Business leaders, policymakers, and civil society representatives gathered at the 2026 SDG Business Forum in New York to emphasize the critical role of responsible business in accelerating progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and delivering on the Pact for the Future. The Forum highlighted the need for stronger partnerships to mobilize investment, strengthen industrial development, and build resilient infrastructure in an increasingly complex global environment.

Co-convened by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), the UN Global Compact, and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), with the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as co-organizer, the event focused on SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). Discussions also addressed this year's High-level Political Forum (HLPF) review of SDGs 6, 7, and 11.

Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, stressed that sustainability is fundamental to competitiveness and long-term value creation. She called for scaling successful initiatives through stronger partnerships, enabling policy environments, and greater accountability to accelerate progress toward the 2030 Agenda. Ojiambo was joined by Umut Shayakhmetova, CEO of Halyk Bank and President of the UN Global Compact Central Asia Network, and Samaila Zubairu, President and CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation.

The Forum featured two substantive discussions. The first explored the role of business in shaping the future of industrialization amid rapid technological change, artificial intelligence, shifting global supply chains, and the clean energy transition. The second showcased how UN Global Compact Country Networks are collaborating with governments to implement Action 55(c) of the Pact for the Future, demonstrating practical examples of business support for national sustainable development priorities.

During the event, the UN Global Compact launched the Action 55(c) Insights Brief, developed on behalf of the UN Secretary-General. The publication outlines practical recommendations for strengthening private sector engagement and accountability in implementing UN frameworks and advancing the SDGs. Speakers reinforced that sustainable development cannot be achieved without active business involvement.

The UN Global Compact and the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Initiative, hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), have advanced the Ocean Investment Protocol to include recommendations for central banks, financial regulators and supervisors. The update aims to address ocean decline as a material macro-financial risk with implications for price stability, sovereign creditworthiness and the resilience of the global financial system. The initiative was developed in collaboration with the Greening Financial Regulation Initiative of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF GFRi).

Held at the Lloyd's Register Foundation Building in London on June 23, 2026, the closed-door roundtable brought together representatives from central banks, financial regulators, financial institutions, development finance institutions, academia and civil society. Participants discussed how ocean-related risks and dependencies can be incorporated into financial supervision and broader efforts to support a sustainable blue economy. The discussions were informed by WWF's report, "Ocean Health: An Introductory Guide for Central Bankers, Financial Regulators and Supervisors."

Eric Usher, Head of UNEP FI, highlighted the economic potential of the ocean economy. "By 2050, the market value of a sustainable ocean economy could reach $5.5 trillion and financial institutions, including banks, insurers and investors, have a central role to play both in terms of the nature-positive and climate-neutral opportunities they can finance, and the harmful impacts they can avoid," he said.

Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact, emphasized the protocol's role in aligning stakeholders. "The Ocean Investment Protocol serves as critical connective tissue across the sustainable ocean finance ecosystem, helping align companies, investors, insurance, regulators, central banks and policymakers around a shared framework for ocean resilience," she stated. She added that safeguarding ocean health is a financial stability issue and that many tools to assess ocean-related risks already exist within the financial system.

Maud Abdelli, Initiative Lead of WWF's Greening Financial Regulation Initiative, noted the importance of recognizing the value of ocean ecosystems. "A sustainable ocean economy depends on a financial system that recognizes both the value of ocean ecosystems and the risks linked to their decline," she said. She invited central banks, regulators and supervisors to play a more active role in advancing a sustainable ocean economy.

The Ocean Investment Protocol was launched to provide practical guidance for investors, insurers, lenders, governments, development finance institutions and ocean industries. The proposed additions, built on WWF's research, aim to help the financial system internalize the true value of ocean ecosystems and better account for ocean-related risks and opportunities. Insights from the roundtable will be incorporated into a revised draft for consultation of the protocol in the coming months.