November 3, 2021—As part of its partnership with UN-Habitat to support 1,000 cities in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and impacting the lives of over a billion people from developing, low and middle-income countries, Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA), a coalition dedicated to bringing the private sector together to achieve the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), organised a session for the 1^st Edition of the UN-Habitat's SDG Cities Conference on Sunday, October 31^st 2021.

The session titled Digital Transformation accelerating SDG impact in cities elaborated on the role of digital transformation in local governments in the areas of planning, monitoring and evaluation of policies and projects that have both direct and indirect impact on the SDGs. It also explored the importance of the SDGs in local planning and city development, drawing on the experience of experts and on the successes and challenges of adopting digital solutions in advancing SDGs.

Michelle Tan from GCEOA served as the moderator and opened the session. She introduced the first speaker, Dyfed Aubrey from UN-Habitat, who talked about the SDG cities, the importance of reaching the targets and the productive discussions that happened during the first and second days of the conference. (To know more about the SDG Cities Goals, please visit www.sdg-cities.org)

The next panelist, Dr. Carley Pennink from IHS, discussed the importance of localising the SDGs, with city planning mainly driven by local context and issues. She stressed that although there are challenges and limitations in capacities, it is important to integrate data, information and smart people in strategic and spatial planning process to build more capacity and create the most impact.

Andy Deacon from the Global Covenant of Mayor then discussed the drivers, the pressures and the current state of SDG integration and sustainable urbanization in city development, following with Stacey Duncan from The Agency Broome County IDA / LDC, who spoke about the application of digital technologies in advancing economic development at the local level by giving use-case examples from her projects in New York State.

Katja Schaefer from UN Habitat tackled some of the available ESG/SDG Solutions for Cities and Lennart Fleck from UN-Habitat showcased a walkthrough of the Rapid Own Source Revenue Analysis (ROSRA) Tool, which helps local governments optimize their Own-Source Revenues (OSR) by strengthening the Municipal Finance foundations of local governments, enhancing creditworthiness and enabling local governments to leverage external resources to fund their development.

To conclude the session, Michelle Tan presented a short video showcasing digital tools being developed by GCEOA to support the goals of UN-Habitat and SDG Cities.

The 1^st Edition of the UN Habitat Cities Global Conference aims to promote the local implementation of the SDGs and the New Urban Agenda in cities by introducing frameworks, encouraging cities to develop their Voluntary Local Reviews, increasing awareness among cities of the SDG Cities programme, and reinforcing a global collaborative approach among city leaders, local stakeholders and civil society, national governments, city networks and the private sector.

Through their partnership, UN-Habitat and GCEOA hope to empower cities around the globe by leveraging data to identify best practices, tools, and resources and working towards establishing sustainable practices that put people and the planet at the core. Further, GCEOA will provide tools and online training courses for building capacity for cities in hopes of forming a community of city learners in order to build the core of sustainable urban management competencies of SDG Cities.

October 31, 2021—The socio-economic impacts of ESG risks increasingly affect human beings, alongside physical and natural capital, and the failure to mitigate and adapt to climate change is the most impactful risk in the years to come, according to Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) Chairman and ADEC Innovations President and CEO James Donovan.

Donovan shared this insight during the UN Habitat Cities Global Conference held from October 29 to 31, which was held virtually. His presentation focused on accelerating joint actions to unleash the potential of cities worldwide.

For the advancement of the SDGs in cities, Donovan discussed the importance of developing ESG and sustainability strategies. This, in turn, allows cities and stakeholders to utilize technological solutions to manage and report ESG metrics as well as identify impactful ESG investments.

“Our long experience of managing enterprise data for our clients made us realize early on, that the ESG and Sustainability topic should also be addressed in a science-based and data-driven approach,” he said.

For Donovan, cities have the potential to deliver rapid shifts to a more sustainable future and can be both the source and the solution to many global problems. The government spending alone cannot solve the dramatic change that cities will be facing. It is important that cities and their stakeholders facilitate both technological and financial solutions in accordance with the respective SDG Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement.

Donovan further encouraged actions from both the public and the private sectors as both play a vital role in mitigating and adapting to physical and transitional risks of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. He also encouraged incentives, investment, ingenuity, and unprecedented levels of cooperation.

“Business should not just wait for change to be mandated by governments and regulators. Instead, [they] should be well placed to identify, shape, and invest in the propositions that are profitable while effectively driving growth and opportunities emerging in the future. We are one community, and we must remember that,” Donovan emphasized.

