The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015, calls for countries to improve the planet and people’s lives, wipe out extreme poverty, fight inequality and combat climate change by achieving 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
Achieving the ambitious targets of the 2030 Agenda requires a revitalized and enhanced global partnership that brings together Governments, civil society, the private sector, the United Nations system and other actors and mobilizes all available resources. Enhancing support to developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, is fundamental to equitable progress for all.
This Global Dialog on Sustainable Development 2017 is designed to further the understanding of efforts underway by the private sector and civil society, and provide a platform for the private sector to showcase their contributions towards achieving sustainable development for all.
Objectives and Outcome
The event hosted at UN Headquarters, and co-organised by the European Union Delegation of the United Nations and the European American Chamber of Commerce on the margins of ECOSOC's Financing for Development (FFD) Follow-up Forum, will bring together Wall Street and corporate leaders, international banks, private equity funds, investors, private foundations representatives and Delegates accredited to the United Nations to consider the fundamental role of the private sector in advancing the sustainable development agenda and discuss ways to mobilize the global business community in support of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The case is clear. Realizing the Sustainable Development Goals will improve the environment for doing business and building markets. Trillions of US dollars in public and private funds are to be redirected towards the SDGs, creating tremendous opportunities for responsive companies to deliver solutions. Partnerships between the key stakeholders are essential and, as spelled out in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development, a broader and more varied set of financial resources needs to be mobilized in addition to public resources (domestic and international) to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
PROGRAMME
8.00-8.10: Walk-in
8.10-8.15: Welcome by Ambassador João Vale de Almeida, Head of the EU Delegation to the UN
8.15-8.45: Opening and scene setter: Strategic Partnership EU/UN – European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, with horizontal responsibility for Sustainable Development and United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed
8.45-9.20: Panel 1: What can be done to better align private sector activities with Sustainable Development objectives?
Intro and moderated by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University
This panel will focus on what is needed by all key stakeholders to ensure that Government initiatives as well as business actions and investments can be accelerated. The session will tackle the fundamental question how businesses can become real levers of change, while also maintaining their profitability.
Participants
• European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans
• Filippo Bettini, Chief Sustainability & Risk Governance Officer, Pirelli Tires
• Hervé P. Duteil, Managing Director, Regional Coordinator for Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainable Finance in the Americas, BNP PARIBAS
• Philip De Leon, Director, Public Affairs & Int’l Business Development, AGCO Corporation
• Jacqueline Corbelli, Founder, Brightline
Questions to be raised will include:
- How financing models need to be adjusted to face the realities of globalization and the struggle to fight poverty in a sustainable way.
- How can technology be an enabler or facilitator in helping countries implement the SDG’s and in fighting climate change?
- How can corporates support governments to implement SDG’s on a local level (risk sharing, monitoring).
- In what way can the EU and the UN strengthen the partnership with the business community in order to reach the sustainable development objectives?
9.20-9.45: Panel 2: How can the private sector be incentivized to mobilize long-term resources for sustainable development?
Moderated by Professor Sachs
Panel 2 will demonstrate how businesses are contributing to sustainable development and explore ways to further inspire businesses to increase action while showcasing at the same time how companies are aligning core business strategies and practices with the SDG's, creating value for shareholders and maximize profit. Leading business leaders will share success stories, showcase examples of concrete actions and report on obstacles and limitations they have encountered so far. Questions to be raised include:
- How can the private sector be engaged in a meaningful way to lend lasting support to achieve the SDG’s and in fighting climate change?
- Why are sustainable investment, production and supply-chain management part of a financially-viable business model?
- How can the public sector be an equal partner in Public Private Partnerships?
Participants:
• Mahmoud Mohieldin, Senior Vice President for the 2030 Development Agenda, UN Relations & Partnerships, World Bank Group
• Carlota Cenalmor, Senior Institutional Adviser, Deputy Head of US Representative Office, European Investment Bank [EIB]
• Georgia Levenson Keohane, Executive Director, Pershing Square Foundation
• Brandee McHale, President, CITI Foundation and Director of Corporate Citizenship, CITI
• Adrienne Zitka, Senior Legal Counsel of DSM North America
9.45-10.00 Wrap up by First Vice-President Frans Timmermans
Information for participants/registration
Participation in the Global Partnership Forum 2017 is by invitation only. Due to limited capacity, select chief executives, leaders from civil society organizations and senior EU and UN officials will have priority in attending the event.
ORGANISING PARTNERS:
Professor Jeffrey Sachs, one of the world's leading economists and an expert on economic development and the fight against poverty, will moderate the event. The Delegation of the European Union to the UN and the European American Chamber of Commerce will together lead the organization of the Global Partnership Dialogue 2017, in close consultation with the United Nations.
PARTICIPANT REGISTRATION & HOW TO REQUEST AN INVITATION
Participation in the Global Partnership Forum 2017 is by invitation only. Due to limited capacity, select chief executives, leaders from civil society organizations and senior EU and UN officials will have priority in attending the event.