Global Compact NL
Bestuur & Management
SDG Ambition programma
How European SMEs can Contribute to a Green Recovery
Organized by the United Nations Global Compact, Rabobank, and Global Compact Local Networks in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, How European SMEs can Contribute to a Green Recovery will bring together a diverse group of European SMEs to catalyze engagement with the Business Ambition for 1.5C campaign, and use the new streamlined route for small- and medium-sized businesses by SBTi to set science-based climate targets.
Twenty years ago, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan founded the United Nations Global Compact to promote shared values and principles to give a human face to the global market. Now SMEs are increasingly called to join efforts with the UN Global Compact on the issue of climate change. As countries work on economic aid and recovery packages in response to COVID-19, and as they prepare to submit enhanced national climate plans under the Paris Agreement, we are calling on European SMEs to contribute to a Green Recovery. The EU aims to be climate neutral by 2050. This is an opportunity to discuss what restructuring the economy means.
11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. CEST
Steve Kenzie - Moderator
Executive Director of Global Compact Network UK
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Sanda Ojiambo
Executive Director of United Nations Global Compact
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Wiebe Draijer
Chairman of the Executive Board of Rabobank Nederland
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Linda van Beek
Executive Director at Global Compact Network Netherlands
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Alexander Farsan
Global Lead Science Based Targets at WWF
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Mark Cuddigan
CEO of Ella's Kitchen and Head of Sustainability for Hain Celestial
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Erwin Cootjans
CEO of NUNNER Logistics
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11 a.m. – 11:05 a.m. CEST
Moderator: Mr. Steve Kenzie, Executive Diretor of GCUK
11:05 a.m. – 11:20 a.m. CEST
Keynote on the Role of Business in Combatting Climate Change
Mr. Wiebe Draijer, CEO Rabobank
The Why & How of Setting Science-Based Targets for SMEs
Mr. Alexander Farsan, Global Lead Science Based Targets, WWF
Engage with the Business Ambition for 1.5C Campaign
Ms. Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact
Your Invitation for Making Global Goals Local Business 2021 Conference
Ms. Linda van Beek, Executive Director, Global Compact Network Netherlands
11:55 a.m. – 12:05 p.m. CEST
Examples of European SMEs Stepping Up
Mr. Mark Cuddigan, CEO at Ella's Kitchen and Head of Sustainability at Hain Celestial
Mr. Erwin Cootjans, CEO at NUNNER Logistics
12:05 p.m. – 12:15 p.m. CEST Q&A
12:15 p.m. – 12:20 p.m. CEST
Moderator: Mr. Steve Kenzie, Executive Director GCUK
Moderator: Mr. Steve Kenzie, Executive Director of GCUK
Mr. Wiebe Draijer, CEO at Rabobank
Mr. Alexander Farsan, Global Lead Science Based Targets at WWF
Ms. Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and Executive Director at United Nations Global Compact
Ms. Linda van Beek, Executive Director at Global Compact Network Netherlands
Moderator: Mr. Steve Kenzie, Executive Director at GCUK
CEO at NUNNER Logistics
Erwin Cootjans is the CEO and majority shareholder of NUNNER Logistics, having its headquater in Helmond, NL. He is also the majority shareholder of Caroz Coordination Centre (4PL). After his study at Nyenrode, Cootjans worked in several multinational companies before he landed in Austria as an employee of NUNNER Logistics in the nineties of the last century. In the years after he became shareholder in NUNNER Logistics and as of 2014 he took over all the shares of the group. Nowadays NUNNER Logistics is a group with more than 30 offices in Europe and 6 in China. Cootjans' vision is to work to a zero carbon emission logistic solution for its customers.
CEO at Ella's Kitchen and Head of Sustainability at Hain Celestial
Mark joined Ella's Kitchen in August 2011, drawn to a company whose founding mission is to improve children's lives through developing healthy relationships with food. This purpose permeated throughout the business and continues to be a guiding principle today.
Mark is a passionate advocate of business being used as a force for good and through his leadership at Ella's, he exemplifies how a business can be both profitable and purposeful.
In February 2016 Ella's Kitchen certified as a B Corporation, becoming only the second company to do so whilst part of a PLC. The first being Ben & Jerry's at Unilever.
Mark is a member of the B Lab board, a UK registered charity that supports certified B Corps in the UK – businesses that give equal standing to people, planet and profit. A demonstrative example of this is that Ella's have committed to becoming net zero by 2030.
