Business, Sustainability Leaders of 180 Countries Attend UN Global Compact Summit

Addis Ababa, June 17/2020(ENA) Ethiopia attended UN Global Compact’s 20th anniversary Leaders Summit online in which more than 20,000 sustainability champions from over 180 countries participated yesterday.

The summit under the theme “Recover Better, Recover Stronger, Recover Together” aimed at providing a platform where leaders from business, civil society, governments and the UN were challenged to reflect on the importance of collaboration and public-private partnerships to achieve the SDGs. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Presidents of Botswana, Colombia, Costa Rica and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia joined the President of the UN General Assembly and UN Secretary-General alongside dozens of Chief Executive Officers and UN chiefs at the United Nations Global Compact Leaders Summit to address the private sector’s response to three unprecedented and interconnected global crises — health, inequality and climate change.

As one of  the UN’s largest, most inclusive and sustainable convening of purpose-driven business leaders, the summit addressed the private sector’s response to three unprecedented and interconnected global crises, including  health, inequality and climate change.

In his opening remarks, UN Secretary-General António Guterres  said taking strong steps to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and reporting publicly on progress is pivotal.

 “I am encouraged to see so many companies, of so many sizes and from so many sectors and countries, recognizing the urgent need for global unity and international cooperation. Our shared aim is to see businesses integrating the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact into their core strategy and operations,” the secretary-general added.

Finally, the  Leaders Summit marked the transition to new leadership for the UN Global Compact, with Sanda Ojiambo of Kenya taking over from Denmark’s Lise Kingo as Executive Director.