Synergies Across Sectors

Business and Industry Action to Deliver SDGs

On July 10, Business and Industry will be holding a side event on the margins of the UN High-Level Political Forum. The event will be held from 1:15 – 2:45pm at UN HQ, Conference Room F.

The focus of this event will be a review on SDG 4, 8, 10, 13, 16, 17, in alignment with the 2019 HLPF. Opening comments will be led by Lise Kingo, UN Global Compact, and Tomasz Chruszczow, High Level Champion for UNFCCC. Moderators include Shea Gopal, IOE, and Norine Kennedy, USCIB. The event will feature many speakers across various organizations that are working to achieve the SDGs, including ICC, IOE, Dairy Farmers of America, Ernst & Young Azerbaijan, and more

View the invitation below for more information.

Business for 2030 Platform Welcomes New International Partners

An event to celebrate the internationalization and expansion of Business for 2030

As governments, international agencies, business and other stakeholders converged on New York for this year’s High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the United Nations July 9 – 18, the United States Council for International Business (USCIB) hosted a Businessfor2030 dinner on July 16. The dinner was co-organized with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), ICC United Kingdom, ICC Switzerland and the International Organization of Employers (IOE) and brought together business, UN organizations and governments to highlight private sector action and achievements towards sustainable development, showcasing the Business for 2030 website as a partnerships resource and source of SDG business action examples.

The dinner celebrated the expansion of the Business for 2030 platform. Along with a revamped logo and homepage, the platform welcomed three new content partners—ICC United Kingdom, ICC Switzerland and IOE. These new partners aided in kickstarting the “internationalization” of the platform through the inclusion of case studies that showcase how private sector entities around the globe are working to deliver the UN Global Goals. USCIB is excited to have new content partners that share the Businessfor2030 vision of diversity and partnership as a resource to advance SDG implementation. The new partners feel the same way:  

We are excited about working with the Businessfor2030 initiative to showcase the important role that the private sector plays in supporting the SDGs, and use it as a platform to promote good corporate governance. – ICC UK

Partnerships are key for reaching the SDGs. Neither companies, nor governments or civil society can afford to work in silos anymore. Companies need to work together and with stakeholders like governments and affected communities to address systemic challenges that one player will not be able to address systematically alone. I am looking forward to connecting the dots through this cooperation and facilitating partnerships for a better implementation of the SDGs. – IOE President Erol Kiresepi

The UN SDGs are a unique reference system to work for a more sustainable world. ICC Switzerland is enthusiastic to showcase the contributions of Swiss companies to these activities. Such examples strengthen the trust in business to actively cooperate. – ICC CH

The push to internationalize the Business for 2030 website coincides with strong business commitment to advance the SDGs around the world. Speaking at the dinner, new Secretary General of ICC John Denton issued a challenge to the international community to unleash business resources and knowhow to attain the 2030 objectives across economic, social and environmental areas.  “We need to help people understand the power of working with the private sector,” emphasized Denton.  Kris DeMeester, representing the International Organization of Employers, underscored the broad commitment of employers all over the world to advance sustainable development through employment, in the workplace and working closely with other social partners.

“Three years after the launch of the SDGs, we continue to take seriously that all companies, all sectors must engage to deliver on economic, environmental and social progress,” stated USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson in his opening remarks. “No company can sit this out.  We commend our own members for having embraced the SDGs and moved forward to embed them not only in corporate responsibility programs, but increasingly across aspects of their planning and investment.”

Partnerships are key to achieving the SDGs and the Business for 2030 platform is a strong example of this. By working together with multiple organizations, the platform aims to expand and increase business action for the SDG around the world while showcasing to the UN and public sector what business has done for the Global Goals.

The three new partners join Businessfor2030 content partners ICC, Business Call to Action (BCtA), The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA).

The Business for 2030 website may be hosted by the United States Council for International Business, but it is an initiative of more and more businesses around the world in their efforts to achieve the SDGs.

UN HIGH-LEVEL POLITICAL FORUM 2018 COUNTDOWN: SDG 15 & 17

Protect Ecosystems and Strengthen Means of Implementation

This year’s United Nations High-Level Political Forum (UN HLPF) on sustainable development will be held from July 9-18 under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. The theme for the forum will be “Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies” focusing in part on Sustainable Development Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, that will be considered each year.

As part of USCIB’s countdown to the UN HLPF, USCIB is highlighting some initiatives that its member companies are working on to transform toward sustainable and resilient societies, while subsequently meeting the SDG targets set by the UN. More examples of initiatives can be found on USCIB’s Business for 2030 website.

SDG 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

One initiative to highlight is a project by Novozymes to support the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CDB) in terms of the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.  Novozymes has decided to acknowledge and support the principles of both the CBD and the Nagoya protocol and has internal procedures to ensure that it lives up to its commitments. Novozymes promotes fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and promotes appropriate access to such resources, as internationally agreed. They are regularly assessing outcomes of CBD meetings with a view to undertake a broader strategic discussion on its management and reporting of biodiversity issues. By sharing the benefits of genetic resources, Novozymes is taking steps to achieve SDG 15 and to increase biological diversity.

SDG 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, that will be considered each year

Another project to note is an initiative by Mars to ensure that everyone working with their extended supply chains should earn sufficient income to maintain a decent standard of living. This is done through Mars’ Farmer Income Lab, an open-source “think-do-tank” that will enable Mars and others to leverage their unique human, social and financial resources to identify and activate solutions needed to eradicate smallholder poverty in global supply chains. This year, the Lab’s focus is on identifying effective actions that buyers can take to enable smallholder farmers in global supply chains to meaningfully increase income. This will culminate in a ‘What Works’ publication, providing an overview of promising models, sourced from academic literature and stakeholder dialogues, that increase incomes and demonstrate what factors are most successful. Mars’ commitment to increasing incomes is part of their Sustainable in a Generation Plan, a $1-billion investment to accelerate sustainable growth by achieving SDG 17 through global partnerships.

Click here for more information on what USCIB has done so far during this year’s HLPF.