Continue the conversations that matter over breakfast with fellow sustainability leaders. This second-day networking breakfast is an opportunity to strengthen connections, exchange practical insights from day one and explore collaboration as organizations move from ambition to action in advancing sustainable and responsible value-generating business practices.

 

Join these short, structured opportunities to engage with peers from your sector. Through focused conversation and shared experiences, participants can surface common priorities and strengthen professional connections. Each circle is 20 minutes long.

 

 

The private sector is responsible for a significant share of global emissions and environmental impacts. Aligning corporate actions with national and global sustainability goals is essential to drive systemic change toward a net-zero economy. For business leaders and policymakers alike, the interdependency between climate and nature is increasingly clear, and treating them as separate issues exposes them to strategic risks and inefficiencies. This session will showcase the role of collective action in aligning corporate transition plans with high-integrity policies and enhancing collaboration between non-state actors and governments. By moving beyond silos and integrating ambitious climate-nature strategies, participants will explore how to leverage multi-stakeholder partnerships to drive systemic change and turn high-level commitments into coordinated, high-integrity results. This session is for business leaders, Government officials, finance professionals, UN representatives.

Despite increasing corporate commitments to gender equality, structural barriers limit what individual companies can achieve. With the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals approaching, a new type of leadership is necessary to shape the systems in which companies operate. This dialogue brings together business leaders, policymakers and UN agencies to discuss moving from internal practices to systems-level change. Topics include legal and regulatory barriers, responsible business advocacy grounded in the Women's Empowerment Principles, strategies to close gender gaps through supply chain collaboration, gender-responsive climate finance, public childcare investment and inclusive procurement frameworks. Participants will gain strategies for collective action, tools for value chain collaboration, and connections with peers and policymakers committed to structural reform. This session is for Director-level corporate leaders, policymakers, UN partners and senior management from participating companies.

In emerging markets, bridging the investment gap requires moving beyond traditional funding to embrace high-impact, catalytic models. This session explores how business and finance leaders can mobilize capital at scale to address urgent sustainability priorities, such as clean energy and resilient infrastructure, where traditional financing often falls short. The session will examine various models, including blended finance, public-private partnerships, and de-risking mechanisms that unlock responsible and sustainable investment. It provides a roadmap for senior leaders in finance, strategy, and partnerships to progress from pilot projects to systemic impact. This session is for senior players from or focused on emerging markets seeking to catalyze capital for key sustainability issues, and senior leaders and sustainability teams in finance, investment strategy, and partnerships.

 

Collective action is essential for building sustainable markets that reward integrity, level the playing field and enable scale. This session explores how standards, platforms and market-based incentives can shift business integrity from isolated company action to broader systems change. Drawing on the UN Global Compact’s anti-corruption work under the Siemens Integrity Initiative, the discussion examines how companies, governments and stakeholders can collaborate to address shared risks, strengthen market conditions and create enabling environments for responsible business. Participants will gain insight into how collective solutions can drive trust, resilience and long-term value across sectors and markets. This session is for senior leaders and professionals in strategy, policy, legal, market development, innovation standards or policy engagement roles amd for finance, legal and public affairs leaders focused on scaling collective solutions through market mechanisms.

Trade fragmentation, AI disruption and rising Scope 3 accountability are redefining procurement. Once a cost-control function, it is now a driver of resilience, compliance and competitive advantage. As sustainability reporting tightens and supply chain risks intensify, procurement leaders face the challenge of moving from reactive sourcing to strategic transformation. This session explores how leading companies are embedding sustainability into procurement decisions, aligning finance and operations and leveraging AI for visibility and risk management. It will also introduce a new Sustainable Procurement Framework, developed with the OECD, ILO, UNEP, and other partners, designed to support practical implementation across global value chains. This session is for chief procurement officers; chief financial officers; innovation executives; sustainability, strategy, and operations leaders; government procurement officials; and business associations.

