UN Global Compact Leaders Summit calls on business leaders to turn sustainability ambition into action at scale

Global leaders gather in New York to advance practical action on business resilience, climate and nature, human rights, sustainable finance and more resilient global markets

NEW YORK, Sept. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The UN Global Compact today concluded its 2026 Leaders Summit, bringing together more than 750 business leaders, investors, policymakers, United Nations representatives and sustainability experts for a two-day summit focused on turning corporate sustainability commitments into measurable action and building the systems needed to deliver long-term sustainable growth.

Held during the high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly, the Summit centred on Driving Sustainable Growth and Resilience, against a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty, economic volatility, accelerating technological change and growing pressure on companies to demonstrate tangible progress on their sustainability commitments.

Across two days of plenaries, workshops and action-focused discussions, leaders examined how companies can strengthen resilience while continuing to advance responsible business practices and how greater collaboration between business, Governments, investors and other stakeholders can address barriers that no individual company can solve alone.

"Business leaders are operating under extraordinary pressure, but the answer cannot be to retreat into short-termism," said Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact. "Resilience is built when purpose is strong, relevant and embedded in the decisions that shape company strategy and business value. That means translating principles into how companies invest, operate, manage risk and build for the long term. Sustainability is not separate from business performance; it is part of how companies remain competitive and resilient in a changing world."

The Summit reflected the central ambition of the UN Global Compact 2026–2030 Strategy: to mobilize sustainable business from ambition to action at the scale required to deliver meaningful progress for business, people and the planet.

Discussions centred on six interconnected areas: Leadership and Integrity; Climate and Nature; Human Rights and Decent Work; Sustainable Finance and Capital; Collective Action and Systems Change; and Policy, Procurement and Supply Chains.

The first day focused on implementation inside companies, including how leaders can maintain trust and credibility under pressure, integrate sustainability into enterprise risk and business strategy, strengthen human rights due diligence, accelerate the clean energy transition and respond responsibly to the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence.

Speakers including Katharine Hayhoe of The Nature Conservancy, Erin Brockovich, David Kennedy of the Science Based Targets initiative, Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa of Naspers, Subho Mukherjee of Nokia and business and policy leaders from around the world examined how sustainability can be translated from corporate commitments into decisions on capital, operations, governance and supply chains.

The second day moved beyond action by individual companies to examine the broader systems in which businesses operate, including the policies, market incentives, financial structures and supply chains that can either accelerate or constrain progress.

To drive systemic progress toward the 2030 Agenda, the UN Global Compact is expanding its focus beyond individual corporate commitments toward multi-stakeholder collaboration aimed at breaking down market, policy and financial barriers. Looking ahead to 2027, the Global Compact announced plans to establish a shared infrastructure across climate, living wages, gender equality and sustainable finance to aggregate demand, de-risk investments and scale long-term solutions across global value chains.

Sessions explored how companies and Governments can align corporate climate and nature transition plans, expand progress on gender equality and living wages, mobilize catalytic capital for emerging markets and use procurement as a driver of sustainability, resilience and competitive advantage.

Finance was a central focus throughout the Summit. Business leaders, investors and financial institutions examined how blended finance, catalytic capital, public-private partnerships and new approaches to risk can help mobilize investment into clean energy, resilient infrastructure and other areas where conventional financing remains insufficient.

The Summit also examined the growing strategic role of procurement as businesses respond to changing regulation, increasing Scope 3 accountability, trade fragmentation and technological disruption. Discussions highlighted the opportunity to use purchasing power and supply chain relationships not simply to manage compliance, but to strengthen resilience and accelerate responsible business practices across global value chains.

In a series of Action Tables, senior leaders focused on areas where collective action is essential to achieve progress at scale, from advancing living wages and gender equality to integrating climate and nature strategies, and mobilizing sustainable finance.

The Summit concluded with a focus on the role of business in helping to shape the markets and systems in which it operates. Mark Zandi of Moody's, Rutger Bregman of The School for Moral Ambition, Boyan Slat of The Ocean Cleanup and other leaders joined discussions examining how policy, capital, innovation and corporate leadership can combine to create stronger incentives for sustainable business.

About the United Nations Global Compact
As a special initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General, the UN Global Compact is a call to companies worldwide to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Our vision is clear: to mobilize business to transform sustainability ambition into action at the scale the world demands. With more than 25,000 participants and a presence in over 100 countries through 5 Regional Hubs and more than 70 Country Networks and expansion territories, the UN Global Compact is the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative.

For more information, follow @globalcompact on social media and visit the UN Global Compact website.

SOURCE United Nations Global Compact