THE BUSINESS AVENGERS 

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17 of the world’s largest and most influential companies are among those committed to playing a significant role in achieving the Global Goals

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The Business Avengers is a community of companies guided by a strong belief in the Global Goals. Together, they have both the capacity and a shared sense of responsibility to drive private sector progress.

 

In the past year, we’ve seen how those leading the charge towards a more sustainable future in their own business have been inspired by, learned from and shared challenges with their peers and competitors.

 

Clearly, the landscape has changed dramatically in 2020, and it’s been gratifying to see how this group has stepped up to meet the challenges of the global pandemic head on; by looking after their employees, taking into account the challenges faced by their supply chains and supporting vulnerable communities.

 

Far from retreating from previously stated ambitions, many of the companies are doubling down on their commitment to the Goals, to stakeholder capitalism and to the notion of business as a force for good in an uncertain, fragmented, politically volatile world.

 

We believe we’ve only just scratched the surface of what this group can do together and we’re currently exploring opportunities to increase our impact across three main areas.

 

The first is around collective impact. We’re inviting the companies to bring projects to the rest of the group and to form collaborative working teams around them – from empowering young ‘activist citizens’ to harnessing the power of technology in tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges.

 

The second is employee engagement.

 

Between the 17 Business Avengers we have around 1.5 million employees, many of whom are young, passionate and looking to make an impact that goes beyond the confines of their job role.

 

We’re working to create a network of these employees between our member companies, focused on what their company can bring to the table with respect to a particular Goal or target, and see how they can work with others to amplify that capacity and increase the impact.

 

The third is a series of content that will run over the next year highlighting the need to emerge from this crisis with a stronger, fairer, smarter, healthier society. We’ll be creating short, aspirational, optimistic pieces on the role of business in creating that society.

 

Finally, we know how important it is to bring the heart into conversations and spaces which are usually dominated by the head, which is why we will continue to look for creative, unusual, unexpected ways to support and nudge these companies as they strive to do more, and to catalyse and facilitate partnerships which enable them to scale their impact.

 

With the pandemic still devastating communities, the economic crisis beginning to hit hard, the inequality crisis laid bare and the climate crisis looming large, we believe the world needs Avengers now more than ever.

 

The Business Avengers

No Poverty: Mars

Zero Hunger: PepsiCo

Good Health and Well-Being: RB

Quality Education: Avanti

Gender Equality: SAP

Clean Water and Sanitation: Diageo

Affordable and Clean Energy: Salesforce

Decent Work and Economic Growth: Google.org

Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure: Arm

Reduced Inequalities: Unilever

Sustainable Cities and Communities: NTT Ltd.

Responsible Consumption and Production: Commvault

Climate Action: Nike

Life Below Water: The Coca-Cola Company

Life on Land: Mastercard

Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions: Microsoft

Partnerships for the Goals: Salesforce.org