Think Small, Act Global: What The UNGC Can Teach The World About Sustainable Business

The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) presented the final session of its 2025 Sustainable Suppliers Training Programme to a truly global audience on June 25^th. As the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, the UNGC saw representatives from 80+ countries engaging with its programme, which kicked off in March this year.

Comprised of live sessions and a dedicated training platform, the programme is split into four modules:

• An overview of corporate sustainability
• The role of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
• The 10 principles of the UNGC
• Sustainability reporting
  
  

From the importance of communication to a holistic approach to sustainability, here’s what businesses should take away from the programme:

• Sustainability should be attainable for all firms.
  Sustainability is often perceived as complex, with initiatives tailored for the world’s largest organizations. However, the UNGC demonstrates that help is available for smaller firms – particularly for start-ups and SMEs unsure of where to begin, and without hefty budgets for compliance and consultancy fees. Furthermore, Verdantix research identifies that while proposed compliance burdens are reducing for smaller organizations, the value creation opportunities and benefits of resilience remain significant, particularly in the development of robust supply chains.
  

• Communication is key to integrating sustainability into business.
  Verdantix has been championing the benefits of engaging stakeholders in conversations about sustainability for a number of years. Growing buyer – and consumer – demand is further emphasizing the need for transparent and reliable data, which can only be provided once firms engage with these conversations, assess their sustainability priorities and align these to their business values (see our upcoming report, Market Trends: Sustainable Products – From Product Design To Re-Use).
  
  
• Sustainability goes beyond a firm’s environmental impact.
  According to the UNGC, over 80% of SME signatories to the UNGC have committed to delivering on their SDGs. Notably, many firms prioritize SDGs relating to health and wellbeing, gender equality, decent work, and economic growth, as well as climate action (SDGs 3, 5, 8 and 13). Integrating sustainability, and prioritizing sustainable agendas beyond solely environmental impact, can have a significant and positive impact on an organization’s employees, the value propositions it can offer, and its ability to manage setbacks, attract investment and ensure reliable returns (see Global Corporate Survey 2025: Supply Chain Sustainability Analysis).

Why should you take notice?
Firms are under growing pressure from regulators, customers and internal stakeholders to consider and demonstrate their sustainability credentials. The UNGC highlights how plan formulation is key to helping organizations align internal commitments and assess existing baselines to enable greater coordination between internal and external stakeholders.

Organizations seeking to mitigate risk and maximize opportunity are those that engage with sustainability as transparently and comprehensively as possible. Whether preparing for expected regulatory compliance, ensuring business resilience or attracting new investment, sustainability is a necessary conversation for suppliers – and one that holds significant value creation opportunities.

The UNGC Sustainable Suppliers Training Programme is a valuable resource for organizations looking to kickstart their sustainability journeys, or to develop existing strategies further. To learn more about the UNGC and the course, click here: Sustainable Suppliers Training Programme.