G&A Institute Supports The Global Sourcing Council's "17 Weeks / 17 SDGs Initiative"

NEW YORK, January 26, 2016 /3BL Media/ – Governance & Accountability Institute announces its support of the Global Sourcing Council's "17 Weeks / 17 SDGs Initiative," developed by GSC in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were adopted by all 193 countries at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015. 

G&A Institute, in the spirit of SDG 17 on "Partnerships For The Goals," will help to communicate GSC's message of education and inspiration through its distribution channels, clients, and partnerships. 

"The SDGs provide a framework for assisting our corporate clients in aligning with global policy goals and gaining competitive advantages, including increased innovation, entry to new markets, social and actual license to operate, development of new solutions, and favorable global public policies including tax incentives and preferable government and private procurement positioning, and to attract investment from the exponentially growing Sustainable and Impact investing movement." said Louis D. Coppola, GSC Board Member and Co-Founder of The Governance & Accountability Institute.

GSC’s 17 Weeks / 17 SDGs Initiative will work to educate and inspire the global community about the business case for aligning sourcing and supply chains with the 17 important global goals.   This Initiative provides supporters a global platform over the course of 17 weeks to demonstrate their leadership activities around the SDGs in their sourcing and supply chains.

"We are pleased to welcome G&A's support of Goal 17 on Partnership For The Goals, and we invite all companies to join our initiative in the spirit of Goal 17," said Dr. Wanda R. Lopuch, the Chairman of the GSC Council. "This will help companies to demonstrate their experiences, commitments, goals, best practices and stories by becoming an annual member of GSC and sponsoring one or more SDGs that align with their business strategy."

The “business case” for the SDGs also includes: unlocking trapped value in emerging and frontier markets; inspiring employees, clients and communities with the broader vision of the Goals; and strengthening brand equity by taking leadership in sustainable development.

G&A Institute Chairman & Senior Strategist Hank Boerner noted: "The SDGs are a critical concept for corporate boards of directors and senior executives to consider in their corporate governance processes.  This includes defining, measuring and managing material ESG risk issues, setting important ESG goals for the company, engaging with investors and other stakeholders, and making critical resource allocation decisions over the next 15-plus years."

G&A's database on sustainability reporting shows that a growing number of large-cap companies have already announced commitments on one or more of the SDGs. G&A’s database is enhanced in part through the activities of its pro-bono Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) data partner in the United States, United Kingdom, and The Republic of Ireland.

Through our discussions with clients and partner organizations G&A has developed tools and methodologies to help leading sustainable businesses maximize early strategic alignments with these important sustainability goals for 2030.

For more information on joining The GSC 17 Weeks / 17 SDGs Initiative: http://gscouncil.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/GSCouncil-Flyer_12-10FINAL.pdf

About Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc.
Founded in 2006, Governance & Accountability Institute is a sustainability consulting firm headquartered in New York City, assisting corporations in executing winning strategies that maximize return on investment at every step of their sustainability journey. The G&A team helps corporate and investment community clients recognize, understand and address sustainability issues to address stakeholder and shareholder concerns.

G&A Institute is the exclusive Data Partner for the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in the USA, UK and Republic of Ireland. A G&A team of six or more perform this pro bono work on behalf of GRI. In 2014, they analyzed more than 1,200 sustainability reports in this role and databased more than 100 important data points related to each report.

G&A’s sustainability-focused services and resources include: counseling & strategies for the corporate sustainability journey; sustainability reporting assistance; thorough materiality assessments; stakeholder engagement; benchmarking; enhancing investor relations; sustainability communications; manager coaching, team building and training; issues monitoring & customized research; advice on third party awards and recognitions.  Visit G&A at www.ga-institute.com

About Global Sourcing Council
The Global Sourcing Council (GSC) is a voluntary, public-private initiative, registered with the USA IRS as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. GSC is focused on sustainable, socially responsible sourcing practices. By bringing together businesses, industry organizations, academics and trade representatives of different countries, the GSC provides an open forum for discussion of social, economic and political effects of global sourcing arrangements.

About Sustainable Development Goals
The SDGs – part of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – build on the previous eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which ended after 15 years in December 2015. The new goals represent an unprecedented opportunity to bring the countries, business entities and citizens of the world together to embark on new paths to improve the lives of people everywhere. They will also reshape the practice of development globally, including the role of the private sector. Many companies and institutions are aligning their operations with numerous SDGs and establishing 2030 goals and interim objectives.

For more information, contact Louis Coppola at +1.646.430.8230 ext 14, or email louis.coppola@gscouncil.org, or Wanda Lopuch at +1.631.398.3366, or email wanda.lopuch@gscouncil.org