In July 2021, the Global CEO Alliance began a partnership with UN Habitat to support 1,000 cities in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which could have a huge impact on the lives of over a billion people from developing, low and middle-income countries.

This year’s UN Habitat Cities Global Conference aims to promote the local implementation of the SDGs and the New Urban Agenda in cities by introducing frameworks, encouraging cities to develop their Voluntary Local Reviews, increasing awareness among cities of the SDG Cities program, and reinforcing a global collaborative approach among city leaders, local stakeholders and civil society, national governments, city networks, and the private sector.

ADEC Innovations, along with Global CEO Alliance and UN Habitat, vowed to continue supporting the cities worldwide to advance the achievement of SDGs and strengthen local institutions. True to its commitment to sustainability, ADEC Innovations continues to adapt to the increasing social and environmental demands for the benefit and welfare of all, including the most vulnerable sectors of the community. 

September 30, 2021—Upon the recommendation of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has recently granted Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) with a special consultative status to the council.

This consultative status now grants GCEOA the privilege of engaging with ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies, along with the Human Rights Council and, in specific conditions, certain meetings of the General Assembly and other intergovernmental bodies.

With this, GCEOA now joins more than 5,000 NGOs worldwide with active consultative status with ECOSOC.

GCEOA Chairman James Donovan welcomed this new development to their alliance. “We believe that, as a collective of global executives with the common goal of advancing sustainable development, this special consultative status granted to us by ECOSOC will enable us to establish new channels of cooperation with both the public and private sector.”

Established in 1945 as one of UN’s six main organs, ECOSOC serves as the main platform in advancing the three dimensions of sustainable development, namely economic, social, and environmental. It serves as a unique channel for dialogue among policymakers, academics, foundations, parliamentarians, and businesses, and as a gateway for UN partnership.

ECOSOC grants consultative status to NGOs whose work and mission align with the council’s agenda. These NGOs are recommended to the ECOSOC by the Committee on NGOs, which is made of 19 Member States.

September 16, 2021, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia—Mutual trust between the public and private sectors is crucial in swiftly addressing the climate crisis, according to ADEC Innovations CEO and Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) chairman James Donovan.

Donovan joined experts and public officials from West Asian countries during the recently-concluded 2021 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Digital Transformation Conference for Environmental Sustainability, where they discussed the major digital innovations of Western Asian Countries in promoting sustainable solutions.

“It is clear that collective action is crucial to the successful implementation of digital transformation, not only in West Asia. We also need the political will from the governments to galvanize the concerted action coming from organizations like the UNEP,” Donovan said.

Donovan served as the moderator for the discussion, which included UNEP Executive Director Inger Anderson; Jordan’s Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship Ahmad Hanandeh; Bahrain’s Secretary General of the Higher Education Council Sheikha Rana bin Isa Al Khalifa; and Saudi Arabia’s Vice Minister of the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture Mansour Al Mushaiti.

Innovations against climate change

The conference showcased the various inroads and innovations implemented by West Asian countries. Among these are practical applications aimed at humanizing big data and artificial intelligence. 

Mushaiti of Saudi Arabia emphasized the importance of digital governance in sustainability efforts. According to him, sustainable development must be achieved through the alignment and collaboration of agencies across different levels of government from the national to the regional. In particular, he highlighted the Saudi Clean Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative as efforts to promote this.

Similarly, Dr. Albojor of Jordan showcased the development of cloud computing services and AI-enabled solutions in his country. This development promotes an analysis of energy consumption patterns, which, in turn, inspires smarter ways of using scarce resources and enabling smart city solutions.

On the other hand, Bahrain's al Khalifa has stressed the importance of education in developing smart technologies, which will ultimately produce sustainable solutions. She also noted that the future world will be better cared for if the youth are educated about sustainable solutions.

These efforts often go hand-in-hand with innovative solutions developed by the private sector. Donovan’s company, ADEC Innovations, has been at the forefront of promoting sustainability through its comprehensive assurance solutions.

Sustainability in the face of environmental degradation

The panelists emphasized that the current environmental crisis extends beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering how transnational factors impact local situations, they deemed it urgent to address it.

Donovan stressed the importance of collaboration and data-driven decisions to achieve the sustainable agenda for 2030 by the UNEP.

