- World Economic Forum meeting sees renewed action on cleaning up plastic waste, polluted air and contaminated water
- Progress on climate action includes launch of Crypto Sustainability Coalition and enhanced commitments on Scope 3 emissions
- Champions of the reskilling revolution continue to make progress in upskilling and reskilling one billion people
New York, USA, 23 September 2022 – The World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Development Impact Meetings have taken place against a complex backdrop of interconnected crises that threaten progress on both climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals. United Nations sustainable development. This includes soaring global energy costs, driven by the war in Ukraine, as well as high inflation and rising commodity prices, pushing millions more into food insecurity and poverty.
From September 19-23, 2022, more than 800 leaders from the private sector, government and civil society gathered from around the world to agree on concrete actions to address these pressing issues.
“It is all the more important to find ways to work together in an increasingly fractured world,” said Børge Brende, President and Board Member of the World Economic Forum. “Despite difficult headwinds, there are examples – pockets – of collaboration that are not only promising, but offer insight into what makes cooperation possible, and even sustainable.”
The sustainability impact meetings focused on four themes, with the challenge of responding to climate change cutting across them all: scaling up climate action; accelerate industry transformation; shaping resilient economies and societies; and advancing regional and global cooperation.
During the meetings, Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal at the European Commission, stressed the importance of putting people first. “We can only solve the climate crisis if we put people’s health, prospects and livelihoods at the heart of our actions and interventions,” he said.
At the meetings, experts came to discuss the fragility of interconnected global resource systems and the need to include food in the climate discussion, especially as global food systems are under enormous pressure. . “When food fails, everything fails,” said Geraldine Matchett, co-chief executive of Royal DSM. “We must work to transform our food systems so that they are resilient, sustainable and healthy.”
Business leaders from all sectors shared their ambitions, concrete plans and actions. “The private sector plays a vital role in helping countries around the world overcome the current energy and food crises while continuing to fight for higher climate ambitions,” said Mirek Dušek, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum.
The following concrete actions and outcomes were agreed at the meeting:
– The first ministerial meeting of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, a coalition of 24 governments, met to discuss a roadmap to end plastic pollution by 2040 and to identify priorities for upcoming negotiations on a UN treaty on plastic pollution.
– Ecuador has joined the World Economic Forum’s Global Plastics Action Partnership (GPAP) to guide national solutions against plastic pollution towards a circular economy, becoming the first country in Latin America to do so. TO DO.
– The World Economic Forum and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have signed a letter of intent aimed at strengthening collaboration in the fight against the global food crisis through data and digitization, with the aim of supporting inclusive, sustainable and healthy agri-food systems. as well as increased investment flows in the sector.
– The First Movers Coalition, a global initiative to decarbonize seven “hard to reduce” industrial sectors that account for 30% of global emissions, has launched its finance pillar. This brings together financial sector players to develop a master plan aimed at mobilizing financing and improving understanding of medium and long-term risks.
– A new report, Forests for Climate: Scaling up Forest Conservation to Reach Net Zero, makes the case for private sector investment in national and subnational approaches to forest protection. The report analyzes an approach known as “jurisdictional REDD+” that channels results-based payments to forest governments and communities that avoid deforestation across entire landscapes.
– The Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, representing 123 companies in 26 countries, has committed to setting Scope 3 targets, alongside targets already set for Scope 1 and Scope 2. Scope 3 is key to tackling carbon emissions. the value chain, which represent 80% of GHG emissions estimated at 4.3 Gt by the Alliance.
Accelerate industry transformation
– The Forum announced the launch of the Crypto Sustainability Coalition, a public-private initiative comprising more than 30 different partners that aims to study and demonstrate how Web3 technologies can accelerate the low-carbon transition and support communities vulnerable to climate change.
– The Forum has released new case studies of six leading companies’ disclosure experiences against the Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics, which illustrate how metrics are driving internal business transformation and creating impact in the wider world environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports.
– Climate zero trade
The community presented 25 key climate technologies for trade ministers to prioritize to advance climate action. The community has also supported new work on climate-related foreign investment projects and enhanced net-zero trade capacity building for developing countries.
– A wide range of nutrition and food policy actors engaged in the creation of the Nutrition Transformation Network. The initial focus of the network will be to align with an evidence-based perspective on the role of nutrition and a roadmap to increase availability, access and uptake of nutritious food choices at scale. .
Shaping resilient economies and societies
– The Reskilling Revolution community took stock of its progress to date and aligned on key levers to accelerate progress in reskilling and upskilling 1 billion people, and recognized the groundwork currently underway courses by countries and industries. Nigeria has become the latest country to launch a skills accelerator in conjunction with the Forum, joining 12 other countries paving the way for reskilling and upskilling.
– The World Economic Forum’s Refugee Employment and Employability Initiative will help share frameworks and case studies to support refugees in the labor markets of their host countries. More than 140 human resource managers will support the initiative.
- The Partnership for Racial Justice in Business initiative brought together business leaders and refined its strategy, building consensus around an approach to addressing racism and defining the geographic scope of the initiative. At the same time, building on the findings of the Global Gender Gap 2022 report, the World Economic Forum continues to drive progress towards gender parity through its national gender parity accelerators and CEO leadership of the Global Alliance for Gender Equality.
Advance regional and global cooperation
– The Forum and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) have jointly launched a task force that brings together government, business leaders and international organizations in the region to support the implementation of the free trade area. -exchange and identify opportunities for cooperation.
– The Coalition of Ministers and CEOs of Leaders for a Sustainable Middle East and North Africa met with global stakeholders to discuss progress on Paris Agreement commitments at COP27 and beyond . Discussions focused on the role of global enablers, including finance, technology and trade in a regional context, as well as lessons and potential synergies from other regions.
- – The Humanitarian and Resilience Investment Initiative (HRI) has brought together major international financial institutions, investors, donors, foundations and leading entrepreneurs working in fragile contexts to advance collaboration and help develop investment opportunities. Participants agreed that accepting higher risk, allowing greater access to capital and changing mindsets around investing in these markets are key to unlocking greater impact.
– Members of the Resilience Consortium and leaders of multilateral development banks and development institutions discussed the need for more coordinated investment in long-term resilience and sustainable solutions. The group agreed to raise public and private awareness and invest in resilience initiatives, including at major upcoming gatherings such as COP27 and COP28.
Innovate with UpLink
– UpLink announced the winners of the Innovative Funds for Our Future Challenge – 17 top innovators and 70 investment funds focusing on start-up to scale-up companies across eight SDGs: nature, ocean, plastics, climate action , circular economy, water, health and education. He also announced a new collaboration with Africa Teen Geeks, Africa’s largest IT NGO, to support disadvantaged communities.
The meetings bring together communities of purpose, which include business leaders, policy makers, international and civil society organizations, innovators and entrepreneurs. These stakeholders will use the meetings to advance their work, make concrete progress on the Sustainable Development Goals and build momentum towards key milestones in the months ahead, including COP27 and the 2023 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting from 15 to January 20.
