GCC Global Leaders of Change – COP 21

23/08/2016 | by Eco-Age

Eco-Age launched its inaugural GCC^® Global Leaders of Change Awards, recognising transformational business leadership in ethical and sustainable development, during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris in December 2015. The awards dinner, hosted by Eco-Age, with Colin and Livia Firth, celebrated businesses, their inspirational leaders and the example they set of the highest corporate standards for ethical and sustainable values.

Eco-Age recognised that business has a vital role to play in addressing the biggest challenges of today – the very ones that were being discussed at COP21, including environmental and social justice, which are all linked by the brands and businesses we all interact with every day. The 2015 inaugural “GCC^® Global Leaders of Change” Honourees were:

Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever

Unilever under the leadership of Paul Polman, has launched the market-leading Sustainable Living Plan and the first-of-its-kind Human Rights Report, which highlight Unilever’s goal not only to respect human rights but to actively advance them across all areas of its global business.

Marc Bolland, Former Chief Executive, Marks & Spencer

Marks & Spencer under the leadership of Marc Bolland, has trail-blazed the innovative Plan A programme to help protect the planet by sourcing responsibly, reducing waste and helping communities. Plan A was launched in 2007 but M&S has recently introduced Plan A 2020 which consists of 100 new revised and existing commitments with the ultimate goal of becoming the world’s most sustainable retailer.

François-Henri Pinault, Chairman And Ceo, Kering

Kering under the leadership of François-Henri Pinault, has been championing sustainable and ethical values for many years, giving them clear leadership in the luxury sector, and has recently launched the transformational and pioneering Environmental Profit & Loss Account (EP&L) and open sourced it to encourage integration of the value of nature into business.

Caroline Scheufele, Artistic Director And Co-President, Chopard

Chopard, under the leadership of Caroline Scheufele, has launched the transformational Journey to Sustainable Luxury which has set a global example for the ethical sourcing of raw materials in the complex mining industry. In 2013, they forged a strategic relationship with ARM (The Alliance for Responsible Mining) to source certified Fairmined gold and to mentor artisanal mining communities in Colombia and Bolivia to help the indigenous local communities transform their lives.