23 June 2016: Participants at the UN Global Compact’s 2016 Leaders Summit discussed how to reach a new era of sustainability with responsible business practices, innovation, targeted investment and transformative partnerships. The Compact presented its priorities for the next five years, which include impact reporting and partnerships between the UN and business.

The Summit convened from 22-23 June 2016, at UN Headquarters in New York, US.

The Summit recognized the progress of “thousands of companies” on sustainability, and called on corporate leaders and entrepreneurs to renew their commitments to the UN Global Compact’s Ten Principles. It highlighted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an opportunity for companies around the world to address global challenges.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon observed that “we are at a decisive moment in the shift to sustainable inclusive markets.” He highlighted the UN Global Compact’s role in positioning business to lead in the SDG era, saying it can promote personal and corporate responsibility in how business is conducted, in choices of staff and partners, and in making decisions as consumers and investors. He pointed to the need for investments in infrastructure, and he stressed that the Paris Agreement on climate change and the SDGs represent an unprecedented opportunity for the private sector to create climate-resilient, clean-energy and sustainable economies.

“The Leaders Summit is the first step on a long-term journey to engage business on the 2030 Agenda,” said UN Global Compact Executive Director Lise Kingo. She reflected that expectations on business for the SDGs “are immense, but…the opportunities are enormous.” Kingo called for investing, developing and launching “countless new ideas and solutions within a very short time.”

The UN Global Compact presented its multi-year strategy, ‘Making Global Goals Local Business,’ which aims to drive business activity to support achievement of the SDGs, and represents UN Global Compact’s priorities for the next five years based on its Ten Principles. Key activities and elements in the strategy include the annual Leaders Summit, the Local Network SDG Action Plans, the SDG Pioneers programme, partnerships between the UN and business, and impact reporting.

The Summit announced ten 2016 Global Compact SDG Pioneers: Kerry Adler, Canada; Zubaida Bai, India; Farzana Chowdhury, Bangladesh; Sonia Favaretto, Brazil; Liang Xiaohui, China; Patrick Ngowi, Tanzania; Claus Stig Pedersen, Denmark; Ulisses Sabara, Brazil; Dina Sherif, Egypt; and Ulysses Smith, US. The Local SDG Pioneers progamme identifies individuals who are demonstrating how the SDGs can enable business to unlock economic, environmental and social gains.

On climate change, Ban called for a holistic development model that takes into account climate impact and fragile ecosystems and for infrastructure investments that limit global temperature rise and support SDG achievement, and participants stressed that actions to achieve sustainable development cannot be separated from tackling climate change. [UN Press Release] [UN Secretary-General Statement] [UN Global Compact Leaders Summit 2016 Website] [SDG Pioneers] [2016 Local SDG Pioneers] [UN Global Compact Executive Director Opinion Piece]