“Science tells us that the planet is facing three crises: Climate crisis, nature and biodiversity, and pollution crises. In addition to that, we received a fundamental warning—through this pandemic, that we must rethink our relationship with nature,” Donovan said.

The UNEP's sustainable development goals, Anderson said, are still not met despite all the efforts made. Managing this looming threat will require better multilateral coordination, information sharing, and technological innovations.

For Donovan, there is no silver bullet in attaining sustainable goals. However, the need for a decisive and informed leadership is crucial both on the side of the private and public sectors. 

The UNEP webinar is a two-day event series held virtually from September 15 to 16. During the series, industry experts and government representatives shared insights and knowledge on the developments made by Western Asian countries, which can also be applied worldwide.

July 2021—A new partnership between UN-Habitat and a community of business leaders aims to support 1,000 cities to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which could significantly impact the lives of over a billion people from developing, low and middle-income countries.

The Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) and UN-Habitat signed a Memorandum of Understanding to support cities achieving the SDGs. World leaders adopted SGDs for national governments, but cities are now charting their performance on the achievement of the SDGs. Cities host 55 percent of the world’s population, and implementing the SDGs in cities can have positive economic, social and environmental impacts globally and improve the quality of life locally.

UN-Habitat’s SDG Cities Global Initiative supports cities in generating data. It engages city residents in evidence-based strategic planning geared towards improving its social, economic, and environmental conditions, including implementing them through developing and financing high-impact projects. The Initiative also strengthens the ability of local authorities to plan and manage their cities effectively. To purposely reach its ambitious target, all of its data, diagnostics, and training tools will be digitized and easy to access and use.

James Donovan, the Chair of the Global CEO Alliance, welcomed this agreement to create more sustainable cities.

“This is one of the ways we can introduce innovation at a pace that will empower science, policymakers, the private sector, and civil society in total along this journey of transformative change,” he said.

UN-Habitat’s Executive Director, Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif, added that: “COVID-19 has taught us the importance of accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in cities, making them more resilient, just, and green. Thus, it requires the public, private sector, and civil society to join forces and resources.  We are delighted to be working hand-in-hand with the Global CEO Alliance to realize this ambitious initiative through the innovation and experience of its membership.”

The partnership between the two organizations centers on three key areas: city monitoring, diagnostic tools, and capacity development.

A City Monitoring Toolkit will provide reliable baseline data with real-time geo-spatial information and verification through a citizen-science capability, giving it both reporting and decision-making functions.

A digitalized urban management diagnostic and an online training course platform will strengthen local systems and capacity in planning, governance, revenue, and essential services delivery. Its analysis will determine gaps and inform tailored technical support and training, using relevant material on the Urban Agenda Platform (https://www.urbanagendaplatform.org/) and linking participating cities to others addressing similar challenges.

Through the partnership, UN-Habitat and GCEOA hope to empower cities around the globe by leveraging data to identify best practices, tools, and resources and working towards establishing sustainable practices that put people and the planet at the core.

Note: This article was originally posted on UNHabitat.org.

June 16, 2020, Singapore—Recovering from the economic losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will require a renewed focus on sustainability, innovation, and resilience among businesses, according to ADEC Innovations CEO James Donovan.

Donovan shared this insight during the 20th Anniversary Leaders Summit of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), which, in light of the current pandemic, was held virtually.

During a discussion on accelerating climate action during an economic recovery, Donovan explained that lockdowns and similar quarantine restrictions around the world should not hamper an organization’s commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Businesses should, and must, be able to contribute and do its share alongside governments and various stakeholders to ensure that the SDG indicators will be achieved,” Donovan said.

In a report presented during the summit, UNGC CEO and Executive Director Lise Kingo said that, in an analysis, sustainability experience is mostly not a requirement for non-executive and senior executive appointments.

With the pandemic exposing the fundamental weaknesses of global systems, long-term sustainability and resilience should be the priority of businesses, both within and beyond their ecosystems. “Enlightened CEOs and board members know that to succeed you need to be sustainable. We need leaders everywhere to step up their ambition and become agents for sustainable change," Kingo said.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres echoed Kingo’s sentiments during his opening statement for the summit. "Now more than ever, as big decisions are made about our future, companies need to address environmental, social and governance risks holistically and move beyond business-as-usual," Guterres said.

In response to this challenge, Donovan urged businesses to embrace the SDGs in recovering better and stronger from the setbacks caused by the pandemic.

