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International Symposium

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Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility: Towards the Next 10 Years in the Post/with-COVID-19 World for the Achievement of SDGs


※ This online seminar will be held on “Zoom Webinar”. Japanese-English simultaneous interpretation will be provided through the Zoom Language Feature. Please make sure that the latest Zoom app is installed on your PC or mobile device.


The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set various goals to inclusively realize poverty alleviation, human rights protection, gender equality, correction of social and economic disparities and environmental protection, and since its adoption in 2015, many actors, such as states, municipal governments, business sectors, international organizations and civil societies, have been working to achieve those goals. However, COVID-19 has become a serious blow to our efforts to achieve the targets by 2030. Many goals such as health, poverty eradication, human rights, decent work, disparity elimination and education are undoubtedly adversely affected. Meanwhile, the need for SDGs has become more clearly understood, while the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted many issues and challenges in our society. Furthermore, how companies are addressing those environmental and social challenges is received attention as criteria for corporate evaluation for investors. It is imperative to accelerate private investment in emerging markets and developing countries to recover from the crisis and regain the path for economic growth around the world. At the same time, such investment and economic growth must underpin sustainability accompanied by corporate social responsibility.

2021 is a landmark year because it is the 10th anniversary of the endorsement of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as well as the revision of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises to align therewith. In 2020, the Japanese government formulated the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP). In June 2021, the Japan’s Corporate Governance Code was revised to explicitly address sustainability issues, including respect for human rights. States around the world formulate various policies and measures to make sure that companies carry out responsible businesses and investments and construct responsible supply chains for sustainable development. In these external and internal trends, it is imperative for companies to respect labor and human rights related to business activities not only in their own economy but also in global trade and investment.

Then, we need to discuss what is required for companies to meet global standards regarding environment, labor and human rights, and whether it leads to economic growth and advancing human rights on the ground in developing countries. Another argument is that the government policy measures on the environment and human rights vary government by government, and therefore, do not necessarily create an environment for fair competition for companies. In this symposium, we will evaluate the progress of the SDGs and the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, and discuss business and human rights issues and challenges of companies and policy measures conducive to sustainability in order to realize the achievement of SDGs.

We are looking forward to your participation.

Date&time:

Thursday, 27 January 2022, 9:30am – 12:00pm (Japan Standard Time)
* The seminar may extend beyond the expected time due to the discussion

Venue:

Online (Zoom Webinar)

Program:

Time

Theme
9:30~9:35 Opening Remarks
・Yasuaki Yoneyama, Special Representative, Japan, The World Bank、
・Nobuyoshi Sakajiri, Managing Editor, The Asahi Shimbun
9:35~9:45

Opening Address
Miwa Yamada, Director, Law and Institution Studies Group, IDE-JETRO

9:45~10:15

Keynote Speech I
・Haishan Fu, Director, Development Data Group, The World Bank

10:15~10:45

Keynote Speech II
・Anita Ramasastry, Professor, School of Law, University of Washington/Member, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

10:45~10:55 Break
10:55~11:45

Panel Discussion
Moderator: Miwa Yamada
<Panelists>
・Anita Ramasastry
・Satoshi Ikeda, Chief Sustainable Finance Officer, Japan Financial Services Agency
・Tomoko Hasegawa, Managing Director, Japan Business Federation (Keidanren)

・Miyuki Zeniya, Executive Sustainable Finance Specialist, Dai-ichi Life Group
・Carlos Tomas Perez-Brito, Senior Social Development Specialist, The World Bank

11:45~11:55

Introduction of the Recent Development of Business and Human Rights in Japan
・Kyoko Kashiwabara, Deputy Director-General for Business and Human Rights Policy, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan

11:55~12:00

Closing Remarks
・Kyoji Fukao, President, IDE-JETRO

Languages:

Japanese and English in simultaneous interpretation

Organizer:

IDE-JETRO, The World Bank, The Asahi Shimbun

Support: Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) 

Register

The application has been closed because the capacity has been reached.

 Fee

Free

Contact:
Outreach Event Division, Research Operations Department, IDE-JETRO
E-mail:sympo-sc E-mail