Last week,...at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit...[we] started our journey to 2030, by charting our way towards a world free from poverty, inequality, hunger, conflict and diminishing resources - in short, a world that leaves no one behind... [Over] 1,200 people joined us... [at the Summit] to explore and act on business opportunities that will reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)... 

We were further inspired by the first-ever class of ten Local SDG Pioneers honoured at the Leaders Summit. These individuals lead with action by championing sustainability through their business models... 

During the Summit, we mapped out the work the UN Global Compact will be leading with partners and stakeholders in every quarter to Make Global Goals Local Business... The next step in this journey will be the United Nations Private Sector Forumon 19 September 2016...

But today, this is my message to you: we need an energetic and positive approach to reaching the SDGs... We need to stop focusing on risks, and instead find the opportunities that lie behind the global goals.