Progress report for
Association for Supporting the SDGs for the United Nations
Achievement at a glance
The Association for Supporting the SDGs for the UN (ASD) cooperates with the United Nations Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD) and the United Nations Project Office on Governance (UNPOG) for the expansion and implementation of the SDGs. Nations Messenger of Peace, Malala Yousafzai agreed to collaborate with ASD in the Global initiatives to promote SDGs in March 2018. Furthermore, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development and Chief Economist, Elliot Harris stated that ASD has significantly contributed to the work of the United Nations and that he strongly endorses its activities on SDGs promotion.Beneficiaries
The ASD has built partnerships with enterprises in different sectors; for example: groceries (food), fashion, finance, semiconductors, and information and communications technology (ICT). Key partners are CJ CheilJedang (one of Asia’s largest bio-food corporations); UNIQLO Co. Ltd. and The Handsome (fashion corporations); SK Hynix (the world’s largest semiconductor corporation); HSBC (a global financial enterprise); KT (a global telecommunication corporation); Hyundai Department Store and Hyundai Home Shopping; Hyundai Green Food Co. Ltd.; Hyundai Livart (a major furniture company in South Korea); CJ Olive Young Corporation (health and beauty); CJ Logistics; Everdigm (construction company), BukangTech Co. Ltd.; and Hansot (a takeout lunch company). Some of the partnership results are elaborated on in the next section.
Actions
Hyundai Department Store has drastically cut down plastic wrapping and packaging, providing biodegradable bags as delivery alternatives. Hyundai Home Shopping, meanwhile, replaced delivery boxes with ‘finger boxes’ composed of paper which can be assembled by hands.In partnership with the two fashion corporations UNIQLO and Handsome, ASD initiated small eco- friendly changes concerning the type of fabric material and the amount of water used in the production process. For instance, Handsome has presented sneakers made out of apple peels, and UNIQLO is in the process of removing plastic materials from all their clothing and reducing the amount of water used in their washing process. Both have paid more attention to using smaller proportions of cotton in their clothes production, and, include eco-friendly materials such as EcoVero (a more sustainably produced viscose) or TENCEL-lyocell (a natural fiber).
KT (Korea Telecom), as one of the most active partners of ASD’s campaigns, initiated a “tree planting” marathon. As a result of which, one tree per kilometer ran by a participating employee was donated. As such, the campaign successfully planted 30 thousand trees in an abandoned wasteland for environmental purification.
With CJ Logistics (a global logistic corporation), ASD initiated a public campaign printing an eco-friendly message on 1.22 billion parcel box invoices, which is the average number of invoices used annually. The dissemination of this message raised awareness on the dire impacts of climate change.