Global Compact: FGV EAESP joins world’s biggest corporate sustainability initiative

Fundação Getulio Vargas’ Sao Paulo School of Business Administration (FGV EAESP) has joined the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s biggest corporate sustainability initiative, with more than 16,000 members, including companies and other organizations, spread across 69 local networks in 160 countries. FGV EAESP’s mission is to transform business strategies in order to promote Brazil’s sustainable development. Accordingly, it seeks to mobilize companies and other organizations to integrate the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into their strategies. It also wants to encourage companies to align their strategies and operations with the Global Compact’s 10 Universal Principles in the areas of human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption, and to take measures to help tackle society’s challenges. Brazil is home to the Global Compact’s third largest network, with more than 1,500 participants, up from fewer than 500 in 2015. In 2020, according to a survey by business magazine Época Negócios, companies operating in Brazil considered the Global Compact to be the foremost corporate sustainability initiative in the country. FGV EAESP formally joined the Global Compact at a ceremony hosted by the São Paulo Stock Exchange, owned by B3, one of the world’s biggest financial infrastructure companies, on May 2. The event was attended by Tales Andreassi, FGV EAESP’s vice dean; Professor Lígia Maura of FGV EAESP; and Aron Belinky, a professor and consultant at FGV EAESP. According to Andreassi, the participation of business schools in the Global Compact is of great importance, given that they are responsible for preparing the leaders of the future. “In my view, it is becoming increasingly difficult for a company to excel on the business stage if it does not consider the issues of sustainability, diversity, inclusion and social responsibility to be a solid pillar of its strategies,” he said.