Chief Executive Officers to Join Government and Civil Society Leaders at “Uniting Business Live” to Progress the Sustainable Development Goals
WHAT: Uniting Business LIVE is a virtual event on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly High Level week convened by the UN Global Compact
WHEN: 21 – 23 September 2020
- Private Sector Forum on Monday 21 September
- Global Impact Forum on Tuesday 22 September
- SDG Business Forum on Wednesday 23 September (co-organised by UN Global Compact, the UN Department of Social and Economic Affairs and the International Chamber of Commerce).
WHERE: Online. For registration, list of speakers and the full agenda click here.
The United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, is hosting the first of its kind virtual Uniting Business LIVE event. To mark the opening of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, Uniting Business LIVE will virtually convene leaders from business, Government and civil society to showcase their commitment to the UN’s mission. Over three days, three unique conferences will feature CEOs, corporate sustainability executives, policymakers, civil society leaders, young business leaders and UN Chiefs
Monday 21 September - Private Sector Forum
Since 2008, the UN Secretary-General’s annual Private Sector Forum has gathered global leaders to mark the first day of UN General Assembly’s High Level week and to address major global issues such as climate change, sustainable development and human rights. The main outcome of the Forum this year will be a Statement from Business Leaders for Renewed Global Cooperation which calls on CEOs of multinational, national, medium and small enterprises to demonstrate their support for the mission of the United Nations.
Confirmed speakers so far include:
Milton Cheng, Global Chair at Baker McKenzie
Winnie Byanyima, Executive Chair, UNAIDS
H.E. Somsak Thepsuthin, Minister of Justice, Thailand
H.E. Claudia Blum, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Colombia
Sanda Ojiambo, CEO & Executive Director, UN Global Compact
Tuesday 22 September - Global Impact Forum
The inaugural Global Impact Forum will showcase four key initiatives to mobilize corporate action on the Global Goals: SDG Ambition, Target Gender Equality, Young SDG Innovators, and Business Ambition for 1.5°C. These are designed to mainstream sustainable business practices and scale solutions from the ground up while sharing actionable solutions to practical questions; How might we promote and support youth to lead and innovate within their companies? How can we tackle gender discrimination and foster inclusion while addressing the multiple barriers to equality that women might face based on race, ethnicity, class, religion, ability, sexuality and other aspects of identity? How can we mainstream a 1.5°C climate trajectory and ensure business and governments ramp up efforts to recover better together? And how can we integrate, monitor and manage sustainability metrics across all business processes enabling us to achieve ambitious targets?
Confirmed speakers so far include:
Amina Mohammed, Deputy-Secretary General, United Nations
Christian Klein, Chief Executive Officer, SAP SE
Julie Sweet, Chief Executive Officer, Accenture
Lorraine Hariton, President & CEO, Catalyst
Selwin Hart, Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations
Fiona Reynolds, Chief Executive Officer, PRI
Wednesday 23 September - SDG Business Forum
The SDG Business Forum, co-hosted by the UN Global Compact, the UN Department of Social and Economic Affairs (UN DESA) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), coincides with the start of the UN’s Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals. This Forum will showcase how companies are using their influence to lead the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and examine a new form of leadership that has emerged during this crisis – a generation of executives and rising professionals who understand that there are no successful businesses in a failed world. In this context, the private sector – in partnership with governments and civil society leaders – is leveraging the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals to respond to immediate threats in their communities, prepare for long term sustainability, and remedy the three critical fragilities which have been exposed by events of 2020: climate change and nature loss; social inequality; and economic exclusion.
Confirmed speakers so far include:
Ester Baiget, CEO, Novozymes
Kerry Adler, President, SkyPower
Liu Zhenmin, Under Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations
John W.H. Denton AO, Secretary-General, International Chamber of Commerce
Ajay Banga, Chair, International Chamber of Commerce and Chief Executive Officer, Mastercard
Media Accreditation:
Media coverage is encouraged. For full programme and to register to attend please visit: https://registration.unglobalcompact.org/website/15648/media-centre/
Follow the conversation on social media #UnitingBusiness and #UnitingBusinessLIVE
Please contact: media@unglobalcompact.org
Alex Gee: +447887 804594, alex@mackworthassociates.com
For more information about the United Nations Global Compact please visit our website: www.unglobalcompact.org
