Economic Crisis Potent Reminder of Importance of Corporate Responsibility,

Says Secretary-General in Remarks to Seattle Business Leaders

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at a lunch with business leaders in Seattle, 26 October:

It’s a great honour for me to have the opportunity to engage with such distinguished business leaders and community leaders of this great city of Seattle.

I thank the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce for organizing this event.

I am pleased to be visiting this beautiful, important and dynamic city.

I have several purposes for visiting Seattle.  Firstly, this is part of my ongoing efforts to have some better appreciation of the United Nations among leading American people.

The United Nations is the baby of the United States.  Since the end of World War II, the United Nations has benefited and has been led by the US’s strong political and financial support during the last six decades.  But somehow, the understanding [of the United Nations] by the general American public has not been much favourable.  It may be our own responsibility, our own problem.

The United Nations, being composed of 192 countries, brings [together] all different spectrum and views, traditions and agendas.  It might not have been exactly what the US had hoped to have, and the US citizens may sometimes not have been happy with it.  But with my continuing effort, travelling to many different cities like this, I’m pleased to report to you that the general understanding of the UN by US citizens has gone up significantly.  In terms of figure, it has gone up to the 60^th percentile from the 40^th, sometimes 30^th, percentile.  That is a significant progress and I count on your strong, continuing support and cooperation and understanding of what the UN is doing.

I have also [brought] many other agendas.  Very real serious agendas which I want to talk with you are climate change and the Millennium Development Goals. This morning I had a very good discussion with Bill and Melinda Gates.  I am very encouraged to receive strong support from their foundation.  I have met with many young leaders, and I addressed the World Affairs Council of Seattle.  These are very important purposes for my visiting your beautiful city.

This region hosts many world-class companies that are deeply connected to the global economy.

Your location on the Pacific Rim also gives you a special relationship with Asia.  This is one of the gateways to the Asia-Pacific.  In that regard, you have such great diversity, living and working together many different people, including my [fellow countrymen].  I am very proud of that relationship.

Trans-Pacific trade is not just a source of jobs and goods.  It gives you a clear understanding of global trends and challenges.

We meet today as the global recession continues to cast a long shadow.  There has been much talk about “green shoots of recovery”.  But we at the United Nations still see red flags of warning.  Our recent report, “Voices of the Vulnerable”, highlights a new crisis.  An estimated 100 million people could fall below the poverty line this year.  Markets may be bouncing back, but incomes and jobs are not.

One cause of the economic crisis was a failure by individuals in key positions in the private sector and by policy-makers and oversight entities to fulfil key responsibilities.  We have seen food riots across the globe; popular anger at Wall Street; perceptions of unfair rules and a lack of ethics.  During the G-8 Summit meeting in L’Aquila last July, I addressed the group of leaders of the G-8 and some key African leaders.  I urged them to look and see all the anger and demonstrations around the world, protesting against Governments.  This is a demonstration of their frustration that the Government and leaders are not able to meet and address these crisis.  [I said to them:] “This crisis may directly come to your leadership crisis.  Before you see your own leadership in crisis, you must take action.  You must help those vulnerable people, the most vulnerable people who do not have any capacity to address this crisis.”  I have been appealing and have been giving some warnings to the leaders.

Such feelings are not new.  We all remember the protests 10 years ago in this very city on trade issues.

Today’s crisis is a potent reminder of the importance of corporate responsibility.  A growing number of businesses understand this.  The evidence lies in the growth of the UN Global Compact.

Launched just seven months after the Seattle protests, the Global Compact has grown into the world’s largest corporate responsibility initiative, with more than 7,000 corporate participants and stakeholders.

Several well-known Seattle-based companies are participants, including Microsoft, Starbucks and MTI Worldwide Logistics represented here today.  I had an opportunity to briefly meet with these representatives here.  I am grateful to them for showing this kind of leadership.

But some is not enough.  I encourage all of you to join.  This [Global Compact] has very important principles, 10 principles in which governs all aspects of our lives, including fair trading and transparency, accountability and human rights and labour-management relationship.

I urge you to embrace the Global Compact principles on human rights, labour standards and anti-corruption, and to lead on the environment and climate change.

Around the world, political and business leaders are coming to understand that climate change is the pre-eminent geopolitical and economic issue of our time.  More than 400 companies have signed on to the Global Compact’s Caring for Climate programme.

We know that failure to act on climate change will have devastating consequences.  But we also know that this crisis presents an opportunity to retool our global economy.

The Copenhagen Climate Change Conference is just six weeks away.  A successful agreement in Copenhagen can help to unleash a clean-energy revolution that will deliver economic growth and lower carbon emissions.

I am encouraged to know that the city of Seattle and you as business and civic leaders are helping to show the way forward.  I understand that the “Seattle Climate Action Now” initiative is helping to reduce emissions from homes, workplaces and roads.  I am told that many of you have begun to shift to low-carbon solutions in how you operate and in the products and services you offer.  I look forward to more such progress.

Governments alone cannot solve the problem.  Governments draft their policies and they negotiate.  But [it cannot be done] without the strong support of the business communities, and it is up to you all, business leaders who implement climate-related and environment-related policies.

Through your investments for green economy and green growth, through your investments in innovative technology -- it is not Government, it is you.  And you have to lead this campaign, by leading by example.  That is what I ask of you today, to take part in this process.

You may think that this investment is too expensive today, to make your business operations in a greener, cleaner economy.  But inaction today, investments which you may save today, may inevitably cost you much more later.  When it is too late, the cost will be much more than money, much more than you can ever imagine.  So please invest for a green economy today before it is too late.

The climate crisis demands collective action -- action that unites the public sector, the private sector and civil society.  Let us work together for a sustainable and inclusive global economy.  I count on your leadership and strong commitment to make this planet Earth a more hospitable and environmentally sustainable one.  And that you can make, together with the United Nations.

Thank you very much.

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*     Reissued to reflect text as delivered.

For information media • not an official record