"Sustainable business is smart business: RBF 2016", 15 Nov 2016

[T]he Responsible Business Forum on Sustainable Development returns to Singapore with a challenge to the private sector: How to reduce poverty, raise living standards and protect the environment?  Happening from Nov 22 to 24 at the Marina Bay Sands, this business forum is the United Nations Development Programme’s first in Asia dedicated to discussing the SDGs.  The global goals refer to none other than the SDGs, a set of goals drawn up by the United Nations (UN) as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and adopted in September last year as a successor to the Millennium Development Goals.  They outline 17 focus areas to work on in order to achieve the outcomes of ending poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring prosperity for all people...On the role that businesses can play in achieving social objectives and the business case for sustainability, Tony Gourlay, CEO of Global Initiatives, the firm behind the Responsible Business Forum, said: “Today, a smart business model is a sustainable one. Companies that practice sustainably are not only better positioned to respond to the economic, social, environmental and regulatory shifts we are experiencing, but their investors also benefit from higher returns.”...