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Thinking about accountability and monitoring – how do we go about making sure that what gets agreed in new partnerships, innovations and the SDGs gets implemented?

• Partnerships require attention and patience to develop right collaboration culture
• How to get useful improvement data out of compliance processes e.g. WBA and the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark for downstream companies
• Multi-stakeholder platform to audit implementation and impact - similar to ISO role in standard setting.
• SDGs are too broad. Accounting and implementation needs to be specific
• Engagement with academics prior to implementation to understand impact
• Link CEO performance on SDGs to bonuses. 
• Data drives value. Open source data, networking and sustainbility data blockchain

How can businesses unlock sustainable investment opportunities through new forms of reporting?

• Connecting business/financial success to social/environmental success
• Advertising success for dual benefit to investors and society
• Using impact investor criteria as new indicators of success for business
• Sector and size-defined rules that are accepted at international level
• Need to go back to basics and perfect SMART targets before new reporting innovations
• SDG focused bonds not aligned in terms of reporting or outcomes. Need clear definitions of what is sustainable
• Strategic plans that embed and prioritise SDGs into new inclusive and innovative business models

How can the development of business models be scaled for broader impact?

• Expertise of sustainable development necessary at executive level
• Business practice enshrined in industry standards
• Flexible business models that can be customised depending on size, market and sector
• Focus on integrated reporting over quarterly reporting
• For larger companies, to focus on externalities relating to SDGs - and then finding relevant partners for support
• Financial incentives to shift to alternative suppliers
• Public procurement: rating for sustainable enterprises
• Scaling requires fast innovation into green tech. Government subsidies away from fossil fuels
• Collaboration of smaller sustainable companies with multinationals has reputation effect in favour of MNCs
• Financial system to only focus on sustainable investments
• Examples:
  • Cleanstar Mozambique

How can more impactful and relevant industry partnerships be encouraged to deliver on the SDGs? Please share examples of multi-sector coalitions with common goals.

• Change in leadership style to a more feminine style of leadership focused on collaboration
• Role of industry associations  important to drive SDG fulfilment, similar to being signatory of the PRI. But are they ready to run sustainability themes without looking internally first?
• Plastics is an issue that has seen NGO and businesses working together towards common goal. Need to identify issues like this
• Increasing consumer awareness
• Finding a balance across the SDGs e.g. how to balance the roles of plastics and food waste
• Examples
  • WBCSD
  • BCSD
  • Consumer Goods Forum (not SDG)
  • Irish Tech Goes Carbon Neutral 2020
  • Bangladesh Accord Foundation
  • Responsible Media Forum
  • Ocean Cleanup
  • Alliance to End Plastic Waste
  • New Plastics Economy

What can be done to help encourage more collaboration between business and government to achieve the SDGs?

• Increased transparency and cross-sector access to data
• SDG11 (sustainable cities and communities) is a good example of business and government working together for sustainable development
• Business should take the lead role in developing economies
• Government Climate Action plans to include business stakeholders
• Government to better define national SDG metrics and to include private sector metrics e.g. around SDG12
• Sustainable Development Forum in Italy an upcoming example of business-government collaboration
• Policy and legislation to encourage business
• State-owned business should be best-practice
• Public procurement to have SDG focus e.g. Social Return metrics in the Netherlands
• Top-down and bottom-up incentives (eg: taxes or financing mechanisms)

What can be done to make that link so that reporting is more meaningful?

• Involvement at board-level is necessary to incorporate the SDGs into business strategy
• Standardising SDG reporting to allow for industry-level collaboration
• Connecting SDGs to material topics and stakeholders, and making sure KPIs are relevant to economic and business strategy
• Sustainability and reporting strategy for SMEs
• An audit system for the SDGs
• There are too many reporting frameworks. Need mapping of the overlap between the frameworks