Business leaders to join United Nations Global Compact Leaders Week to address climate crisis and advance the Sustainable Development Goals

UNITED NATIONS, New York, 16 September 2019 — The UN Global Compact Leaders Week, from 23 to 26 September, will provide business leaders with an opportunity to meet with Government, civil society and youth leaders to identify clear actions to respond to the climate crisis and accelerate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The week will feature a series of high-level dialogues that will align with the agendas of the inter-governmental meetings of the high-level week of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly including climate change, health, sustainable finance and the first SDG Summit. Business leaders will take stock of progress since the Global Goals were adopted which is lagging, according to the 2019 UN Global Compact Progress Report.

“Regrettably, the global landscape for sustainable development has deteriorated since the Sustainable Development Goals were launched in 2015,” said Lise Kingo, CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact. “Now, more than ever, we must bring together all stakeholders in society to solve today’s global challenges and business is a key partner.”

Amongst other high-level speakers, the UN Global Compact Leaders Week will be addressed by Prime Minister of New Zealand H.E. Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of Barbados H.E. Mia Amor Mottley, UN Secretary-General António Guterres (Chair of the Board of the UN Global Compact) and UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed.

On 23 September at the Private Sector Forum, which serves as the official luncheon of the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit, the UN Global Compact will recognize ambitious climate action, including the announcement of those corporate leaders who have joined the Business Ambition for 1.5˚C — Our Only Future campaign. The campaign drives progress towards a tipping point, where 1.5°C-aligned corporate strategies are the new normal for businesses and their supply chains around the world.

Business leaders will also join the Transformative Business Leadership for a 1.5˚C Future session to discuss implementable, scalable and replicable business solutions to the climate challenge. The programme will include key insights from the new CEO Study conducted by the UN Global Compact in collaboration with Accenture, which draws on insights from more than 1,000 CEOs from 21 industries and 99 countries. With less than 4,000 days remaining until the 2030 target, business leaders are not content with current progress and are calling for their sectors and peers to step-up and turn commitment into action, the study found.

Monday 23 September will see the launch of SDG Ambition, a new global initiative by the UN Global Compact to advance the Global Goals. On Wednesday the Trailblazing Women Reception will serve as the launch of another global initiative, Target Gender Equality.

Also on Monday, the UN Global Compact will formally launch of the Sustainable Ocean Principles at the High-level Meeting on the Ocean organized by the UN Global Compact Action Platform on Sustainable Ocean Business. Later during the day, the UN Global Compact Action Platform on Health is Everyone’s Business will release a report emphasizing the need for business action that simultaneously benefits the health of people and the environment.

The annual SDG Business Forum — organized alongside the first-ever SDG Summit on 25 September — provides a unique multi-stakeholder platform to support business action and partnerships to achieve the SDGs. It will feature insights from the 2019 UN Global Compact Progress Report, which is a stocktaking of efforts of participating companies to embed the Ten Principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption into their work.

The 2019 UN Global Compact SDG Pioneers will be recognized and celebrated at the SDG Media Zone on 25 September from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. As part of its Making Global Goals Local Business campaign, each year the UN Global Compact recognizes a class of SDG Pioneers — business leaders, who are using business as a force for good to advance the SDGs. The 2019 search for SDG Pioneers focused on professionals aged 35 and under, working at any level in a company participating in the UN Global Compact. 

On 26 September, the UN Global Compact will convene the High-level CEO Roundtable on Corporate SDG Finance and Investment, which will be an intimate discussion with CEOs and Chief Financial Officers who are championing efforts to drive investment aligned with SDG impact. The participants will take a deep dive into the UN Global Compact Action Platform on Financial Innovation for the SDGs, which develops innovative private financial instruments that have the potential to direct private finance towards critical sustainability solutions.

For more information about the UN Global Compact Leaders Week, please visit here. The full schedule is available here.

About the United Nations Global Compact

As a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact works with companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with ten universal principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Launched in 2000, the UN Global Compact guides and supports the global business community in advancing UN goals and values through responsible corporate practices. With more than 9,500 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and more than 60 Local Networks, it is the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world.

For more information, follow @globalcompact on social media and visit our website at www.unglobalcompact.org

Join us the conversation on social media by using #LeadersWeek and #SDGpioneers.

Contact

Leila Puutio
UN Global Compact
Tel: ​+1 646-884-7523
Email: media@unglobalcompact.org