Business Calls for New Business Engagement Architecture for HLPF

Bizfor2030 blog’s most recent post, written by Dr. Louise Kantrow, the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) Permanent Representative to the United Nations and coordinator of the Global Business Alliance for 2030 (GBA), looks at the existing model for Business Engagement in the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda and notes concerns that we do not yet have the structures in place at a policy level to attract and catalyze the requisite business expertise, resources and motivation to aid with implementation.  In response to these challenges, the GBA – an umbrella group of major global industry associations and business organizations – has proposed the establishment of a High Level Political Forum Business Coordinating Mechanism (HLPF/BCM) modelled after the successful engagement structures for Financing for Development and the Committee on Food Security. 

The HLPF/BCM would operate as an autonomously governed, distinct business representative entity that will serve as a focal point for Member States, offering comprehensive engagement with the full diversity of business expertise that can inform policy discussions on implementing the 2030 Agenda.  The proposal ensures that the private sector have clear, separate recognition in the HLPF process and throughout the UN system, which will make communication and sharing of views more efficient and clear, improving coordination, sharing of best practices and hopefully, scaling-up successful initiatives within and across borders.  Read the proposal in more detail at the The Bizfor2030 Blog.

In addition to the blog, explore the other resources on the Business for 2030 portal (www.businessfor2030.org), launched by the United States Council for International Business in advance of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Summit in 2015. The goal of Business for 2030 is to improve the relationship between business and the UN by explaining how the 2030 agenda affects companies, including the new expectations on the private sector and new opportunities to partner with other stakeholders. The centerpiece of the site is its target-by-target catalogue of case studies that help the private sector communicate how its sustainability efforts support achievement of the SDGs and simultaneously helps governments and other companies understand how business can contribute to achieving the SDGs.