The Naveen Jindal School of Management kicked off its inaugural 2022 Sustainability Competition with a webinar that focused on how innovation and entrepreneurship can be applied to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to help solve sustainability problems.

The competition is a collaboration of the Sustainable Global Business Initiative in the Center for Global Business, the Center for Information Technology and Management and two student organizations: the Society of Sustainable Business and the Consulting Leadership & Development Society

Robert Skinner, deputy director and chief of Partnerships and Global Engagement, Outreach Division, United Nations Department of Global Communications, was the keynote speaker for the event, held virtually Jan. 31. His presentation — The Intersection of Sustainability and Entrepreneurship: Why the SDGs are Critical to Entrepreneurs and Innovators — explained what the United Nations does, where the SDGs come from, the challenges the organization sees ahead and how entrepreneurs and business people can contribute to achieving and sustaining those goals.

The SDGs provide “a common language for everyone to use as we strive to lift people out of poverty, provide livelihoods to everyone and keep the planet healthy,” he said. “You can look at the downsides and negative things we’re trying to fight against, but then think about where we’re trying to go by 2030 and it’s really a positive agenda by making sure that we’re being inclusive, giving everyone opportunity and all pushing in the same direction.”

Skinner said that in the lead-up to the creation of the SDGs, a variety of stakeholders were consulted, including those from the business community and academia

“I, for one, am convinced that if there would not have been that push — from the business sector, from the NGO community, from academia, from philanthropy — that the governments would not have adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, that this agenda would not exist,” he said. “The world needs the entrepreneurs, the young thinkers to take on these big challenges and identify and create solutions that work for people. And that’s both at the global level, which I think a lot of people think of the UN working, but also at the local level, which is where a lot of my colleagues … are actually doing their jobs.”

Dr. Habte Woldu, director of the SGBI, said the purpose of the webinar was to teach Jindal School students the importance of sustainability through the UN’s 17 SDGs.

“I hope that the student entrepreneurs who attended this webinar were as inspired as I was by Mr. Skinner’s excellent presentation,” he said. “More importantly, I encourage students to use that inspiration to develop innovative solutions to the critical global problems we face today. I am confident that these experiences will help students embark on paths toward becoming transformative leaders when they enter the workforce.”