Taking action to create the world we want: Hatch announces participation in one of the United Nations Global Compact inaugural programs
September 24, 2019
Hatch is excited to announce that a team of its young professionals has been selected to participate in the inaugural Young SDG Innovators Program, an initiative of the United Nation’s (UN) Global Compact. This elite program engages young professionals in a ten-month program to advance sustainability efforts, drive innovation, and create solutions that challenge the status quo. Participating teams represent a wide range of industries and have been selected for their novel ideas on how to progress any one of the UN Global Compact’s Ten Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Hatch team will work closely with the faculty and staff from the Thunderbird School of Global Management to integrate innovative management mechanisms to achieve the SDGs.
The UN Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption, and to take action in support of universal goals embodied in the SDGs.
The Hatch team participating in the Young SDG Innovators program has proposed to complete a project that examines energy security for remote Indigenous communities throughout Canada. There are 270 Indigenous communities in Canada that are not connected to the power grid and 72 percent of these communities depend on diesel or fuel oil as their only source of power, which must be brought in by winter road or barge. Diesel and fuel oil are expensive and unreliable, and do not provide an adequate energy source for expanded economic growth. Hatch’s team, comprised of specialists in Indigenous Engagement, Energy, and Sustainability Management, will work with experts from across the company to develop a comprehensive and integrated plan that could bring sustainable power to these communities. As innovators and experts in the topic of microgrid technologies, power generation, and transmission, Hatch’s team is well-positioned to tackle this ongoing Canadian challange and make significant progress in addressing it.
As part of the company’s broader commitment to the United Nations Global Compact SDGs, Hatch will continue to review collaborative opportunities to affect change, such as New York University’s Invest NYC SDG Project led our of the Centre for Sustainable Business at the Stern School of Business. With a history of successful project delivery throughout the globe, including our work on the recently completed Port of New York and New Jersey Master Plan, Hatch will provide ongoing advisory services to such initiatives in support of assessing targets for potential financing opportunities.
Hatch chairman and CEO, John Bianchini, will visit the UN Headquarters for the UN Climate Action Summit 2019 this week to support Hatch’s commitment to sustainable development and positive change. The summit―which seeks to achieve action on addressing sustainable development issues, including climate change― is hosted by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and attended by UN officials, world leaders, top business executives, and young entrepreneurs who all recognize the need for strong climate leadership. It is an opportunity for leaders from different corners of the world to work together to develop practical solutions to achieve an equitable, low carbon, and sustainable world.
“We are committed to integrating the UN Global Compact and its principles as part of our strategy and culture at Hatch. Our commitment includes engaging in collaborative projects that advance the broader sustainable development goals of the United Nations. Our manifesto, which highlights our commitment to the pursuit of a better world through positive change, is aligned with the Ten Principles and Sustainable Development Goals,” said John Bianchini, Hatch’s chairman and CEO.
