News, Sustainable Development Goals
Chief Executives and UN Officials discuss how to Scale-Up Public-Private Partnerships at World Economic Forum
UN Global Compact Network Australia | January 20, 2016
(Davos, 20 January 2016) – Global business leaders and UN heads met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to explore opportunities for the United Nations to scale up public-private partnerships that will advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Co-chaired by Dr. David Nabarro, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and Lise Kingo, Executive Director of UN Global Compact, the roundtable discussion – Making Public-Private Partnerships Work for the Sustainable Development Goals: The United Nations as a Catalyst for Innovation – built on the work of the UN Global Compact to mobilize business knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources that can deliver sustainable solutions at scale.
Calling the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development “our declaration of interdependence”, the UN Secretary-General called for combining collective strengths to tackle global challenges, warning that “a crash in one market can drive a crisis around the world”.
He called on business leaders to work across sectors and industries and highlighted the need to engage more responsible businesses to take action on the SDGs, arguing that “doing business responsibly is the first step for any company that wants to contribute to sustainability.”
UN Global Compact Executive Director Lise Kingo emphasized that involvement of all stakeholders is a “prerequisite for success”. “We are all committed to making 2016 a year of implementation, of cooperation and of putting Agenda 2030 into action,” said Kingo.
She outlined how the UN Global Compact will be mobilizing its 13,000 participants and 85 Local Networks in 2016 to translate the SDGs into local business action and opportunity, including through identifying entrepreneurs, innovators and thought leaders from around the world who exemplify business as a force for good.
The event, which included 40 Global Compact LEAD chief executives, Heads of UN Agencies, Funds and Programs explored channels for achieving the SDGs through new and more effective multi-stakeholder partnership models.
