Global Partnerships Week (GPW) kicked off yesterday, March 6, to celebrate the role of public-private partnerships in promoting global development and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The two-week, annual event is organized by Concordia, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Secretary’s Office of Global Partnerships, and PeaceTech Lab and engages experts from the public and private sectors, as well as foundations and multilateral institutions.

The U.S. Institute of Peace hosted GPW’s day-long Global Practitioners Forum yesterday, which focused on engaging practitioners in achieving what many consider to be the most imperative and interconnected SDG, Goal 17. Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar moderated the opening panel titled “Goal 17 in 2017: Partnerships for the Global Goals,” which featured USCIB members KPMG and Novozymes, as well as UNESCO, UN Foundation and New America. The panel aimed to explore the role of partnerships in addressing challenges presented by inequality, poverty and governance to ensure the achievement of a comprehensive 2030 development agenda.

Claus Stig Pedersen, head of corporate sustainability at Novozymes, presented participants with anecdotes and insights around partnership challenges, as companies look to align both longer-term strategies and growth opportunities with the SDGs. “It’s not just about partnerships for the sake of doing partnerships, it’s an investment in the future, but it takes time,” stated Pedersen. Pedersen cited several examples including Novozymes’ leadership in the Sustainable Energy for All initiative (SE4ALL), first launched by the United Nations and World Bank at the Rio+20 Summit in 2012, where it subsequently helped establish a coalition of partners aimed at developing and deploying sustainable bio-energy solutions. “Although the partnership was first launched in 2013, we [Novozymes] have continued to stay engaged, establishing concrete projects and cases that are driving the initiative forward.” While many stakeholders increasingly subscribe to the idea of partnership, Pedersen noted some of the success factors behind this effort. “We all really need to do our due diligence and build up good relationships together, as well as learn to draw on each other’s strengths as we look to partner to achieve greater positive impact.”

Additional information on Novozymes public-private partnerships can be found on USCIB’s Business for 2030 website, which serves as an important tool to showcase business’s past and continuing contributions to sustainable development through the prism of the SDGs.