Singapore host over 700 sustainability leaders to move business from promise to performance

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🗞️ Driving the news: UN Global Compact Network Singapore opened its 18th annual Summit on 2 September, convening more than 700 leaders from business, government, finance and civil society at Sentosa under the theme "From Commitments to Action"
• Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Dr Janil Puthucheary attended, alongside UN Resident Coordinator Nikolas Myint and a video address from UN Global Compact CEO Sanda Ojiambo

🔭 The context: The UN SDG progress report finds only 36% of global targets on track, with 15% having regressed since 2015, four years from the 2030 deadline
• UNGCNS states that Asia and Oceania have outperformed other regions on SDG progress since 2015 and account for a third of global green bond issuance
• The Summit is framed around the UN Global Compact Strategy 2026–2030, covering supply chain accountability, the built environment transition and sustainable finance

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: The Summit addresses the gap between corporate climate pledges and delivery, the point at which commitments either translate into emissions reductions or do not
• Capability-building initiatives in carbon accounting and GHG management target the measurement layer that reduction claims rest on
• Without consistent accounting, corporate targets cannot be verified against outcomes

⏭️ What's next: New Working Groups and Peer Learning Groups are intended to sustain collaboration beyond the event
• A coalition partnership with the Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals makes UNGCNS a licensed training partner, with its Carbon Accounting and GHG Management programme the first to receive ISEP certification

💬 One quote: "The constraint is no longer simply ambition or access to capital. It is execution and execution is a capability, not a pledge" — Dr Bicky Bhangu, President, UN Global Compact Network Singapore

📈 One stat: 36% of global SDG targets on track, with 15% having regressed since 2015.

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