- Commitment: ACCIONA signed the Forward Faster initiative to accelerate private sector engagement in sustainable development
"The transformation of companies on the path towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is not a sacrifice, it is an opportunity," said José Manuel Entrecanales, chairman and CEO of ACCIONA, during his involvement today in the opening session of the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit, parallel to the United Nations General Assembly, as part of the NYC Climate Week, where business, government and civil society leaders from around the world examined the private sector's contribution to advancing the SDGs.
"The SDGs are creating a new sector of companies exclusively dedicated to sustainability. ACCIONA is one of the few companies in the world that are already part of it. There is no area of economic activity that is excluded from the opportunities it offers," said ACCIONA's chairman, who recalled that the company is 99% compliant with the requirements of the European taxonomy of sustainable economic activities. "There has never been a shortage of demand for our sustainable solutions and this positioning is very important to attract talent," he added.
At the panel talk titled Halfway to 2030: Looking Back. Looking Forward, José Manuel Entrecanales called for developing policies that encourage the financing and procurement of sustainable projects. He also urged the use of "an effective carbon market that rewards efforts to reduce emissions.”
"We need policies that support private sector action. The transformation of companies on the path towards the SDGs is not a sacrifice, but an opportunity. If we don't have the right legislative environment, our work will be much more difficult," he added.
ACCIONA is one of the companies that have joined the Forward Faster initiative to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs. The company has committed to four areas of action: climate, living wages, finance and investment, and water resilience.
The aim of the Forward Faster initiative is to increase accountability and transparency in the achievement of the SDGs by calling on companies to publicly declare their commitments and highlight the actions they will take to meet the goals.