“In our transformation post COVID-19, sustainability, innovation, and resiliency should be at the forefront. Higher expectations from society will soon translate into new regulations and reimagined ways of doing things - the ‘new normal’,” he said.

For Donovan, the current global health crisis and instances of social injustices only show that society is at a turning point, which presents an opportunity to promote the value proposition of sustainability for key decision-makers in both public and private sectors.

“It's our business to take this value proposition and bring it out to a wider community. We need to figure out a way to put sustainability and resiliency in front of the decision-makers and stakeholders if we want them to embrace it and build back better with this in mind,” Donovan said.

This year’s Leaders Summit once again brought together global leaders from different sectors, including government officials, business leaders, and representatives of society groups in a virtual platform. Forums and discussions were held for 26 hours, all of which tackling the challenge of recovering better, recovering stronger, and recovering together.

It also marked UNGC’s 20th year of being the largest corporate sustainability initiative globally. The initiative, which was launched in 2000 by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, was formed with the aim of uniting businesses as a powerful force for good in the areas of human rights, labor, anti-corruption, and the environment.

Anaheim, CA. July 13, 2019—ADEC Innovations CEO and Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) Chairman James Donovan has been recently conferred by Anaheim University with its highest honor, Doctorate Honoris Causa in Humanities for his work in the field of sustainability. Donovan received the honorary degree during the commencement ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel in California.

Donovan received the university’s highest honor, Doctorate Honoris Causa in Humanities, during the commencement ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel in California.

In his acceptance speech, Donovan encouraged the university’s officials, graduates, and faculty members to contribute to the global efforts towards sustainability.

“Think about what role you can contribute in providing new innovative solutions, evolving new value propositions—solutions that will make resources and our lifestyles more sustainable,” he said. “This journey towards global sustainability has been the driving force for me for the past years, both in my professional work and in my advocacy.”

He also lauded the university as a pioneer in advancing sustainable practices in the education segment.

“I congratulate and commend Anaheim University for establishing itself as a pioneer in sustainable online education and for seeing the importance and value of equipping its students with the knowledge and skills on Sustainability Management,” he said.

Present during Donovan’s conferment were Chancellor Peter Langenberg, TESOL Institute Director Dr. David Nunan, and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Rod Ellis.

Donovan was selected by a committee out of numerous nominations submitted by students, faculty, and members of the community. The Doctorate Honoris Causa in Humanities honors esteemed individuals for their significant contributions to society through their chosen profession.

Previous awardees of the honorary doctorate in Humanities include famed architect Kisho Kurokawa and former ambassador of Kenya to the United States Samson K. Chemai.  

(Houston, TX – July 18, 2019) Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) Chairman and ADEC Innovations CEO James M. Donovan was elected today to his first term on the Sister Cities International’s (SCI) Board of Directors during the organization’s annual membership meeting and conference in Houston, Texas.   

In securing a two-year term, Donovan plans on sharing his expertise in impact investing and data-driven sustainability initiatives to create actions addressing sustainable development through citizen diplomacy.

At the conference, Donovan also took part in a panel discussion on the topic of innovation through adversity and resilience, where he emphasized the importance of data capabilities in supporting sustainability-focused initiatives for cities.

“Access to data measurement and evaluation tools provides the insights for a healthy planet. Data provides the basis for being prepared and the ability to make decisions in making resilient communities,” Donovan said, citing the GCEOA’s relationship working with SCI since 2017.  “The solution lies in the building Public-Private Partnerships that bring global private sector solutions to support localized knowledge for identifying and building evidence-based plans.”

Since 2017, GCEOA and ADEC Innovations have been supporting the vision and goals of Sister Cities International, particularly the transformative capacity of local governments and cities in realizing global sustainability goals.

Sister Cities International is governed by a 24-member Board of Directors, 21 of them representing from members and the greater diplomatic and business community. Nine nominees were elected this year, and are expected to serve the board between one to three years.

June 2019, Makati, Philippines—Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) Chairman and Honorary Consul of Samoa in the Philippines James M. Donovan joined fellow CCP representatives on stage for a toast honoring governments celebrating their independence in June.  Samoa's Independence Day is June 1st.

Donovan joined Consular Corps of the Philippines (CCP) in early 2019, citing its strong history of social projects, particularly its charitable and mutual welfare projects, which were a strong match to his long-time emphasis on sustainable development and his involvement with the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) and Sister Cities International (SCI).

