Excellencies, Business leaders, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I send my warmest greetings to this closing session of the SDG Business Forum. 

I thank the International Chamber of Commerce, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and the UN Global Compact for bringing together the private sector at this challenging time.

With the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging all corners of the world, this is a key moment to discuss lasting solutions for a more sustainable future, in line with Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement.

Five years since the adoption of the SDGs, I am encouraged by the response we are witnessing from the private sector. I congratulate the business sector for the commitment demonstrated this Monday at the UN Global Compact Private Sector Forum, where on the occasion of UN75 over 100 CEO from over 100 countries signed a statement of support for renewed global cooperation.

You are deeply engaged in all areas of SDG implementation. On the financing side, the Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance is breaking new ground and you are developing products to support government efforts to expand social protection and cash transfers. You are transitioning investment portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and promoting youth innovation and gender equality.

You have stepped up to support efforts to overcome the COVID-19 crisis, for example, by facilitating online education for children and young people.

But we must go further, faster.

I welcome the Private Sector COVID-19 Global Facility, launched by the UN Development Programme, the UN Global Compact and the International Chamber of Commerce, to focus on public-private and private-private cooperation to unlock new possibilities for sustainable growth.

With the SDGs and the UN Global Compact's Ten Principles as a blueprint, this partnership can help to engage and support the private sector and our societies to recover better.

I commend the emphasis the Facility will put on country contexts, to adapt its work to specific challenges and opportunities.  If we want our efforts to transform lives, we need to work at the country level, making full use of the Global Compact country networks and working hand in hand with other partners, with the support of our Resident Coordinators and UN country teams, and building on the national COVID-19 Socio-economic response plans.

More than ever before, we need solidarity, hope and the political will to see this crisis through together. We have the knowledge, capacity, and innovation needed. If we are ambitious enough, we can gather the full complement of resources required to implement the SDGs successfully.

Let us rise to meet the moment!

I thank you.