20 May 2011: The Global Compact Week, held from 16-20 May 2011, in Copenhagen, Denmark, convened practitioners engaged in the initiative’s working groups, issue platforms and Local Networks, providing an opportunity to share experiences across issues and countries. The Week included the first UN Global Compact Annual Meeting, the Annual Local Network Forum and the third annual meeting of Caring for Climate signatories, which addressed the business contribution to global sustainability ahead of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20).

In a number of interactive sessions, the Global Compact Week explored implementation trends based on the 2010 Global Compact Implementation Survey and discussed how companies address linkages between different issues, such as poverty and climate change.

On 17 May, the third annual meeting of Caring for Climate signatories, titled “Business Contribution to Global Sustainability ahead of Rio+20,” aimed at shaping and advancing the initiative’s current workstreams and discussing the roadmap to the Rio conference. The event featured a joint session between Caring for Climate and CEO Water Mandate signatories, as well as a session on access to energy, convened jointly with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Participants discussed a climate and development report, prepared by the UN Global Compact, UNEP, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and Oxfam, and issued recommendations on how to further mobilize business engagement on climate change and development priorities. Participants also discussed the “Low Carbon Leaders Project – Beyond Carbon” and issued recommendations on how to generate greater collaboration among businesses to identify and scale up the most promising technologies and solutions towards sustainability.

The closing plenary session of the UN Global Compact Annual meeting, which was held on 18 May 2011, addressed “The Business Contribution to Sustainable Development: The UN Private Sector Forum 2011 and Rio+20.” Participants discussed the UN Global Compact’s plans to bring the voice of business to major upcoming UN events, notably the fourth UN Private Sector Forum in September 2011 and Rio+20 in June 2012, in order for the Global Compact to put forward solutions by business on issues such as poverty, climate, food, water and energy. [UN Global Compact Week Website] [UN Global Compact First Annual Meeting] [Publication: Summary Report of Global Compact Week]