Corporate Digital Responsibility

Summary of Initiative

The Coalition for Digital Environmental Sustainability (CODES) is a global, engagement platform for governments, companies and civil society established as mandated part of the implementation process for the UN Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation. CODES’ vision is a digital transformation of the economy and society that enables a sustainable and equitable future for all. It is co-championed by a unique mix of actors including UNEP, UNDP, the International Science Council, the German Environment Agency, Future Earth, Sustainability in the Digital Age, and the Kenyan Environment Ministry in coordination with the Office of the UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Technology. They all rally behind the mission to drive forward public policies, standards and collaborations that harness digital transformation to become a positive force for environmental sustainability, climate action and nature conservation.

A UN-backed coalition of 1,000 stakeholders from over 100 countries launched an Action Plan on June 2nd 2022 to steer digitalization towards accelerating environmentally and socially sustainable development.

Addressing the need for new regulation over the digital space and for collaboration to ensure that digital transformation plays a positive social-environmental role, the Action Plan calls for 3 systemic shifts:

Enable alignment: Strong, global coalitions of sustainability and digital-tech experts will help shape common visions, standards and objectives to prioritize the investments and resources needed to systemically align digital transformation with our sustainable development agenda.
Mitigate negative impact: Commitment to sustainable digitalisation that mitigates the negative environmental and social impacts of digital technologies. Key impacts include greenhouse gas emissions, metals and e-waste, misinformation, and the gap between those who have access to digital technology and those who do not.
Accelerate innovation: Mobilize and catalyze funding and resources to advance digital innovation that accelerates environmental and social sustainability for the “whole-of-society”. Examples include digital twins of the planet, digital product passports, sustainable digital e-commerce, SMART climate resilient agriculture and digitally enabled off-grid solutions.

[text taken from CODES Action Plan launch press release]

Relationship to CDR

The three shifts and six strategic priorities have significant correlation with the International CDR Manifesto. That is described in the blog article published on the CDR site here.

CDR is one of the named related initiatives in the CODES Action Plan, and the agreed definition is also included. Both Rob Price and Tim Frick are named collaborators in the Action Plan.