On 19 October 2016, the world's first global standards for sustainability reporting were launched by GRI, an international independent organization that helps businesses, governments and other organizations understand and communicate the impact of business on critical sustainability issues such as climate change, human rights, corruption and many others. The GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards will enable companies around the world to be more transparent about their impacts on the economy, the environment and society. They will also help organizations make better decisions and contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thus providing insights into their contributions – positive or negative – toward sustainable development.

According to research published in the MIT Sloan Management Review, 75% of senior executives in investment firms agree that a company's sustainability performance is important to consider when making investment decisions. Most of the world's biggest companies publish this information and with the new GRI standards many more organizations will be able to provide investors, consumers, employees and other stakeholders with the performance information they need.

Our guest speaker has been fully dedicated to the subject of sustainability development of corporations since his retirement from government. Starting from 2007, he has been very successful in introducing international trends and strategies into local sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) developments. For example, he is the leader and organizer of the annual corporate sustainability award that has become a platform for both local and foreign corporations in Taiwan to demonstrate and communicate their sustainability and CSR performance and achievement.

At this event the speaker will share insights into the latest international trends in sustainability development and the current sustainability and CSR situations in Taiwan corporations. His speech may provide valuable information on how sustainability can help corporations take precautionary measures and seize business opportunities in facing economic or environmental challenges.

About the Speaker

Dr Eugene Chien is currently the Chairman of the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy (TAISE) & also the current ambassadors-at-large. He is concurrently Chairman of the Telecommunication & Transportation Foundation (TTF), President of the Center for Corporate Sustainability (CCS), Chairman of the CTCI Education Foundation (CTCIEF) and the host of the weekly radio show titled "A Feverish Earth". He formerly held several high ranking posts in government including Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Transportation and Communications, Minister of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and Representative of the Taipei Representative Office in the UK. He previously served as a Legislator and Professor and Dean at the College of Engineering at Tamkang University.