During the first week of the UN High Level Political Forum, USCIB’s Moving the Needle (MTN) Initiative convened a side event at APCO Worldwide, “I for Implementation: SDG9 In Action.” The July 12 event highlighted successful collaborative partnerships reflecting SDG9’s emphasis on Industry, Infrastructure and Innovation. According to USCIB Senior VP for Policy and Global Strategy Norine Kennedy, prioritizing SDG9 will be catalytic to getting society back on track across all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and represents a departure point for concrete sustainability and solidarity initiatives from business.
Speakers from government missions, the UN community, NGOs and USCIB members Bayer, Mastercard and Microsoft highlighted opportunities to mobilize the private sector working with governments and other stakeholders through and with the UN system via collaboration, the deployment of innovative technologies and tools, and an emphasis on resilient infrastructure and related investments.
U.S. Deputy Representative to the UN Economic and Social Council (UN ECOSOC) Jonathan Shrier opened the event with a statement of U.S. commitment to collaborating with business to bring forward and widely deploy practical solutions. He said: “The bottom line is this—we can meet even the most daunting global challenges if we translate our commitment to the SDGs into meaningful action at all levels,” pursuing partnerships with the private sector.
Mastercard’s Senior Vice President, Global Public Policy & Government Affairs Ravi Aurora, who serves on USCIB’s Board, reflected on the linkages across different forms of infrastructure that innovation makes possible, such as digital access to financial services, and how one innovation in infrastructure has a multiplier effect of benefits to communities.
Dr. Venkata Kishore, VP and global head of veg seeds smallholders and sustainability at Bayer, provided examples of innovation deployment through partnerships with local communities that have enabled energy access and food security.
At the halfway point to 2030 when the UN Sustainable Development Goals are due, the UN has assessed that only 12% of the 160+ targets are on track, and most others are at risk of failure without additional action. It was against this backdrop that the last HLPF prior to the SDG Summit in September met to take stock. In addition to SDG9, other areas of discussion at the HLPF included clean water, energy and cities. USCIB was present to inform deliberations with business experience and recommendations to reinvigorate progress towards the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
Addressing the closing session, USCIB Policy Manager for Environment and Sustainable Development Agnes Vinblad called on the HLPF “to prioritize and strengthen problem-solving and practical dialogue involving the private sector at national, regional and global levels, and to empower and mainstream public private partnerships here at the UN.”
“At this time of concern about too slow progress toward the SDGs, USCIB’s MTN initiative has argued that the international community needs to assess where the most impact for implementation can be set into motion, and to enlist the capabilities, expertise and resources that are unique to business,” added Kennedy. This is a major focus of MTN, which is bringing forward private sector tools, metrics and partnerships to advance sustainability, science, innovation and solidarity solutions.
MTN will deliver recommendations to the SDG Summit for inclusive and practical multilateralism that gets the SDG’s moving at pace and scale.
For more information about MTN, contact Carina Sølling Damm.