The president of the Port of Barcelona, Mercè Conesa, and the president of the Spanish Network of the United Nations Global Compact, Ángel Pes, met to discuss different formulas so that the Catalan port continues its sustainable development. Namely, the inclusion of new companies in the Sectorial Sustainability Plan of the Port of Barcelona was considered as one of the most important initiatives to move in this direction.
The Port of Barcelona joined last year to the Ten Principles of the Global Compact regarding human rights, labor law, the environment and the fight against corruption. This means that the Port is committed to continue the work that started in 2007 on Corporate Social Responsibility, as well as promote a sustainable growth economically, socially and environmentally.
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Moreover, the president of the Spanish Network of the United Nations Global Compact, Ángel Pes, noted that the Port of Barcelona is able to promote the Global Compact among the members of the Port Community and benefit many companies in the logistics and port sector.
The Global Compact considers companies as key parts for sustainable development and places their contributions at the same level as those made for States or civil society. For this reason, in September 2015, the United Nations approved the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to help companies contribute to the new development agenda.
With the adhesion to the Global Compact, the organizations commit to comply with the 10 principles established by the United Nations, and they also have to identify the SDGs (of a total of 17) on which they can influence locally and internationally.
Mercè Conesa shared with Àngel Pes the strategy of the Sector Sustainability Plan, which meets the Sustainable Development Goals. The Plan, together with its Annual Report, are key instruments to measure the degree of responses that the Port Community gives to its stakeholders and to adopt actions that advance sustainability.
Continuing, the president of the Port said that there is the need to include more companies in the Plan in order to join efforts to the road map of the Global Compact. This includes concrete actions to fight against climate change, economic inequality and injustice, as well as promote decent work, innovation or sustainable consumption.
