Private Sector Leadership Vital to Advance Sustainable Development, Business Practices, Secretary-General Says in Message for World Chambers Congress

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the International Chamber of Commerce’s thirteenth World Chambers Congress “Achieving peace and prosperity through multilateralism”, in Geneva today:

Dear friends,

I thank the World Chambers Congress for your focus on “Achieving peace and prosperity through multilateralism”.

We are living through troubled times.  Climate change, escalating conflicts, widening inequalities and a global pushback against human rights and gender equality.  Halfway through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the world is far off track.  Efforts to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C and to protect people from the ever-growing impacts of the climate crisis are falling short.

We need a quantum leap in action — before it’s too late.  We need an immediate stimulus for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to scale up affordable financing for developing countries.

We need to reform an unfair and outdated global financial architecture — ensuring that governance structures embody the voice and participation of developing countries; that multilateral development banks work for all, foster resilience and long-term stable financing and leverage private finance at reasonable rates.

Private sector leadership is vital to advance sustainable development and fight the existential threats of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.  Credit rating agencies must change their assessment methodologies.  Businesses must direct their investments to the SDGs and act accordingly in their role as creditors in developing countries.

In many situations, we see the private sector going ahead and Governments lagging behind in climate action.  Private companies must play a key role in steering governments to move more rapidly, eliminate obstacles and implement regulations that foster ambitious and sustainable business practices.

Now is the time to work together to find solutions — across every country, region and sector:  to lower the cost of capital, drive investments and secure long-term debt sustainability; to ensure that the technologies needed to transform our energy, food and digital systems are accessible and affordable; to build resilience, deliver climate justice and protect lives and livelihoods.

We need the private sector everywhere to drive deep and immediate decarbonization.  This is why I am calling on all business leaders to present credible and detailed transition plans — in line with the recommendations of my High-Level Expert Group on net zero pledges.

I look forward to your stepped-up efforts for climate action and delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals.  Building a more peaceful and prosperous world requires all hands on deck.  I wish you a successful Congress.