Council of the Great Lakes Region Joins the United Nations Global Compact

CLEVELAND, OH / July 26th, 2022 – The Council of the Great Lakes Region (CGLR), a bi-national network of organizations that engages business, government, academic, and non-profit leaders committed to working across sectors and the United States-Canada border to strengthen the long-term competitiveness and sustainability of the bi-national Great Lakes region, is pleased to announce that it has joined the United Nations Global Compact through its CGLR Foundation. 

With more than 15,000 participants across 160 countries, the United Nations (UN) Global Compact is the world’s largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative. It calls on companies and non-business stakeholders to align strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption and to act in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

CGLR embodies the UN Global Compact’s vision of mobilizing a movement of companies and stakeholders to create a better world, one that is more sustainable and just, and it is CGLR’s mission to lead a new era of economic growth, environmental protection, and individual well-being by connecting diverse interests and sectors across the bi-national Great Lakes Region, discovering solutions to region-wide policy challenges, and cultivating a regional voice to influence decisions that affect the region’s socio-economic and environmental interests.

The bi-national Great Lakes region holds environmental and economic significance, locally as well as globally. Home to 107 million people and supporting over 51 million jobs, the region is the economic engine of North America. It is also home to the largest freshwater system in the world, providing 21% of the world’s surface freshwater and sustaining life for thousands of plants and animals. 

“CGLR’s mandate to think strategically about the region as a shared region and to connect sectors and diverse interests across the border aligns extremely well with the UN Global Compact,” said Lora Shrake, Senior Program Director, Business and Sustainability, Council of the Great Lakes Region. “By joining the UNGC and its networks in the USA and Canada, we will be able to further our commitment to serving as a forum for uniting business, academic, government and NGO leaders across the bi-national Great Lakes region to build the region’s long-term sustainability and economic success today.”

As a non-business participant, the Council of the Great Lakes Region will publish a biennial Communication on Engagement, reporting on the organization’s efforts aligned with the UN Global Compact and communicating regularly to its stakeholders. Additionally, it will host events and engagement opportunities for its stakeholders and will participate in the Global Compact Local Networks of USA and Canada.

Read CGLR’s first Communication on Engagement HERE.