Business and a Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda
Stakeholder Forum in partnership with the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and Business Fight Poverty organised on April 17 the event ‘Business and a Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda: Where Next’. The event discussed how the private sector is engaging with the current Post-2015 Development Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals process and brought together a diversity of organisations working on these issues in the private sector, NGOs, business associations, governments and research institutions.
The panel was composed by Louise Haigh, Public Policy Manager, Aviva plc; Marianne Mwaniki, Senior Manager, Standard Chartered; Alice Allan, CARE International UK; Dominic White, WWF UK and David Hallam, Deputy-Director Post-2015 Goals, British Cabinet Office.
The event discussed three main agendas around which the private sector is currently engaged:
The inclusive growth and jobs agenda: the discussion focused on the role of the private sector in job creation and inclusive growth. Panellists pointed out that it is important to understand which sectors are driving job creation and the quality of the jobs being created.
The transparency and accountability agenda: groups working around this agenda highlight the role of corporate sustainability reporting as a transparency tool that can drive change in the way businesses conduct their activities. A sustainable development goals framework will benefit from embedding targets and/or indicators on corporate transparency and accountability that will strengthen the positive contribution of private sector in development.
Delivery through global partnerships: partnerships have become important mechanisms to deliver development outcomes. There are different types of partnerships (public-private, multi-stakeholder, etc.) at different levels (local, national, international). It was pointed out that partnerships should be better understood and good practices encouraged. They can potentially become a way to bridge global aspirations with local problems and local contexts.
More information about these conversations can be found in ODI’s paper ‘Business and a Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda: Where Next’
