We are living a historical moment of great changes and uncertainties: ecological transition, pandemic crisis, and sustainable social and economic development, represent the context within which each one of us grows, works, trains and learns. We are in what appear to be unprecedented times. But if we go back a few decades, we can find another age of deep transformation and evolution: the end of the Second World War and the birth of the United Nations.
The birth of the World Organisation and the role of the United Nations
In 1945, as the Second World War was reaching an end, nations were in ruins and the world wanted peace. Therefore, the representatives of 50 countries gathered in San Francisco, for a conference that led to the drafting of the UN Charter. The United Nation Charter came into force four months later, on 24 October 1945, and the United Nations officially began its activities.
At the time of its foundation, the United Nations had 51 member states. The number has kept growing during the years, and today stands at 193.
More than 75 years after its inception, the United Nations still works to maintain international peace and security, to provide humanitarian support to those in need, to protect and promote human rights and to uphold international law.
Sustainable development
The definition of sustainable development as we understand it today, first appeared in the “Our Common Future” report (also known as the Brundtland Report), published in 1987 by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway.
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” – Gro Harlem Brundtland, Chairman of the World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987.
The concept, later endorsed by the United Nations, has now become the world’s definition of sustainable development.
The United Nations Global Compact
The Global Compact was set in 1999 from an idea of the then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who invited world economic leaders to sign a ‘Global Compact’ with the United Nations, to promote a sustainable economy. For the first time, there was a willingness to align the objectives of the international community with those of private business interests.
The UN Global Compact is today a voluntary initiative that promotes 10 basic principles on human rights, decent work, environmental protection and fight of corruption through political actions, business practices, social and civic behaviour.
FITT and the adhesion to the UN Global Compact
In view of certain specific properties, plastic still guarantees the best performance for the transport of liquids and gases, and also the lowest environmental impact among the alternatives available today.
Therefore, FITT continues to work with this material, aware that if carried out responsibly this activity can be compatible and useful for the future of the planet.
For FITT, the path of corporate responsibility is based on three fundamental principles: innovation, to create better performing products with reduced environmental impact; transparency, to clearly measure and communicate the own ecological footprint; and lastly, interdependence, because synergistic actions allow faster and more effective changes.
In line with the principle of interdependence, FITT has chosen to adopt international references and to adhere to the Global Compact: a public commitment towards the United Nations to share, support and enforce, within its sphere of influence, a set of core principles regarding human rights, labour standards, environmental protection and anti-corruption, for the promotion of a sustainable global economy.