Panel Pledge

WBCSD is working to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Goal 5 on advancing gender equality. We have adopted a “Panel Pledge” to help ensure women are adequately represented in panel discussions at conferences.

This is our four-step approach:

1. Gender representation at our events.

We will ensure that every panel at every WBCSD event has both female and male participation

2. Push for gender representation at external events.

When we are invited to speak at an event, we will:

  • Request information about who the other panelists are, and verify that the panel has both women and men as speakers
  • Inform the organizers that WBCSD’s policy is to only participate in panel discussions where women have meaningful participation
  • Reserve the right to withdraw should gender representation not be achieved

3. Spread the word on gender representation.

When we agree to participate in an event, we will:

  • Proactively offer names of women who could meaningfully contribute to the event
  • If required, during introductory comments, highlight the need for gender representation on panels

4. Report back.

We will report back (sdg5@wbcsd.org):

  • About panels or events where we participated and gender representation was not achieved
  • About where the “Pledge” had an impact on improving the gender representation of a panel