24 September 2014: The UN Global Compact and the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) held a high-level briefing and panel discussion to launch the synthesis report from global consultations on engaging the private sector in the post-2015 development agenda. The event took place at UN Headquarters in New York, US, on 24 September 2014, as part of the 69th UN General Assembly’s high-level week.
Li Yong, UNIDO Director General, noted that Spain and the US had sponsored the dialogue on the role of the private sector, which was one in a series of six dialogues coordinated by the UN Development Group on the means of implementation of the post-2015 development agenda. UNIDO and UN Global Compact served as the UNDG “co-leads” for the dialogue.
According to the report, Li Yong said the consultations showed that partnerships with the private sector must be at the core of any meaningful development agenda. The report includes 23 recommendations on how to manage the difficult issue of cooperation with the private sector, he said, and highlighted: governments must develop policies that drive corporate sustainability; the need to leverage private sustainability financing, especially for SMEs, which are the backbone of every economy and society; and the centrality of trust, accountability and transparency in public-private partnerships.
Georg Kell, Global Compact Executive Director, noted business’ appetite in engaging in the SDGs. He said private sector interest in development countries is increasingly about building markets, more than sourcing input. A shortage of skilled labor is an inducement to invest in vocational training, high transaction costs motivate finding solutions to corruption, and water scarcity sparks an interest in good stewardship of natural resources, he said, explaining the overlap of public and private interests.
Amina Mohammed, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for Post-2015 Development Planning, said the “global partnership” is the backdrop against which “partnerships” – as defined by the High-level Panel in 2013 – can flourish. She said the coming year will be a difficult one for keeping ambition on the table, but the proposed SDGs provide enough fodder for everyone to start taking action. She called for incentivizing governments to do the right thing. She added that sustainable development is a “different vehicle” for eradicating poverty, and if we had invested in development properly decades ago, we would not be facing many of the challenges that need to be addressed in the coming agenda. On public-private partnerships, she also said the question is whether people and the planet are at the center, rather than the partnerships being “off the back of us.”
High-level government representatives also made comments. Spain said he did not “understand how the SDGs would work without the private sector.” The US Agency for International Development representative said the consultations had shown that: some issues – such as corruption and infrastructure – still must be driven by national and local governments; businesses in developing countries need access to finance and energy; mutual transparency is critical; and the private sector will take action if governments can provide a catalyst, such as by “buying down” some of the investment risk. On the US Government’s “new model,” he said, local accountability and policy reform are demanded in exchange for investment. Mexico said that, for government officials trying to put together an agenda with 17 goals, 169 targets and “I don’t even want to think about the indicators,” there is a need for greater understanding on how to incorporate the private sector. He said business’ involvement “can’t be only about goodwill” and it has to support their bottom line as well. Mike Eman, Prime Minister of Aruba, recalled his country’s decision to invest not just in higher GDP but in better quality of life for their people, and their pursuit not just of “five-star hotels, but also five-star schools, five-star health care for our children, five-star elder care, five-star neighborhoods.” They decided to connect progress and prosperity with the well-being of their citizens. [IISD RS Sources] [Webcast of Event] [Dialogue Website] [Engaging with the Private Sector in the Post-2015 Agenda: Consolidated Report on 2014 Consultations]