Be more ambitious with the SDGs — for the world and business

The pressure is mounting for a "new normal." That’s the brief summary from this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, which I attended last month with the United Nations Secretary-General, my team and many of U.N. Global Compact's business partners. World leaders increasingly understand the urgency of becoming more ambitious to deliver the world we all want. Among their chief concerns is climate change, which the 2020 WEF Risk Report presented as the mother of all risks. For the U.N. Global Compact, Davos presented a unique opportunity. It marked that 20 years ago, the late U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan initiated a global compact of shared values and principles between the United Nations and business to give the global market a human face. It also marked the launch into the U.N. Decade of Action to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Walk or talk? The Decade of Action marks a shift. The planetary window for "business as usual" ...