Greg Medcraft, Director of Financial & Enterprise Affairs at OECD interview with Matt Bird at Humanity 2.0 (Vatican City)

HIGHLIGHTS

• Trust in society in one of the biggest challenges being faced
• OECD’s main focus is ethics in business
• OECD provides standard for companies to follow to detect and prevent corruption

(ESG News) – We don’t trust each other enough. That’s what Greg MedCraft, Director of Financial and Enterprise Affairs for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said is a foundational crack underneath rising inequality. 

“I think the idea behind Humanity 2.0 is starting to rebuild that trust,” MedCraft told Matt Bird, Host of the Traders Network Show, during the 2019 Humanity 2.0 Forum at the Vatican in Italy. MedCraft said he was encouraged by the ideas being discussed at the forum, whether they be maternal health or corporate ethics. 

“I’m more about evolution than revolution, and part of evolution, the first thing is to start at home and do the right thing, and then have a dialogue to expand—like we’re doing here,” he said. 

MedCraft said corporations have the chance to be champions of trust by installing cultures and policies that positively influence communities. Collaborations with government entities can also ensure that social change is happening across the board, he said.    

“What we want is better policies for better lives, and that applies whether you are a company of a government,” MedCraft said. 

Part of building trust is rooting out corruption, which accounts for about 10% of the world’s GDP, MedCraft said. OECD offers guideline standards that companies can adhere to for mitigating corruption. Such standards can help with everything from establishing a culture of transparency to actually detecting and responding to corruption that occurs within a business or its supply chain, he said. 

“So there are many things you can do, but at the end of the day it’s all about trust,” MedCraft said.