Modern slavery risks have risen across the world over the last year, including in 20 of the 28 member states of the EU. On Anti-Slavery Day, this blog looks at the increased risks and numbers of victims of forced labour in supply chains, and how to mitigate these risks contributing to goal 8 (decent work and economic growth).

All-Energy Australia is where the country’s clean energy industry meets over two inspiring days to access the latest, cutting-edge information. All-Energy Australia combines a free-to-attend, business-to-business, world-class multi-stream conference with an unrivaled professional development and networking forum alongside a comprehensive exhibition. Clean energy professionals and end-users benefit from unique access to a showcase of innovations in renewable energy including sustainable transport, solar technology, energy storage, energy efficiency and future grid.

World Smart Energy Week is the world's largest-scale exhibition specialised in renewable energy. Since its launch in 2005, the show serves as the best business platform for those in the energy industry across the globe. This supports SDG 9: to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

Correspondent banking is the cornerstone of the global payment system, designed to serve the settlement of financial transactions across country borders. It allows companies and individuals to safely move money around the world and supports and encourages global trade. Since the financial crisis, tighter regulations - and in particular the regulatory penalties imposed for violations of anti-money laundering (AML) – have caused western banks to rethink their global strategy. The risks of doing business in many developing nations are beginning to be seen as outweighing the financial benefits brought by correspondent banking activity. As a result, US and European banks have reduced their correspondent banking activity in the riskiest regions.

In July the 2017 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Business Forum recognised the critical role of business in delivering on the promise of sustainable and inclusive development. In this article, we elaborate on the SDG business case, and how businesses can engage with the SDG framework; driving business growth and productivity, whilst contributing to the better world envisaged by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This book presents the country development diagnostics post-2015 framework, developed by the World Bank Group to assess the country-level implications of the post-2015 global agenda, as well as brief, ‘at-a-glance’ applications of the framework to ten countries: Ethiopia, Jamaica, the Kyrgyz Republic, Liberia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Senegal, and Uganda.

At the heart of Responsible Tourism are commitments to transparency and accountability. It is a process of addressing the sustainability issues which arise in a particular place and which the business can do something about, materiality matters. But it is not enough to focus only on the process, it is important to report the achievement. This blog explores reporting frameworks, rating initiatives, certification, recognition and showcases best practice.

Smart cities use data and technology to drive energy efficiency and are on the increase. The advantages of integrating energy efficient technologies into building planning and urban modelling are understood, but what are the risks? This article considers the threat of cyber crime on smart cities and the technology that these cities rely on, drawing out the links between SDG 7 and SDG 9. On the one hand, smart cities support the need for open data whilst on the other hand increased protection and security of that data will be required to avoid the threat of cyber attacks.

Photos of a beach on Henderson Island in the Pacific Ocean provides yet more evidence of the detrimental impact that packaging and other plastics waste is having on the environment globally. Creating a virtuous circle out of what, until now, has largely been a chain of production from feedstock to consumer will not be easy. But it is the innovation aspect that has fired the imagination of producers, processors and corporate consumers of plastics packaging. This fits with SDG 9.4 to upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes and SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy.

ICIS launches the search for the very best in innovation in the chemical industry. Now in their 14th year, the ICIS Innovation Awards seek to recognize and reward companies and individuals that show high levels of innovation in products and processes, as well as providing benefits to the environment and advancing progress towards sustainability. This award raises awareness of the benefits of innovation to the environment and supports SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.