20. September 2021 | Press release
Major companies unite to launch ‘World’s To-Do List’ campaign in support of UN Global Goals
Leading companies including Unilever, Google.org, Reckitt, Mars, Diageo and DPDgroup launch World’s To-Do List campaign with Project Everyone in support of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals). ‘Brand takeover’ during UN General Assembly as companies representing more than 700,000 employees and with a combined social reach of over 100 million share what is on their company ‘To-Do Lists’. Call to action for other companies and organisations to get involved in the campaign and share what’s on their ‘To-Do List’ including for COP26, the UN Climate Conference in Glasgow in November
From 20-26 September, a group of the world’s biggest companies and brands will be launching a major awareness campaign, led by Project Everyone, to show their support for and action towards achieving the 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development - a plan adopted by all UN member states in 2015 to end poverty, conquer inequality and tackle the climate crisis by 2030. The activation is part of Global Goals Week - an annual event to mark the anniversary of the Global Goals during the UN General Assembly.
The campaign, developed with Karmarama, part of Accenture Interactive, is spearheaded by a group of companies known as the Global Goals Business Avengers, comprised of Arm, Avanti, Commvault, Diageo, DPDgroup, Google.org, Mars, NTT, Reckitt, Salesforce, SAP, Unilever and Wood. The companies represent over 700,000 employees, with a combined social media reach of over 100 million. Each company is the champion of one of the 17 Global Goals and is actively working to raise awareness of them and take actions within their own organisations to help achieve them.
Companies taking part in the World’s To-Do List campaign are sharing the actions they are taking to contribute to the achievement of particular Goals, whilst also stating what is on their ‘To-Do List’ for the near future. For example, Unilever has committed to ensuring that everyone who directly provides goods and services to the company earns at least a living wage or income, by 2030, aimed at making progress towards Goal 10 - Reduced Inequalities. Google.org, meanwhile, recently launched their Impact Challenge for Women and Girls with a $25 million fund to create pathways for women and girls to thrive, aligned with Goal 5 - Gender Equality.
The campaign, and campaign film which launches today, brings to life why the Goals are the World’s To-Do List for people and planet using sticky notes – a set of playful yet profound messages which re-imagine the Goals as a series of short actionable ‘to do’s’, setting a clear reminder that we have the plan to fix the world’s problems, we just need the action to get it done.
Giant sticky notes will also be appearing in various physical locations this week as reminders of the immediate actions needed to be taken - from the Southbank Centre in London - to billboards sites across 4 continents secured by non profit partner Arts Help - to a large scale art project throughout India with the Rouble Nagi Art Foundation, painting murals across villages in five states while working with local communities to educate and support on the issues raised by the Goals. Additionally, The Global Education & Leadership Foundation, based in India, will be inspiring hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs around the world to take on the World's To Do List through its Entrepreneurship Sports Generation programme.
The campaign will then grow, setting its sights on critical moments for the advancement of the Global Goals, beginning with COP26, the UN climate conference taking place in Glasgow in November. More physical activations will take place across multiple locations highlighting the climate focused Goals across issues from clean energy to ocean protection and restoration, as well as the two-way relationship between the climate crisis and issues such as poverty, hunger and gender inequality.
The physical activations taking place around COP26 are being carried out in collaboration with UK based production company Sketch, who specialise in end-to-end sustainable production, using recycled materials with a guarantee that no waste will go to landfill.
Please find all downloadable campaign assets here and visit the website here, for more information.
Supporting Quotes
Richard Curtis
Writer, Director & UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocate
“It’s been a tough year on so many fronts - but I’m still delighted and cheered every day by the passion and action of so many businesses in support of the Global Goals. It’s such an interesting time, as well, as consumers expect more of businesses and increasingly support those fighting for sustainability and as more and more employees expect their firms to reflect their ethics and priorities. The World’s To Do List campaign, led by businesses, is a vivid reminder of what is needed, and how the Goals are a To-Do List we all must get done.”
Google.org
Jacquelline Fuller, President
"With the dramatic setback of the last 2 years we believe the Goals are even more important than ever. We have consistently advocated, alongside our friends in Project Everyone, that they represent the world’s best blueprint to combating issues across climate, inequality, health and poverty. We hope that this campaign will support even greater awareness of the most pressing To-Do List in the world; and that corporations, governments, individuals - all of us - will push even harder to make progress in these issues. "
Unilever
Rebecca Marmot, Chief Sustainability Officer
“The world faces enormous challenges, from runaway climate change to hunger and dire poverty. Interconnected issues that will not be solved unless we take collective action – across businesses, governments and civil society. The Global Goals give us a clear framework to help us tackle these challenges, and deliver a thriving planet and society by 2030. We are committed to playing our part, and are hopeful that we’ll collectively cross items off this critically important To-Do list.”
Mars, Incorporated
Barry Parkin, Chief Procurement & Sustainability Officer
“As we prepare for a future of more than ten billion people and more pets, urgent and wide-ranging action is needed if we are to prevent the ecological collapse of our oceans. Sourcing more sustainable fish and coral reef restoration are just two of the ways that Mars and its Petcare business are offering support towards SDG No. 14 – Life Below Water. As part of our collaboration with partners at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), we continue to pursue our goal of sourcing 100% fish from more sustainable sources, according to our guidelines, and our SHEBA® brand has started the world's largest coral restoration program with a commitment to restore more than 185,000 square meters of coral reefs around the world by 2029. It is important that we all lead by example in sacrificing our media and social channels to divert attention towards what really matters – because right now, we must take action on climate change to create a better world for people and pets.”
