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit to build a better future after the global pandemic. Global Compact Turkey took part in the global session where diversity and inclusion practices in the business world were discussed and the regional session where good examples of SDG innovation were shared. In the session titled Business Plastics Initiative: Going Beyond Commitments, moderated by Global Compact Turkey Environment Working Group Co-chairman Ebru Tüzecan, with the participation of Anadolu Efes CEO Can Caka, Kibar Holding CEO Haluk Kayabasi and Vestel Group Companies CEO Turan Erdogan. The companies involved in the contracting process were shared.
The UN Global Compact Leaders Summit lasted a total of 26 hours with sessions hosted by local networks around the world. At the summit, the issues of climate change crises, the COVID-19 epidemic, deepening social and economic inequalities and a roadmap for a sustainable recovery were brought up.
Demet İkiler, Vice President of Global Compact Turkey and Co-Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Working Group, attended the “Responsible Business: Diversity and Inclusion at Worksplace” session held on the first day. Demet İkiler stated that Turkey is a country that covers a wide range of identities and that there are 5 million Syrians living under temporary protection status together with a significant refugee population who had to leave their countries for different reasons, and that the concept of diversity and inclusion differs according to regions and countries. By learning what they do not know so that institutions can make progress in this field; Recognizing the areas that need improvement, he said that when the leadership embraces this issue and incorporates it into the strategy, it can also change the corporate culture.
On the second day of the summit, the Business World Plastics Initiative: Overcoming Commitments Session hosted by Global Compact Turkey, Anadolu Efes CEO Can Çaka, Kibar Holding CEO Haluk Kayabaşı and Vestel Group Companies CEO Turan Erdoğan took part.
The moderator of the session Global Compact Turkey Environment Working Group Co-chairman Ebru Tüzecan “The increase in the amount of plastic that enters the seas and food chains brings environmental and vital damage. It is predicted that this amount will increase even more until 2025 if the necessary infrastructures are not established and cooperation is not established. However, environmental damage should be minimized and its cyclicity should be ensured. We know that there are many initiatives of the private sector, public, local governments and civil society to ensure the circularity of plastic. There is a need for these initiatives to support each other, multiply and turn into concrete steps. The Business Plastics Initiative, or IPG for short, was established to achieve exactly this goal. Founded with the cooperation of Global Compact Turkey, SKD Turkey and TUSIAD, IPG is an initiative that brings plastic value chain players together, primarily the business world, local governments, non-governmental organizations and universities. The aim of the Initiative is to support the business world to make a commitment to reduce plastic pollution, to increase cooperation and to advocate for a solution to the problem,” he said.
Anadolu Efes CEO Can Caka said: “We need to adopt a different approach for the future of the planet and our children. The use of plastic is one of the most important topics in environmental risks. Plastic pollution, both in the oceans and on land, is increasing and biodiversity is being lost. As Anadolu Efes, we have acted with the awareness of our responsibility as a company and with a responsible production perspective in the face of both environmental and social problems that have affected the world since our establishment. We are working with our stakeholders to improve our sphere of influence. We have set ourselves a target to reduce the use of plastic, although it has a very low share in our value chain. We have also become a part of the Business Plastics Initiative. In addition to our reduction target, we conduct and continue to conduct R&D studies with the entrepreneurial ecosystem, our suppliers and universities to switch to biobased, biodegradable or recycled materials where it is not possible.
Haluk Kayabaşı, CEO of Kibar Holding “Environmental sustainability is one of the issues that we focus on and make investments in this field as Kibar Holding. We meticulously evaluate the plastics and wastes used in office, supply, production, transportation and logistics activities, and identify non-recyclable materials. We design all our business processes in line with national and international standards, and strive to leave a more livable world for the future. We carry out our activities within the scope of Kibar Group’s 2025 Sustainability Strategy. For example, we have committed to gradually reducing single-use plastics in office spaces by 2023 and finally ending it. Likewise, we will continue our efforts to reduce our plastic footprints. With these principles, we have been a signatory of IPG since its establishment. We work on innovative and environmentally friendly solutions, and evaluate plastic-containing materials and waste from our facilities at every stage of the activities of our Holding and Group Companies. We will continue to work for a sustainable future.”
Stating that Zorlu Holding has commitments for 2030, Vestel Group Companies CEO Turan Erdoğan said, “As Vestel, we also announced our 2023 commitments, and then we started our work. Today, as of May 2021, our current work exceeds our commitments. We need to leave a better world for the future, and it’s not a gesture, it’s an obligation. As private sector representatives, we must definitely adopt these commitments. We are a company with a high use of plastic due to our capacity and production, we produce 20 million devices and we use over 100 thousand tons of plastic, but we have many projects on reducing the use of plastic and recycling, we will recycle 10 thousand tons of plastic by the end of 2023. In our R&D studies, we are working on how we can reduce this, what we can do about it and what we can use as an alternative. For example, the Biolive venture that we invest in produces an alternative to plastic from olive pits and we use it in our refrigerators. In this regard, the new generation has an incredible sense of awareness, our young engineer friends are very adopting environmental issues. I hope this awareness will continue and we will leave a cleaner world to our children and grandchildren.”
In the regional session themed “Capitalizing on Innovation to fast-track SDGs in Eastern Europe”, another panel held on the second day of the summit, Unilever Turkey, Central Asia and Iran Board Member Kamuran Uçar stated that states, companies and people should act together. Uçar said, “Innovation is our biggest strategy at Unilever, we have goals such as zero primary plastic or zero emissions. Of course, we do not limit what we do to ourselves, we include our entire ecosystem.”
You can access the recordings of more than 100 sessions held at national, regional and global levels with more than 20,000 participants for 26 hours at https://www.youtube.com/c/TheUNGlobalCompact/playlists