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PARIS and DUBLIN, 20th June 2022: The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) and the EY organisation have today published a new report bringing together opinions from 13 consumer industry leaders that outlines the urgent priorities the sector must act upon to help meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 deadline.
At the halfway point to the 2030 deadline (from the SDGs being set in 2015), the CEOs are optimistic that faster progress can be achieved through five actions to accelerate impact. The five priority areas identified to help CGF members and other businesses across the industry to accelerate progress are:
The report, developed in collaboration with EY teams and launched just ahead of CGF’s annual Global Summit taking place in Dublin from 20-23 June, features interviews with leaders from 13 of the largest global consumer goods companies: Ahold Delhaize; Alibaba Group; Ajinomoto Group; A.S. Watson Group; The Coca-Cola Company; DFI Retail Group; Grupo Éxito; Kerry Group; Kirin Holdings; Musgrave Group; Procter & Gamble; Unilever; and Woolworths Holdings.
The report also highlighted that many companies see their activities as accelerating and are shifting mindsets from previous sustainability goals seen as a “nice to have” to now viewing them as being integral to success. This reflects the rising prioritisation of climate change among consumers, along with biodiversity outlined as top priorities in the EY Future Consumer Index. Technology also enables this by making sustainable measurement and progress more viable and affordable. In turn, this can accelerate the progress companies make toward the SDGs and support new frameworks and metrics that can track and improve impact.
Wai-Chan Chan, Managing Director of The Consumer Goods Forum, says:
“As we race toward the 2030 deadline for the SDGs, time is short. But we can and must build a more resilient world in which no one is left behind. The consumer goods industry is vital to achieving the SDGs, and collaboration to help ensure this has never been more critical.
Our new report underlines the importance of corporate collectivity. Businesses have an unprecedented responsibility: society’s urgent global problems cannot be solved by government, business, non-profits or citizens alone. Great strides have been made in accelerating positive action, but we must all challenge ourselves to go much further if we are to deliver on the SDGs by 2030. With an ethos of collaboration, we can share knowledge and combine resources to innovate and adapt.”
CGF is the only CEO-led organisation that represents both manufacturers and retailers globally. Its network of leaders comes together to accelerate changes that have lasting positive effects on people, planet and business, using CGF’s influential reach to encourage the global adoption of practices and standards.
CGF’s work is already taking significant actions to help deliver against a number of the SDGs, including:
CGF’s network is a testament to the benefits of collaboration to address major challenges. For example, members worked tirelessly during the pandemic to help ensure that vital goods continued to move along supply chains and onto retailers’ shelves. At the same time, they worked to protect the health and wellbeing of their employees and customers while making important progress on tackling key issues like plastic waste and deforestation. Members of CGF’s Coalition of Action on Plastic Waste, collectively representing more than 10% of the global plastic packaging market, have united around a series of best practice rules for plastic design, production and recycling – to accelerate a circular economy. In addition, CGF’s Forest Positive Coalition of Action launched its first annual report last year, committing to publicly report against metrics to end commodity-driven deforestation.
The report is available to download here.
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Notes to Editors
About EY
EY exists to build a better working world, helping create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.
Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.
Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.
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About The Consumer Goods Forum
The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) is a global, parity-based industry network that is driven by its members to encourage the global adoption of practices and standards that serves the consumer goods industry worldwide.
It brings together the CEOs and senior management of some 400 retailers, manufacturers, service providers, and other stakeholders across 70 countries, and it reflects the diversity of the industry in geography, size, product category and format.
Its member companies have combined sales of EUR 4.6 trillion and directly employ nearly 10 million people, with a further 90 million related jobs estimated along the value chain. It is governed by its Board of Directors, which comprises more than 55 manufacturer and retailer CEOs.
For more information, please visit: www.theconsumergoodsforum.com
The CEOs that took part in the report are listed below:
About the report
This report was written by the EY Global Consumer practice in conjunction with The Consumer Goods Forum to assess the progress that’s been made in achieving the SDGs today, at the halfway point in the journey to 2030. The report investigates companies’ strategies to achieve the goals and which goals they align with the most. It also looks at the role that organisations like the CGF can play in helping to accelerate collaboration and change through its coalitions of action and other initiatives.
The EY Global Consumer practice and the CGF conducted interviews with 13 leaders of CGF member companies representing a cross-section of the total CGF membership. The interviews explored CEOs’ perceptions of the SDGs in the context of their business and the context of other initiatives and activities. We gained deep insights into how consumer companies align their sustainability/ESG strategies within the SDG framework, the progress made to achieve the goals, and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
The qualitative interviews formed a foundational set of insights, which were augmented by additional research into the sustainability activities of the CGF and its members, other perspectives in the wider market and proprietary EY research into sustainability and the SDGs (through programmes such as the Future Consumer Index). This multitiered approach creates a broad perspective on how the consumer companies value the SDG framework and how the CGF can play a part in helping to deliver them. It provides examples of best practices and current strategic priorities. It also provides recommendations for the industry to collectively drive the positive change required to turn the goals of 2030 into reality.
