Sustainable Development: The UN Millennium Development Goals, the UN Global Compact, and the Common Good

14. The UN Global Compact

271 14 | The UN Global Compact Forum for Environmental Leadership Deborah Rigling Gallagher The Global Compact’s strengths and weaknesses both stem from its having adopted a model that promotes learning by recognizing and reinforcing leadership. —John Ruggie1 In the spring of 2000, business, labor, and civil society leaders joined with united nations representatives to develop a framework to serve Secretary-General kofi Annan’s 1999 call at the World economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland: “I call on you—individually through your firms, and collectively through your business associations—to embrace, support and enact a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labor standards, and environmental practices.” ultimately, the united nations Global compact was organized as a broad network of business leaders, nongovernmental organizations, and labor organizations who would “embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labor standards, the environment and anti-corruption.”2 It is important to note that while the compact’s builders initially sought private sector representation via 272 Deborah Rigling Gallagher business associations, a decision was made early on to “seek greater involvement and leadership directly from ceos.”3 Much has been written about the development of the un Global compact and the negotiations surrounding its configuration and operational goals.4 clearly, however, designers stipulated that it be a network of organizational leaders, focused on using tools of partnership, dialogue , and learning to support and promote the compact’s principles. From its inception in 2000, leaders of businesses were asked to commit to three activities as members: publicly promote the un Global compact ’s mission, engage in dialogue about accomplishments and lessons learned, and partner with other members to benefit the greater good.5 This chapter examines how the tools of organizational leadership, and more specifically business environmental leadership, were leveraged in two un Global compact learning network initiatives—caring for climate and the environmental Stewardship Strategy—to address environmental challenges by promoting a shared understanding of high-level environmental management practices. I first reflect on the art and practice of environmental leadership in a private sector context and examine how the un Global compact can be considered a vehicle for environmental leader firms to exercise institutional entrepreneurship . I then describe how the un Global compact’s learning network platforms facilitate entrepreneurial firms’ practice of environmental leadership. Finally, I examine the environmental Stewardship Strategy in detail to show how corporate leaders engage with the un Global compact’s voluntary code of conduct to learn about, implement, and promote beyond-compliance environmental management practices. Interview data from participants in the development of the environmental Stewardship Strategy are analyzed to provide a ground-level understanding of business leaders’ participation in one of the un Global compact’s signature environmental leadership initiatives. enVIRonMenTAL LeADeRShIP environmental problems are intractable; they come in the form of critical global challenges, such as climate change, resource scarcity, habitat loss, and diminished biodiversity. They cross political and geographical The un Global compact 273 boundaries and transcend human time scales. Scientists, policy makers, and business leaders each have a role to play in addressing these problems . In their roles as environmental leaders seeking to address these crises, their application of personal leadership skills is critical. Researchers have long noted that private sector managers who act as environmental leaders take on roles as change agents within their organizations,6 work collectively with leaders in other organizations,7 act as champions for environmental initiatives,8 and emphasize the use of higher-order environmental management tools.9 environmental leadership has thus been defined as “the ability to influence individuals and mobilize organizations to a vision of long-term ecological sustainability.”10 Researchers studying leadership as applied to promote environmental sustainability have suggested that complex, global environmental challenges require leadership approaches that recognize contradictions, integrate different perspectives, and focus on high-impact change.11 others have asserted that such leaders must apply systems thinking, focus on spiritual approaches, and engage in collaboration.12 As important as individual leadership is to confronting environmental problems, perhaps equally important is the leadership role that organizations themselves play. There is evidence that in the face of such complexity, leader organizations do step up to address environmental problems. For example, the Association of climate change officers, whose public and private sector members share information about strategies to address climate change, and the World Mayors council on...