DPDgroup
Jean-Claude Sonet, EVP, Marketing, Communications and Sustainability
“Wherever you call home, we only have one Earth. That’s why we are committed to fighting climate change with each and every parcel we deliver. At DPDgroup, we recognize we’re part of the problem, but we are also in a unique position to help. Since 2012, we have been working every day on reducing our CO2 emissions per parcel. By 2025, we aim to cut them down by 30% and to deliver 80 million people in Europe with low-emission delivery means. Today, we’re proud to be one of the Business Avengers, to help tackle the climate change, to engage meaningful transitions and to inspire action.”
Reckitt
Laxman Narasimhan, CEO
“We are delighted to be supporting The World’s To-Do List. The most pressing global challenges, from climate change to widening health inequalities, will not be met in isolation but through collaboration to drive sustainable change. At Reckitt, we are committed to play our part to take action to tackle threats posed by climate change to people and planet. Our ambition is to reach half the world with products that contribute to a cleaner, healthier world by 2030, and to engage 2 billion people in programs, partnerships and campaigns to support the Sustainable Development Goals.”
Diageo Plc
Michael Alexander, Head of Environment
“Water is our most important ingredient, but is also a precious shared resource which is coming under increasing pressure in many parts of the world. The World’s To Do List provides an opportunity for us to highlight the importance of SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation for all to a global audience.”
Avanti Communications
Kyle Whitehill, CEO
“Businesses have a vital role to play in accelerating progress towards the UN Global Goals and we are proud to unite with other businesses to launch the ‘World’s To-Do List’ campaign. As part of our ‘To Do List’, we have partnered with the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) to help address barriers to girl’s education to support the achievement of Goal 4 – Quality Education.”
Wood
Robin Watson, CEO
“We are proud to support The World’s To-Do List campaign and to represent SDG 7, Affordable and Clean Energy. The targets that underpin this goal align with our business strategy and our vision of a better tomorrow. Decarbonisation, a rapid shift towards renewables, and smarter use of energy will all be important drivers in delivering a healthier, cleaner planet but, in some parts of the world, we also need to improve access to secure and affordable energy to support socio-economic development and a better quality of life.”
SAP
Vivek Bapat, Senior Vice President, Purpose and Sustainability Marketing
“Since the creation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, SAP has been dedicated to helping customers to achieve them. In 2019, we proudly became part of The Business Avengers to foster greater collaboration and innovation in an effort to accelerate progress towards the SDGs. At SAP, we have laid out a bold vision of ZERO waste, ZERO emissions, and ZERO inequality, which we call Chasing Zero. Through our business technology and solutions, we help organizations embed sustainability into their core processes and extend it across their business network of suppliers, consumers, investors, employees, and partners to scale impact for a better world.”
Karmarama
Ben Bilboul, CEO and Managing Director at Accenture Interactive
"Time is running out. If we're going to hit the UN's Goals by 2030 we need to shift from talking to doing. And enlist business to help us get there. The world's To Do list is a simple idea that everyone can get behind, and harnesses the power of business to help save the planet"
Notes to editor
About Project Everyone
Project Everyone is a not-for-profit creative communications agency co-founded by Richard Curtis, Kate Garvey and Gail Gallie. It creates campaigns and supports partners to raise awareness, inspire action and drive accountability for the Global Goals, because they are the best roadmap towards a better future for people and planet.
Project Everyone’s motto is ‘In order to make things happen, you have to make things’ - so that is exactly what they do! They ‘make’ advocacy campaigns, content, programmes and events - telling stories that help multiple sectors engage with the Goals.
This engagement from civil society, corporations, educators, philanthropists and activists will then in turn drive politicians to focus on achieving the Goals, and thus accelerate progress towards a green, just and equal world for all by 2030.
www.project-everyone.org / www.globalgoals.org
About Business Avengers
The Business Avengers comprise some of the world’s largest and most influential companies, all of which are committed to playing a significant role in achieving the Global Goals.
Each company has elected to be the ‘Business Avenger’ for one Goal, and to use their internal and external reach to communicate the importance of the Global Goals as a framework. Every one of our Business Avengers is actively seeking ways to innovate, collaborate and drive progress towards the Goals.
https://business.globalgoals.org/
About Karmarama, part of Accenture Interactive
Karmarama is the UK’s most progressive creative agency, now part of Accenture Interactive. Their services include advertising, direct and digital marketing, digital design and build, data and analytics, PR, social and innovation. The agency is known for its ability to blend creativity, digital and data, to help brands better engage with consumers. Or as Karmarama calls it, Connected Creativity.
It is one of the most effective creative agencies in the UK and has won the DMA Grand Prix for two successive years; in 2017, for its work for the British Army. It was again the highest ranked creative agency in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2020.
About Rouble Nagi Art Foundation
Rouble Nagi Art Foundation (RNAF) is a not-for-profit organization set up with the vision to make sure that all children get an education that helps them become caring, responsible and productive citizens. As a concrete step towards realizing this vision, RNAF has various programmes which aim at providing quality education for underprivileged children by introducing low cost and sustainable educational models.
https://www.roublenagiartfoundation.org/
About Arts Help
Founded on the principle of art making the world a better place, Arts Help is the #1 art publisher, with a community of 4 million members. As a nonprofit organization, Arts Help partners with large institutions to develop impactful projects and programming. We believe art is a vehicle for social change.
About The Global Education & Leadership Foundation
The Global Education & Leadership Foundation (tGELF) is a non- profit organization that seeks to identify and nurture leadership skills in individuals rooted in the values of ethics, altruism, and have a bias for action. tGELF was officially inaugurated in 2008 by Dr Manmohan Singh, the then Prime Minister of India. tELF Entrepreneurship Sports Generation (ESG) initiative is envisioned as a one-of-a-kind global movement that aims to make entrepreneurship the new heartbeat of the world. This movement focuses on advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by fostering conscious entrepreneurship.