CCP is the professional association of consular officers for the Philippines and represents the community of career consular officers and honorary consuls in the Philippines. It aims to mold together a close-knit, meaningful, and dedicated group of representatives of foreign governments engaged in Consular and Foreign Service.

To further promote the message of realizing sustainable development around the world, Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) Chairman and ADEC Innovations CEO James Donovan has announced his bid for a seat at this year’s Board of Directors of Sister Cities International.

In a statement, Donovan expressed his interest in sharing his expertise in spurring the development of concrete and strategic actions towards sustainable development.

“The Board of Directors of Sister Cities International provides a venue for its elected members to bring to the table their expertise and perspective in building the roadmap towards the future,” Donovan said.

Donovan is one of the nominees vying for 9 board seats at the 24-member Board of Directors, with 21 seats reserved for members and representatives of the greater diplomatic and business community. He was one of the nominees chosen by the Board Development Committee for election.

GCEOA and ADEC Innovations, under Donovan, have been supporting Sister Cities International since 2017. Realizing the transformative capacity of local governments and cities, these organizations have envisioned several approaches focused on education, community and youth engagement, and sustainable investment funding.

“The commonality in our objectives and the broad network of partners ADEC Innovations brings, present an exciting opportunity for collaboration between our groups towards achieving sustainable development,” he stated in his official bid.

Sister Cities International unites citizen diplomats and volunteers around the world towards the goal of promoting peace and enabling growth, one community at a time. Part of their functions includes providing essential services, programs, and resources to individual sister cities.

The organization’s Board of Directors will be elected through online voting, which began last June 3 and will continue until July 18. An in-person election will also happen during the Sister Cities International’s Annual Business Meeting on July 18 in Houston, Texas.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, March 27, 2019 (Newswire.com) - The Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA), a coalition dedicated to bringing the private sector together to achieve the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and CDP, a global environmental impact nonprofit that drives companies and governments to manage their environmental impacts, announce today that they are partnering to bring the CDP initiative to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The UAE’s recent efforts for sustainable action—with sustainability at the heart of Dubai Plan 2021 and innovation development projects like Masdar City—create a solid platform for CDP’s mission: to see a thriving global economy that works for people and the planet in the long term. As a strategic business hub and global financial center, Dubai, UAE is anticipated to give CDP’s initiatives greater impact in the regions connected through the UAE’s extensive trade network.

The UAE’s recent efforts for sustainable action—with sustainability at the heart of Dubai Plan 2021 and innovation development projects like Masdar City—create a solid platform for CDP’s mission: to see a thriving global economy that works for people and the planet in the long term. As a strategic business hub and global financial center, Dubai, UAE is anticipated to give CDP’s initiatives greater impact in the regions connected through the UAE’s extensive trade network.

With a worldwide network of business leaders that stretches from the Americas to the Middle East, the GCEOA is built around strengthened private sector participation in advancing sustainability. With shared information and resources, as well as extensive experience working with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and SDGs, the GCEOA is well positioned to assist CDP in its goal to drive urgent, sustainable action in the Middle East.

The GCEOA and CDP will work with UAE policy makers and multi-lateral agencies to expand sustainability disclosure, support regional climate change efforts, and promote the value of measuring and reporting on climate strategy and action through CDP’s disclosure platform. They will also work with international entities that have a significant supply chain presence in the UAE, sharing information on how to leverage environmental and climate information to improve supply chain management decisions.

“At CDP, we work to promote a thriving economy that works for both the planet and its people,” said Antigone Theodorou, Regional Director of CDP’s Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Partner Regions. “Working with the GCEOA to extend CDP’s reach to the UAE provides the opportunity to leverage the UAE as a gateway to large, growing, diversified, and open markets and work with more organisations to measure and understand their environmental impact.”

GCEOA Founder and Chairman James Donovan noted, “Joining like-minded organisations together to collaborate in an effort to achieve sustainable development is at the core of the GCEOA’s founding principles. CDP provides a solid foundation for organisations that live and thrive within the UAE to measure their impacts, as well as the data to make informed decisions that will drive positive change. We are excited to help bring this platform to the UAE, and for its resulting impact on their economy and the global environment.”

About the Global CEO Alliance

The GCEOA is a nonprofit organisation that supports sustainable growth and development by bringing a community of business, governmental, and non-governmental organisation leaders committed to driving transformation through collaboration. Guided by a belief in Sustainability Shared, the GCEOA offers an open system built around a long-term vision of collective effort—of sharing information, best practices, tools, and resources—toward sustainable development. Visit GlobalCEOAlliance.org to find out more.

