Kicking off virtually today, the UN Global Compact 20th Anniversary Leaders Summit is bringing together leading voices from the UN, businesses, governments, civil society and academia, for a global conversation on how we can rebuild our societies, setting course towards a socially just, low-carbon and climate resilient world, where no one is left behind. Taking place under the theme Recover Better, Recover Stronger, Recover Together and running through 16 June, the event is expected to bring together some 20,000 participants from around the world.

The UN Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly and the President of Ethiopia is kicking off the Summit, which will “chase the sun” for 26 hours allowing speakers and attendees from 68 Global Compact Local Networks to participate in their own time zones and languages. Participants and attendees will be challenged to increase their ambition to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a world recently changed by the COVID-19 crisis.

Some 300 speakers will take the stage, including 30 CEOs, five Heads of State, more than a dozen UN agency principals, Al Gore, Ban Ki-moon, Mark Carney, Paul Polman and the COP Champions Gonzalo Muñoz and Nigel Topping. More than 20 UN entities will also be showcasing their work in a virtual UN Pavilion.

UN DESA joins UN Pavilion and SDG Power Hour

UN DESA is joining this event through a virtual booth in the UN Pavilion, presenting efforts on financing sustainable development, providing economic analysis and policy advice for a sustainable recovery from COVID-19.

The booth is also featuring UN DESA experts available for one-on-one networking meetings with business counterparts, and a live debate on how the world can avoid a global debt crisis. The debate is taking place on 15 June from 12:30 to 1:30 pm EDT.

UN DESA’s Under-Secretary-General Liu Zhenmin will also take the main stage for the SDG Power Hour on 15 June from 5 to 6 pm EDT. He will be joined by the Executive Director of UNFPA, Natalia Kanem; the Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka; the Vice Chairman at Bank of America, Anne Finucane; Chief Executive Officer of Sustainable Energy for All, Damilola Ogunbiyi; and other business representatives to talk about the role of the private sector in financing for SDGs during the recovery from COVID-19. The session will be moderated by international journalist and writer Femi Oke.

Photo by Coleen Rivas on Unsplash