UK India Business Council launches socio-economic impact campaign

The UK India business Council has launched a campaign to highlight the importance of the socio-economic contribution that UK businesses make in India.

This campaign is being delivered in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme and will map the activities of businesses and universities against the UNs' Sustainable Development Goals. Key findings and observations from the campaign will be compiled into a report to be released in late 2020 to coincide with the UN Climate Change Summit in Glasgow.

The launch in New Delhi was graced by Sanyukta Samaddar, Advisor at Niti Aayog, along with Richard Heald, Group CEO, UKIBC, and Shoko Noda, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in India.

The UNDP-UKIBC partnership will facilitate mapping of UK businesses socio-economic impact against the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which are aimed at eliminating poverty and ensuring prosperity, ranging from environmental sustainability to advancing education.

The launch included a 'walkthrough' exhibition showcasing the work carried out by several UK businesses and universities in India, including British Telecom, JCB, Cairn Energy, Diageo, GSK, HSBC, Standard Chartered, UNDP.

"We are delighted to be a part of this promising engagement. We have been continuously involved with on-ground sensitization and mobilization efforts and completely support this initiative, which embodies the partnership goal of SDG 17. We have been a part of several consultations and efforts being implemented at a strategic level, across varied ministries at the Centre and at the state and regional level," said Sanyukta Samaddar, Advisor at Niti Aayog.

"UKIBC's initiative will lead the path in harnessing the resources in finance, knowledge, innovation, and strategy of the business sector in India for the successful implementation of the SDGs. This effort by the UKIBC illustrates that there's a huge opportunity in integrating SDGs with the business sector, aiding in leveraging the power that the sector possesses to address some of the key SDG targets, wherein India requires focused intervention," she added.

"UK businesses and universities want to succeed in India, and their definition of success includes helping India achieve its socio-economic objectives. This is an exciting time to launch this campaign. Across the world there is a growing acceptance of sustainable development as an over-arching policy goal, which has stimulated interest in assessing the impact of businesses," said Richard Heald, Group CEO, UKIBC.

"These issues are no longer just the government's responsibility, or purely philanthropic efforts. So, any global business looking for an effective path for growth should bring social impact into the core of its strategy and operations. I'm delighted that UK businesses are already making a substantial impact in India, and through this campaign we hope to raise the bar," he added.

"UNDP is excited to partner with UKIBC on this study to measure the socio-economic impact of UK businesses in India. The Sustainable Development Goals provide an excellent framework for this study. We hope that its findings can help make corporate social responsibility efforts more effective, and help companies act on the climate crisis and improve the livelihoods of millions of people across India," said Shoko Noda, UNDP Resident Representative in India.

UK businesses operating in India have been committed to this space for a long time. UKIBC acknowledges this commitment and is keen to highlight the UK's leading and longstanding support through the launch of this Socio-Economic Impact Campaign.

UKIBC will continue to support SEI developments by UK companies throughout India and raise awareness of the important work being done. You can follow these developments on UKIBC's Socio-Economic Impact website.

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