On Wednesday, November 19, Barcelona-Catalunya Centre Logístic (BCL) organized a conference at the headquarters of the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona to discuss the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Under the title ‘Allies for Sustainability: Logistics as an Engine for Change’, the session served to gather the opinions of different professionals on the implementation of the SDGs. The event was inaugurated by Pere Navarro, delegate of the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona and vice president of BCL, and Ester Pujol, director of the Area of Social and Economic Development of the AMB.
Pere Navarro emphasized that most companies “are already born with the SDGs as standard” because they are very clear that “their economic development is linked to their sustainable development.” It is for this reason that organizations “have short or medium-term plans to comply with the SDGs.” For her part, Ester Pujol referred to an initiative that the AMB is deploying, which consists of a “territorial mapping of the metropolitan economic sectors, both emerging, priority, and traditional ones, which need levers for modernization” and among these is the logistics sector because “it is a strategic sector.” In this sense, and for all companies, regardless of their sector, “there are a series of common levers that are related to the SDGs such as decarbonization, digitalization, AI, robotization, strategic and industrial autonomy, and the implementation of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) plans.” She added that it has been studied that companies that commit to economic, social, and environmental sustainability “can grow up to 30%.” For this reason, having a 360-degree view on the SDGs “is a key issue” but one that “requires public-private collaboration.”
Following the welcome, Mónica Jiménez, president of the BCL SDG Commission and CEO of Tm2, explained BCL’s roadmap for promoting the SDGs throughout this year and the next, with concrete actions in SDGs 4 (Quality Education), 5 (Gender Equality), 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), 10 (Reduced Inequalities), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), 13 (Climate Action) and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). “We want a logistics sector that commits to talent and takes care of it, that fights for equality and that supports and empowers SMEs,” stated Mónica Jiménez. But to achieve this, “we need to build alliances across the entire ecosystem,” involving both private companies and public administrations.
Sustainable, Digital, and Fair
Next, Isabel Roser, Local Corporate Development Coordinator of the UN Global Compact Spain, addressed the SDGs as a key challenge for today’s society because “if we want to have a future we must be sustainable, digital, and fair.” She added that committing to sustainability “is a key aspect of business management, of decision-making that generates trust and reputation and, also, of leadership.” In this sense, she highlighted that from the Global Compact “we have verified that companies that integrate sustainability are, in the long term, more competitive and resilient.”
For this reason, Isabel Roser argued that “it is necessary to think long-term” in the implementation of the SDGs in order to learn to “manage risks and take advantage of opportunities to generate positive impacts for society; since the business future will be with sustainable competitiveness”.
Next, Ángel Tarriño, coordinator of the Observatory of VET of the Fundació BCN Formació Professional, referred to quality education, presenting the FP Dual Accelerator, which the AMB has launched. It is a tool that functions as a ‘single window’, connecting companies and training centers to simplify and accelerate the intermediation process between them. In the accelerator, companies can find talent trained in Dual VET according to their needs “in an easy, fast, online, bureaucracy-free and cost-free way,” highlighted Ángel Tarriño. The FP Dual accelerator optimizes the flow of supply and demand for student profiles, reducing the time and cost that companies spend looking for apprentices. For the moment, the tool is in the pilot implementation phase for some municipalities of the Llobregat Delta.