Ella's Kitchen was acquired by The Hain Celestial Group Inc. in May 2013, and since then the turnover of Ella's has grown from £41m to over £70m.
Ella's Kitchen caught the zeitgeist of our times and has really connected with parents and most importantly kids. The brand is now sold in over 33 countries; every second of every day someone, somewhere around the world, eats an Ella's Kitchen product.
Linda van Beek (1980, Breda) has managed the secretariat of Global Compact Network Netherlands since 2019. Global Compact Network Netherlands strives to mobilise a local movement of sustainable companies and stakeholders with the aim of improving the lives of future generations. Guided by the 10 UNGC Principles and the 17 SDGs the GCNL team supports companies and stakeholders in in what responsible business means and provide guidance to translate these commitments into action. Linda is also advisor SDGs and Social Responsibility to the Netherlands Employers Federation VNO-NCW and small-medium enterprises association MKB Nederland. Besides that she is member of the Supervisory Board of INOS (Foundation for Catholic Education Breda).
Linda was previously director international trade at VNO-NCW and MKB Nederland and advisor European Affairs at the Brussels office of these business associations. Prior to joining VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland she has been Political Advisor to the Minister of International Trade and Policy Advisor to a Member of the European Parliament. From 2010-2014 she was a member of the City Council of Breda.
Linda has studied International and European Law at Tilburg University. She is married and has three children.
Wiebe Draijer (1965, Enschede) has been appointed Chairman of the Rabobank Group Management Board with effect from 1 October 2014.
He studied mechanical engineering in Delft and obtained an MBA from the INSEAD Business School in 1992. From 1990 to 2003 he worked as a consultant at consultancy firm McKinsey, after which he was appointed managing partner for the Netherlands in 2004 and managing partner for the Benelux in 2006. On 1 September 2012 he was appointed chairman of the Social and Economic Council in the Netherlands.
Wiebe Draijer is also a member of the Cyber Security Council (CSR), member of the Supervisory Board of the Dutch Forestry Commission, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of KWF Kankerbestrijding, member of the board of the National Cooperative Council (NCR), member of the board of the Dutch Banking Association (NVB), member of the Paleiscommissie Stichting Koninklijk Paleis Amsterdam and member of the Executive Committee World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
Wiebe is married and has four children.
Sanda Ojiambo is the Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact. Launched in July 2000, the United Nations Global Compact is the Secretary‑General's strategic policy and advocacy initiative calling for the alignment of business operations and strategies with 10 universal principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. It also motivates companies to integrate the SDGs into their core business strategies and operations.
With more than 10,000 corporate participants and other stakeholders from over 160 countries engaged through 68 country networks, the Compact is the largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative in the world. Endorsed by chief executive officers, it is a practical framework for the development, implementation and disclosure of sustainability policies and practices, committing businesses to sustainability and shared responsibility for achieving a better world.
Ms. Ojiambo brings 20 years of experience to lead the UN Global Compact. She has served as Head of Sustainable Business and Social Impact, Safaricom Plc, Kenya since 2010. Ms. Ojiambo was also the Senior Manager of Safaricom and MPESA Foundations, Kenya from 2008 to 2010, during which she led the implementation of several public-private partnership initiatives between Safaricom and UN organizations.
Throughout her career, she has cultivated and managed relationships with key business entities and civil society organizations, including her capacity development work in Somalia with UNDP and CARE International.
Ms. Ojiambo holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota, USA, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and International Development from McGill University, Canada.
Steve Kenzie
Steve has managed the Secretariat of the UN Global Compact Network UK since 2008, connecting UK companies and other organisations in a global movement dedicated to driving corporate sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals. He also Chairs UNGC's Global Network Council and sits on the UN Global Compact Board.
He was previously a Programme Director at the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) leading projects across a wide range of responsible business issue areas. Prior to joining IBLF, Steve was the founder and Managing Director of a successful retail sports equipment business in Canada.
He has a B.Comm from the University of British Columbia and an MSc in Business & Environment from Imperial College London.
Global Lead Science Targets at WWF
Alex co-leads the Science Based Targets initiative, the world's largest business initiative on climate, as WWF's representative on its Steering Committee. He is also part of the Leadership Team of WWF's global Climate and Energy Practice.
Prior to joining WWF, Alex worked in consulting and business development roles with the Carbon Trust, advising businesses from SMEs to global industry leaders in different parts of the world and across a broad range of sectors.