Applus+ joins the UN fight to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and bring about a safer and better world

The means to achieve this will be multilateral cooperation, partnerships and the integration, monitoring and management of sustainability metrics across all business processes. The initiative seamlessly fits Applus+’s culture and values and its very purpose: help make the world a safer place. 

By signing this document, Applus+ recognises that peace, justice and strong institutions are beneficial to its long-term viability. The company’s purpose and vocation for the future is to continue using its influence as a positive agent of change in local communities and across the globe, steering the world onto a more equitable, inclusive and sustainable path. That is what drives the company to follow its main principle and go beyond standards. 

The world is in the midst of an unprecedented situation. In addition to the Coronavirus pandemic and its resulting economic uncertainty, new challenges like climate change, social inequality and disinformation make it more important than ever to unite forces. International cooperation and a courageous and empathetic leadership have become crucial for the future of humankind. This year marks the beginning of the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the UN calls on business, political and civil leaders to discuss and commit to the SDGs. Spanish companies head the list of adherents to this initiative, 17% of the total, with 183 CEOs as signatories.

Applus+ is a global leader in its sector –testing, inspection and certification- and understands that nobody flourishes in a failed world. Public trust in leadership, severely eroded in the last decade, will be earned back only through accountability, strong ethics, inclusion and transparency. That is the only way toward a sustainable and rich future for all. Given the nature of its activities, Applus+’s corporate values are based on environmental responsibility, sustainability and safety. Additionally, transparency and integrity are the backbone of a certification body, which is why the company has a CSR Committee to ensure that it lives by its values.

As a multinational present in over 70 countries and five continents, diversity is in Applus+’s DNA. It is a company that builds bridges, shaped on the belief that collaboration between people with diverse ideologies, cultures and backgrounds is not only possible but enriching, a key concept to bring the world together. Several programmes and initiatives promote inclusion and diversity within the corporation, among them Without Limits, a plan to integrate people with mental disabilities in the workforce that has been recognised by the UN Global Compact. Cooperation is itself part of the Applus+ motto: Together, beyond standards. 

In this spirit, Applus+ has committed to an equal future and has become one of the few listed companies in Spain with 30% female members in the Board of Directors. It watches over gender equality through specific councils and several initiatives to promote an inclusive, respectful and positive work environment in which everybody can thrive. The company treasures its local talent, which makes it capable of acting on a global and local scale, the only way to ensure that nobody gets left behind, since global challenges often require local solutions. 

“A Statement from Business Leaders for Renewed Global Cooperation” is also the main theme of a UN special event called Uniting Business LIVE held between September 21st and 23rd, an immersive digital experience with over 10,000 chief executives, corporate leaders, policymakers and representatives from across the globe.