According to McKinsey, business sustainability is the number one concern of global business leaders. The climate emergency, social changes and the new geopolitical order have created a unique space where brands and companies play a leading role – today more than ever – where they are expected to act according to ethics and values that have an impact beyond their bottom line.
Thus, companies today are valued for their economic profits and their impact on society and the environment. This triple dimension requires a strategy and the setting of clear objectives and commitments. The ten principles of the UN Global Compact have provided a shared ethical and practical framework to make business sustainability operational. Derived from UN declarations and conventions, these universal principles represent the fundamental values companies should integrate into their strategies and daily operations.
In the aftermath of the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the urgency to deliver on the 2030 agenda is more evident than ever. Clearly, the planet and society need a change, a transformation to ensure the rights and well-being of the population, to achieve a prosperous and sustainable economy and to care for the environment.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the heart of the 2030 Agenda represent the most ambitious action plan for people, planet and prosperity for governments and businesses to work towards creating the world we want by 2030. The urgency is more real than ever, with global CO2 emissions up almost 50% since 1990. And not just on the environmental front but on the social front – for example – it will take 132 years to close the global gender gap.
APPLE TREE JOINS THE UN’S GLOBAL COMPACT
In response to this need, APPLE TREE has renewed our commitment to the UN Global Compact and has joined as a partner. This membership is a further step in our business strategy to achieve a better world from a business model that respects society and the environment, a philosophy that is part of the DNA of APPLE TREE and all the people who are part of this agency.
By being part of the UN Global Compact, companies and organisations can drive impact on concrete targets to achieve far-reaching results; increase ambition so that all companies can scale their contribution regardless of their sector or country; make measurable progress and communicate this to all their stakeholders.
In this sense, APPLE TREE’s commitment to society and its environment is articulated around three fundamental axes: equality, sustainability and partnerships, all framed within the same UN SDGs.
At APPLE TREE, we have been promoting a reforestation project for several years as part of the ‘Goodness Day’ strategy, whereby employees dedicate a day to improving an aspect of their environment. The communication agency team has chosen two locations in Madrid and Catalonia in the last two years. In the previous edition of this activity, the team planted more than 1,400 trees to reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
COMMITTED TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
APPLE TREE has made equality and equity two of its greatest aspirations since its founding. In fact, 64% of its management team is made up of women. This has led to a greater awareness among the agency team of projects with a strong social character and that promote gender equality.
Last year and following this strategy of support and visibility of areas where women have a lower representation -such as sports- APPLE TREE became a sponsor of the Olympia Las Rozas Women’s Football Club. This sponsorship has materialized financially and through a training and mentoring plan to support and make the club visible through actions that will provide young women with ad hoc training in other more interdisciplinary programs and thus add to the values that the club already provides.
