Fourth annual Sustainable Development Impact Summit will take place virtually from 21 to 24 September Summit aims to scale up solutions to address the economic, social and environmental challenges of our time Explore the programme
September 14th, 2020 Geneva (Switzerland): The World Economic Forum announced today the co-chairs of the annual Sustainable Development Impact Summit, taking place from 21 to 24 September. Under the theme, “Realizing a Great Reset for Sustainable Development”, the summit will initiate, accelerate and scale-up entrepreneurial solutions to tackle climate change and advance sustainable development.
The summit’s fourth year comes at a time unlike any other. The COVID-19 pandemic has paralysed economic activity, forcing many to realize that the health of the planet is tied to our shared prosperity. Importantly, global calls for social justice and equality have prompted necessary and challenging conversations that will make society stronger and more inclusive. Public-private cooperation has never been needed more.
The co-chairs at this year’s summit have been asked to bring new perspectives to tackle the path forward. They will help the 2,100 leaders from government, business and civil society foster collective action and participate in sessions across the programme’s five themes: Shared Prosperity; Catalysing Cooperation; Better Business; Harnessing Technology; and Liveable Planet.
The 2020 co-chairs:
- Alain Bejjani, Chief Executive Officer, Majid Al Futtaim
- Ivan Duque, President of Colombia
- Grace Forrest, Founding Director, Walk Free Foundation
- Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, President, Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad
- Peter Laugharn, Chief Executive Officer, Conrad Hilton Foundation
- Rebecca Masisak, Chief Executive Officer, TechSoup Global
- Anushka Ratnayake, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, myAgro
- Tiffany Yu, Chief Executive Officer, Diversability
“COVID-19 has impacted our lives and livelihoods. It has also galvanized many in the business community to double down and work together towards a great reset,” said Dominic Waughray, Managing Director, World Economic Forum. “We need to unleash the potential of these fast movers and partner them up with government and civil society to achieve the decade of delivery. At this year’s summit, new voices will bring new perspectives on the important issues of our time: social justice; biodiversity loss; economic recovery; transparent ESG reporting; and the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine.”
Many sessions will be streamed and available on the World Economic Forum website. Journalists can view sessions live and access issue briefings on the global impact of the wildfires in the United States, preparing for the next pandemic and the rise of data trust brokers following media sign-up. A full list can be found on our programme.
Key sessions include:
A New Standard for Social Justice
Mobilizing New Power for Change
Pathways for an Economic Reset
Deploying a COVID-19 Vaccine
Towards Common Metrics and Consistent Reporting of Sustainable Value Creation
UpLink: 1 Trillion Trees Challenge
A new virtual 3D experience open to the public will set the scene for learning about the SDGs and the champions working to achieve them by 2030. During the summit, visitors will be able to discover the actions and actors spotlighted on the programme. It will be accessible via the Sustainable Development Impact Summit homepage.
Photo by Eyoel Kahssay on Unsplash