Enjoy a lunch break with fellow Summit participants—an easy moment to connect, recharge and exchange perspectives before the sessions ahead. Lunch will be plant-forward and served without single-use plastics.

Join these short, structured opportunities to engage with peers from your sector. Through focused conversation and shared experiences, participants can surface common priorities and strengthen professional connections. Each circle is 20 minutes long.

In a climate of geopolitical instability, sustainability has evolved from a compliance task into a competitive necessity. For leaders overseeing $200 trillion in private assets, the priority is clear: mobilizing capital to ensure long-term resilience and value creation. This session will examine the tangible return on investment of innovative tools such as blended finance and AI-enabled data solutions that transform risk management into strategic expansion. Tailored for senior executives, it will offer peer-to-peer exchanges to share insights, surface challenges and identify opportunities for collaboration as they navigate today’s uncertain operating environment. This session is for Chief executives and senior leaders exploring how business and finance can drive sustainable investment in today’s complex global landscape alongside Government and UN actors seeking to deliver on Financing for Development, specifically paragraph 34 in the Sevilla Commitment and Action 55 in the 2026 UN Financing for Sustainable Development Report.

Advancing living wages across company operations and global supply chains is a significant challenge, often hindered by systemic barriers, including complex supply chains and uncertain methodologies. As expectations from investors, regulators and workers grow, closing living-wage gaps is increasingly important for businesses worldwide. This roundtable will explore how collective action can drive scalable progress by drawing on examples of companies working with peers, suppliers and stakeholders to accelerate impact. Discussions will focus on supplier engagement, responsible purchasing and multi-stakeholder collaboration. Participants will gain insights into strategies to advance living wages in their operations and supply chains, contributing to more resilient supply chains and improved worker well-being. This session is for sustainability, procurement, and supply chain professionals, as well as government representatives, CSOs, workers' and employers' organizations, and UN partners.

This session explores how companies can transform internal innovation into scalable, system-shaping solutions. It features a short talk on innovation, followed by live pitches from five teams from the SDG Innovation Accelerator. Each team will present a market-ready solution, receive feedback from experts on ambition, feasibility, and business value and have the audience vote on the most compelling ideas. The session highlights decision-making moments and explores how organizations can unlock their potential to drive systems-level change. This session is for professionals leading or supporting innovation, strategy, research and development, transformation, or intrapreneurship initiatives and senior leaders and sustainability teams shaping business strategy and seeking to scale internal solutions.

Small and medium-sized enterprises are increasingly required to meet sustainability demands due to buyer requirements, new regulations and market expectations. This session addresses the challenges of starting, prioritizing and financing these efforts. It brings together SMEs, global buyers, technology innovators and financial institutions to discuss actionable sustainability plans, buyer expectations, AI for growth and financing strategies. Participants will gain practical tools, clarity and connections through real-world examples and expert exchanges. This session is for SME owners, chief sustainability officers, executives, technology innovators, supply chain partners, buyers and financiers

 

As corruption risks evolve with geopolitical changes, AI adoption, supply chain disruptions and increasing regulatory demands, advancing business integrity requires smarter policy design and stronger public-private collaboration. This session will bring together leaders from government, business, and the expert community for a dialogue on how enabling policy environments can incentivize ethical business conduct, strengthen compliance and support responsible innovation. Participants will gain insights into public-sector integrity priorities, the role of business in shaping effective policy, and examples of public-private partnerships that align market incentives with transparency, accountability and sustainable growth. This session is for professionals in regulatory affairs, legal, compliance, public policy or enterprise risk and fpr sustainability leaders, government affairs and senior executives involved in external engagement and trust.

 

 

Cap off two days of dialogue, insight and collaboration at the Forward Together reception, a celebratory and purpose-driven gathering designed to honour progress, deepen connections and fuel momentum toward bold, collective action on the SDGs. After immersive sessions and meaningful exchanges, this closing reception brings together participants from across sectors and regions to reflect on key takeaways, strengthen partnerships and envision the next steps to drive growth and impact.