Salesforce has announced during its Dreamforce 2019 event, held at the end of November, the company’s continued commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals with $17 million dollars in grants and a pledge of one million employee volunteer hours over the next year.
Salesforce, which is the global leader in CRM, is committed to achieving Goals 4: Quality Education; 5: Gender Equality; 7: Affordable and Clean Energy; 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth; 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities; and 13: Climate Action.
Furthermore, over the next year, Salesforce will invest $17 million to advance the SDGs through grants to nonprofit partners and volunteer one million hours to support the SDGs.
Employees will be encouraged to use their volunteer time off (VTO) to volunteer at a school, plant trees or share their technical expertise with nonprofits through Salesforce’s Pro Bono Program
Salesforce has also joined the United Nations Global Compact, signed the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles and the company’s emissions reductions targets were approved by the Science Based Targets initiative.
Regarding the United Nations Global Compact initiative, which is a voluntary global leadership platform with ten universally accepted principles for companies to align on the development, implementation, and disclosure of responsible business practices, Salesforce is committed to making the principles of the UN Global Compact part of its strategy, culture and day-to-day operations.
Salesforce has also committed to the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles, which sets seven principles that emphasize the business case for corporate action to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. Women’s empowerment is a critical pillar of global sustainability and imperative to building an inclusive economy.
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Salesforce, along with a coalition of business, civil society, and UN leaders, committed to set 1.5°C science-based emissions reduction targets, the ambitious goal needed to prevent the damaging effects of climate change. The Science Based Targets initiative has approved Salesforce’s emissions reduction targets — advancing Salesforce’s commitment to creating a sustainable, low-carbon future and economy.
Through interactive experiences at Dreamforce, attendees were able to better understand the SDGs and their personal impact. By completing stops onsite through the interactive Quest, a campus-wide experience, attendees were able to collectively unlock $1 million that Salesforce will donate to three organizations focused on advancing the SDGs: UN Women, United Nations Foundation and World’s Largest Lesson in partnership with UNICEF.
More than 200 students from San Francisco Unified School District, Oakland Unified School District and other Bay Area partners have participated in hands-on STEM education focused on the SDGs, including 3D printing. To support workforce development, more than 400 young adults from Bay Area partners including Year Up, Genesys Works, Braven and more participated in the Future Executive Summit, a curated experience focused on career exposure, network-building and civic and social engagement.
“This year we’re bringing our commitment to the SDGs to life at Dreamforce and encouraging all of our attendees to take meaningful action,” said Suzanne DiBianca, chief impact officer and EVP of corporate relations, Salesforce. She added: “Together, we can push further and faster to effectively address the world’s most pressing challenges.”
Christiana Figueres, Former Executive Secretary of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), also added:
“Climate change focuses on the most crucial issue of our time, one that impacts not only each of the 17 SDGs, but every individual life on Earth, I am proud of the work we have done with Salesforce to address climate change, and urge every company and every individual to scale up their actions because we can move forward faster, together.”
Her endorsement of Salesforce matters. Christiana Figueres, a Costa Rican diplomat and graduate of the London School of Economics, is a major figure in UN climate change negotiations and since 2008 she has collaborated actively with private sector companies that align themselves with climate friendly goals. A negotiator for her government at the UN Convention on Climate Change 1995–2010, she had provided a critical input in 1997 for achieving developing country support and approval of the Kyoto Protocol and getting the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) reformed in 2007. She was appointed to UNFCCC in July 2010, six months after the failed COP15 in Copenhagen. Over the next six years she dedicated herself to rebuilding the global climate change negotiating process, a clear success since it led to the historic 2015 Paris Agreement.
Note the date for next year’s Dreamforce event: November 9-12, 2020.
