As one of seven German UN Global Compact LEAD companies - an association of international companies promoting social action - Deutsche Telekom played host to the second LEAD Symposium. The Global Compact LEAD Symposium takes place every six months in a different location each time. The event was held at Telekom’s Berlin Representative Office.
“We are delighted we were able to make a special contribution to cementing the global LEAD network in our role as host. We had the opportunity to discuss issues such as environmental protection and sustainable consumption together with company representatives from 17 countries, and to provide impetus for more firmly anchoring these issues in companies,” said Birgit Klesper, head of Corporate Responsibility at Deutsche Telekom.
Some 60 participants from the international LEAD companies took part. Stephen Dubner, author of the bestselling book “Freakonomics,” talked on the challenges and difficulties of changing behaviors, and Board of Management member Thomas Sattelberger also gave one of the keynote speeches. He spoke not only about the urgency for compliance with the ten principles of the Global Compact, but also raised questions about the relationship between the Global Compact, companies and globalization.
DTAG has been a co-founder and participant of the UN Global Compact since the end of July 2000. It also co-founded the LEAD initiative. This new platform for corporate sustainability leadership was officially introduced in January 2011. The Global Compact Office invited particularly active members of the UN Global Compact to participate in this new leadership platform. Global Compact LEAD is comprised of 56 multinational companies from different industries and regions. The aim of the platform is to make further advances in environmental, social and governance issues and to set new benchmarks for CR.