About CDP

CDP is a global environmental impact non-profit that drives companies and governments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests. Voted number one climate research provider by investors and working with institutional investors with assets of US$96 trillion, we leverage investor and buyer power to motivate companies to disclose and manage their environmental impacts. Over 7,000 companies with some 50% of global market capitalization disclosed environmental data through CDP in 2018. This is in addition to the over 750 cities, states and regions who disclosed, making CDP’s platform one of the richest sources of information globally on how companies and governments are driving environmental change. CDP, formerly Carbon Disclosure Project, is a founding member of the We Mean Business Coalition. Please visit www.cdp.net or follow us @CDP to find out more.

Media Contact

For the GCEOA

Michelle Tan
Michelle.tan@globalceoalliance.org

For CDP

Charlotte Amaro
Charlotte.amaro@cdp.net

Makati City, Philippines, October 15, 2018– Speaking during a multi-stakeholder workshop held at the Makati Diamond Residences, GCEOA Chairman James M. Donovan stressed that businesses, in particular, have an integral role to play in creating value propositions that can contribute to the achievement of both the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Philippine Development Plan (PDP).

Donovan is also the CEO and co-founder of global impact investing company ADEC Innovations.

 “The UN has provided a vision for the 2030 Agenda. We need to identify how we can enable and empower regional, national, and local governments, along with other key stakeholders who can share co-authorship of this vision,” Donovan said.

The Multi-stakeholders’ Workshop on the Nexus between Philippine Development Plans, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the BAPA, and the South Summit brought together key officials from numerous local and international agencies to discuss how the SDGs relate to the country’s own development plan and the South-South cooperation agenda.

During the two-day workshop, participants shared ideas and inputs on how the Philippine delegation can position itself in two upcoming forums, namely the Second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation in 2019 and the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

Mr. Donovan highlighted the Philippines’ capability to create its own value proposition, such as the fact that his company, ADEC Innovations, is one of the Certified Scoring Partners for the CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), and has been scoring around 5,000 of the biggest companies worldwide. As an accredited Scoring Partner, ADEC Innovations has been helping these companies measure their use of resources, which enables them to implement better sustainability measures.

Similar value propositions have the potential to provide catalytic solutions towards the achievement of the SDGs. “How do we make a value proposition wherein society and businesses are encouraged to be involved in SDG-related services?” Donovan asked. He added that the Philippines needs to look at its role and own value proposition in the next wave of how businesses reorganize themselves.

He also discussed how the Global South, like the Philippines, can develop its own intellectual property and present itself as a hub that delivers sustainable solutions to developed countries. This, in turn, can bring jobs and generate long-term value for the region.

Mr. Donovan spoke alongside Miguel Bautista, Secretary of the Trade and Development Board at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); Vicente Yu, Deputy Executive Director at the South Centre; and Rabih El Haddad, Manager at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)- Multilateral Diplomacy ProgramRepresentatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) were also present during the multi-stakeholders’ workshop.

ADEC Innovations is an impact investing company focused on designing, developing, and delivering a comprehensive and cutting-edge portfolio of Sustainable Business Solutions to meet the Environmental, Social, and Governance thrust of the world’s leading organizations. To know more about its services, visit its official website or email via info@adec-innovations.com.

ADEC Innovations CEO and co-founder James Donovan is now one of the newly appointed Business and Industry Major Group Representatives to United Nations’ (UN) Environment Major Group Facilitating Committee (MGFC).

“We welcome this new role as a representative of the Business and Industry Major Group for the UNEA. Three years after the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals, there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done,” Donovan said. “We see Business and Industry playing a pivotal role in developing new models of partnerships, so we can act faster than the rate the environment and society is changing. That is the only way we can bring in exponential impact.”

Donovan is also joined by Majda Dabaghi, senior policy executive for Environment and Energy at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, France. They will be representing the Business and Industry sector in the MGFC. Donovan and Dabaghi will work towards strengthening institutional cooperation, capacity building and partnerships for sustainable development which includes efforts in the area of corporate social responsibility.

The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) is the highest-level decision-making body on environment focused on addressing and solving the world’s most critical environmental challenges. Its main priority is to fully comprehend the most urgent challenges so that it could provide the best solutions needed in preserving and rehabilitating our environment. This goal sits at the center of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a long-term program comprising 17 sector-specific goals set by the United Nations in 2015. