VIENNA, 4 October 2017 - "Peace and prevention, reform and sustainable development are the three strategic priorities of the United Nations. To implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) it needs action on global, regional and local level. The private sector and civil society play a crucial role in doing so," said Martin Nesirky, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Vienna, at an event about Global Goals for Business at the Vienna International Centre on 4 October.
More than 40 representatives from the private sector and civil society in Austria participated in the event under the theme "Agenda 2030: Global Goals for Business". They discussed how to achieve the 17 goals and talked about their relevance as well as market potential for the private sector.
First, UNIS Vienna Director Martin Nesirky and representatives of the five largest UN agencies in Vienna presented concrete projects and initiatives that are contributing to achieving the SDGs, which you can find on the website www.unvienna.org/sdgs.
Afterwards, Helga Kromp-Kolb, Professor at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna, presented a series of ideas for giving momentum to implementing the SDGs in Austria, followed by a presentation by Andrea Sihn-Weber from the Raiffeisen Bank International, who described the SDGs as a corporate task.
During a panel discussion with Christoph Müller from the Austrian Institute for Sustainable Development (ÖIN), Andrea Sihn-Weber from the Raiffeisen Bank International and UNIS Director Martin Nesirky, all of the speakers emphasized the importance of the SDG Goals as a political reference framework.
The event was organized by the Austrian Institute for Sustainable Development in cooperation with the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Vienna, the Global Compact Network, the Federation of Industrialists and respACT.
