Partnerships for Inclusive Growth: Private Sector Investment in the SDGs

Leveraging public-private sector partnerships to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

New York, 22 September 2017 – More systematic collaboration between private sector, government and development actors in their contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will not only yield greater and more lasting social and environmental impact, it will also advance market-based opportunities for all, said panelists at a United Nations General Assembly side event on Friday.

The event, organized by the Government of Turkey and UNDP’s Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development, brought together company leadership from Mastercard, IBM, Deloitte, the Rockefeller Foundation, Global Resources Institute and the Islamic Development Bank to discuss opportunities for increased partnership between private sector, the government and development actors to achieve the SDGs.

Core to this was understanding how SDGs can be successfully integrated into strategic business models so that companies are making sustainable development impact while still meeting their corporate targets.

“Achieving the 2030 Agenda will require a transformation in the way the private sector does business. The SDGs need to be integrated into core strategies and operations of companies of all sizes. This will ensure that economic and social benefits from business activities are maximized and negative environmental impacts minimized,” said Magdy Martinez Soliman, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Bureau for Policy and Programme Support Director.

Jenifer Crozier, Vice President for Corporate Citizenship and President of IBM International Foundation, highlighted the importance of partnering across sectors, and adapting at the same pace of technological innovation: 'No one company, no one sector can do this alone, and recognising that that is the key to success. We also need to consider how we leverage what is coming in terms of digital technology in relation to SDGs. For example, we can use artificial intelligence to reach affected communities in emergency situations through automated call centres to provide important information.”

There is a growing acknowledgement across all sectors that global problems of poverty, inequality and universal access to healthcare and education are too complex to be tackled alone. This is reconfirmed by the Global Goal 17, which explicitly recognizes business as indispensable to global partnership for sustainable development.

Robert de Jongh, Deloitte Specialist Leader, Social Finance, highlighted the specific role the United Nations has the potential to play in linking the different actors contributing to SDGs at the country level.

“The UN has the potential to be a bespoke player on the ground; to broker the right kind of capital for the right opportunity at the right time; to de-risk situations to make engagement more attractive to the private sector,” said Mr de Jongh.

Mastercard Senior Vice President Antonia Stroeh said private sector’s ability to innovate, as well as ensuring business models are inter-operable, enabled it to take a flexible and human-centred approach to achieving the SDGs, making business a logical partner for development actors and governments.

“Innovation and building business models are key to SDG contribution from private sector. Interoperability and scalability allows us to improve the life of the human at the centre of all of this,” Ms Stroeh said.

For further information:
BCtA Communications Lead: Aimee Brown at aimee.brown@undp.org or +1 929 313 4481

UNDP Private Sector Partnerships: UNDP is co-designing new approaches to convene businesses, governments and civil society to test new partnership models and design high-value business solutions that hit multiple SDG targets across different sectors. UNDP’s approach for working with the private sector can be explained around 3 “Cs”: Convene, Catalyze and Capitalize to leverage partnerships for the SDGs.
Business Call to Action (BCtA): Launched in 2008, BCtA aims to accelerate progress towards the SDGs by challenging companies to develop inclusive business models that offer the potential for both commercial success and development impact. BCtA is a unique multilateral alliance between key donor governments, including Dutch MFA, SIDA, SDC, USAID, Finland, and UNDP. BCtA’s 200+ member companies, across 67 countries have pledged to provide access to financial services for 59M people, improve health for 63M and enhance access to energy for 90M homes.