New York, 19 July 2017: The 2030 Agenda recognizes the critical role of business in delivering on the promise of sustainable and inclusive development. The business case for sustainable development is based on the understanding that business and social values are inextricably linked and business efforts to improve lives and strengthen local communities can also have long term bottom line benefits.
More than 1,000 participants representing business, government and civil society came together to report on significant achievements and commitments undertaken by business and emphasize private sector efforts to catalyze sustainable growth and development during this critical implementation phase.
In the session entitled “Private Sector Investing in the SDGs”, WBCSD members KPMG, Tata and Danone demonstrated concrete examples of how business was mobilizing to make a transformative impact and shared insights into some of the critical steps that were needed for scale up.
The SDG Business Forum ended with the publication of a business communique issued by the leading business organizations that organized the event. The statement highlights business support for the SDGs as a framework of universally applicable goals to tackle the world’s most pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges in the lead-up to 2030 and beyond and calls on the UN system and its member states to foster further collaboration in putting the appropriate political incentives and frameworks in place.
For more information on the business implications of SDGs, please refer to our recently published CEO Guide to the SDGs.