- President and CEO Hans Vestberg to speak on role of the private sector and technology in sustainable development throughout the week of the UN Sustainable Development Summit
- New Ericsson research, produced in collaboration with the Earth Institute at Columbia University, highlights ICT’s role in accelerating achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals
- Ericsson supports the global #TellEveryone campaign to raise awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals
On September 25, 2015, during the UN Sustainable Development Summit in New York City, world leaders from 193 countries are expected to adopt 17 Sustainable Development Goals to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all by 2030.
Against the backdrop of this historic summit, Hans Vestberg, President and CEO, Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and Elaine Weidman-Grunewald, Vice President, Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility, Ericsson, will meet public and private leaders committed to solving many of the world’s major challenges and will promote technology as an enabler in doing so.
Under Vestberg’s leadership, as part of the company’s Networked Society vision, Ericsson has set additional focus and priority on its own impact on society and has set top level goals to ensure positive impacts, on the same level as its shareholder, employee and customer goals.
Vestberg says: “We have a long-term commitment to sustainability and the triple bottom-line. By including society as a key focus area we have made a stronger link to Ericsson’s impact on the world around us, and specifically to the new Sustainable Development Goals.”
A year-long research project with Columbia University’s Earth Institute illustrates the role of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in accelerating sustainable development. Highlights from the research will be presented by Vestberg during the International Conference on Sustainable Development.
Weidman-Grunewald says: “At Ericsson, we believe technology should be used as a force for good, and we want to profile the ICT sector as a contributor to a sustainable Networked Society. We are part of the global conversation taking place this week in New York, but our long-term employee commitment to Technology for Good is equally important. This week, Ericsson employees globally are invited to become Global Citizens, an online platform where anyone anywhere can take action on issues that matter to them.”
On September 26, 2015, Vestberg will be onstage at the Global Citizen Festival, where he will help kick off the #TellEveryone campaign, a massive collaboration by tech companies to raise awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals to 7 billion people in seven days.
Hugh Evans, CEO, Global Poverty Project, says “We look forward to working with Ericsson to make the Global Goals and our shared vision of a sustainable future a reality.”
In his role as a commissioner on the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, and a Board member of the UN Foundation, and a member of the Leadership Council of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Vestberg will participate in dialog with UN and industry leaders to discuss policy recommendations for implementing broadband to reach the Sustainable Development Goals. The discussions will also explore the role of ICT in supporting issues such as gender equality, financial inclusion, child protection and humanitarian response.
Kathy Calvin, President, UN Foundation, says: “With 90 percent of the world having access to mobile phones, mobile networks can have an impact on nearly every one of the Sustainable Development Goals, and will be powerful tools to help achieve them.
“Ericsson has catalyzed leaders in the industry, as well as their employees, to help everyone around the world learn about the new global goals. This kind of leadership is what we need, and what will propel progress and 21st-century partnerships.”