In Conversation Webinar Series: UNGC Principle 09: Environment

GCNP organized its 5th ‘In Conversation Webinar’ for the year 2023, under the theme of UNGC’s Principle 09: ‘ENVIRONMENT;
“Businesses should encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies” on May 16th, 2023.
It was our pleasure to welcome Mr. Haris Malik from WWF Pakistan and Ms. Nabila Faisal from Hinopak Motors Limited Pakistan to our In Conversation Webinar Series, and we greatly appreciated their generosity in sharing their valuable insights on the UNGC’s Principle 9; Environment, with us and the other participants.
Ms. Faisal conveyed her organization’s strong commitment to corporate social responsibility, highlighting their efforts to generate electricity for their plants based on actual needs, without any excess. She also discussed how Hinopak is actively involved in waste management techniques, not only to enhance its brand image but also to inspire others in the industry to follow suit.

Ms. Faisal emphasized the significance of fostering awareness within the organization, encouraging employees to take personal responsibility for environmental conservation and act accordingly. Additionally, she stressed the importance of educating suppliers and vendors on ways to reduce their carbon footprint without incurring additional costs, such as through recycling, minimizing logistics usage, managing hazardous waste, and reducing spillage, among other key concerns.
Mr. Malik emphasized the importance for businesses to extend their focus beyond profitability and actively consider social and environmental factors. He mentioned that the WWF defines sustainability based on the triple bottom line principles, emphasizing that businesses should focus not only on financial gains but also on fostering social responsibility among their workforce, stakeholders, and partners. Mr. Malik explained that the WWF supports organizations in this endeavor by collaborating with them through various means, such as providing grants and encouraging partnerships to adopt environmentally friendly practices.

He highlighted how his organization assists in implementing technologies like solar panels and adopting eco-friendly business practices to reduce carbon emissions. However, he acknowledged that these practices might initially involve significant costs, causing some organizations to hesitate. He emphasized that transitioning to sustainability is a long-term process and cannot be accomplished overnight. The aim is not to force organizations to prioritize the environment at the expense of their businesses but rather to encourage profitable operations while facilitating and funding cost-effective technologies through the WWF. It is important to ensure that projects are economically viable without compromising their quality.

In Conversation Webinar on UNGC Principle 08: Environment which is “Businesses should undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility” organized by UN Global Compact Network Pakistan on Tuesday 11th April, 2023.

GCNP is organized its 3rd ‘In Conversation Webinar’ for the year 2023, under the theme of UNGC’s Principle 07: ‘ENVIRONMENT; 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬’

Mr. Akhtar Quddus, Chief Executive and Managing Director of MaxSafe Engineering and MaxTrain International, shared his views about what precautionary measures should be taken to prevent environmental crises in Pakistani business background and explained how fundamental it is to analyze, initiate and implement the precautionary measures while taking into consideration, all the barriers and limitations including human and technological. Mr. Quddus also argued about the hesitations and obstacles that organizations might have in implementing the preventive measures for climate control and environmental crises and overcoming those in the best possible manner.

Ms. Shiza Ali, Senior Associate at Zero-Point Partners emphasized the importance of incorporating the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) criteria in businesses to mitigate risks and adapt changes to manage the opportunities in transitioning to a low carbon economy. She highlighted the necessity for businesses to engage in stakeholder mapping and engagement of those who are impacted by the business or the ones who impact the business including customers, suppliers, or employees for instance. She explained that stakeholder mapping could be done with the help of questionnaires, focus group discussions, interviews, or surveys to overcome the management and communication barriers to deal with the environmental crises at hand.

 

In Conversation Webinar on UNGC Principle 06: Labour which is “𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘂𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻” organized by UN Global Compact Network Pakistan on Tuesday 14th February 2023 at 2:30 pm PST.

During this webinar, the panelists shared their thoughts on the types of discrimination exist in the workplace in Pakistan and what specific actions companies can take to address discrimination and eliminate it within the workplace.

 

In Conversation Webinar on UNGC Principle 05: Labour which is “𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘂𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿” organized by UN Global Compact Network Pakistan on Tuesday 10th January 2023.
During this webinar, the panelists shared their thoughts on the causes and consequences of child labour in Pakistan and what businesses can do to eradicate child labour practices in Pakistan.

In Conversation Webinar on UNGC Principle 04: Labour which is “𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘂𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝗹𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿” organized by UN Global Compact Network Pakistan on Tuesday 13th December 2022.
During this webinar, the panelists shared their thoughts on the causes of forced labour and what businesses can do to eradicate forced labour practices in Pakistan.

𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐂 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝟎𝟑: 𝐋𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐫” organised by UN Global Compact Network Pakistan on Tuesday 15th November 2022. This webinar was specially arranged to discuss how Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining

UN GCNP calls on companies to respect and support internationally-proclaimed human rights and to ensure they are not complicit in human rights abuses. To highlight the significance of Human Rights, UN Global Compact Network Pakistan organised a webinar on UNGC Principle 02 which is “Businesses should make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses” on 12th October 2022. The webinar was moderated by Mr. Muhammad Akram, Project Manager, UN GCNP.

SPEAKERS: Mr. Karamat Ali, Executive Director, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & Research (PILER) Mr. Andeel Ali, Manager – Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Development, NIC – Karachi (LMKT)

UN GCNP calls on companies to respect and support internationally-proclaimed human rights and to ensure they are not complicit in human rights abuses. To highlight the significance of Principle 1, UN Global Compact Network Pakistan organised a webinar on UNGC Principle 01 which is “Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights.” The first webinar of the series was held on 13th September 2022. During the webinar, the Speakers discussed what can we collectively do as a community to achieve human rights. They also discussed about the work their organisation is doing to ensure human rights in and outside the workplace.

The webinar was moderated by Mr. Fasihul Karim Siddiqi, Executive Director, UN GCNP.

SPEAKERS: Mr. Zulfiqar Shah, Member, Sindh Human Rights Commission Ms. Mehreen Ilahi, President, Karachi Women Chamber – District East Ms. Bushra Raza, Director, GCNP Board