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Business on the Agenda at UN High-Level Debate on the Sustainable Development Goals
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New York, United States of America
New York, 21 April 2016 – The importance of responsible business action and partnerships was emphasized throughout the High-Level Thematic Debate on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) convened today in New York by the President of the United Nations General Assembly, H.E. Mogens Lykketoft.
The day of high-level meetings brought Heads of State and global leaders from civil society and business to the United Nations to discuss how to implement the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs adopted by UN Member States last September.
The UN Global Compact and the Business and Sustainable Development Commission co-hosted a discussion on How to Make a Powerful Business Case to Achieve Sustainable Development. Participants shared their insights on the importance of business engagement around the SDGs and discussed the research and data needed to win over even more companies towards sustainability.
“We need more companies to transform their business models, set ambitious sustainability goals that drive performance, and then measure and report their outcomes,” stressed UN Global Compact Executive Director Lise Kingo. “Together, we can spread the message that companies that do business responsibly and find opportunities to innovate around sustainability will be the business leaders of tomorrow.”
In addition, the day featured a high-level luncheon on partnerships for SDG implementation and a dialogue convened by UN DESA and the International Chamber of Commerce on the existing tools – including the SDG Compass developed by the UN Global Compact, GRI and WBCSD – to help companies work with the UN to advance the global goals.
This important day of events comes in the midst of the UN Global Compact’s worldwide campaign Making Global Goals Local Business which seeks to mobilize businesses everywhere to take bold action to achieve the SDGs. As part of the campaign, the UN Global Compact will identify Local SDG Pioneers who are advancing sustainable development through good business. These individuals will be announced the upcoming UN Global Compact Leaders Summit 2016 on 22-23 June in New York.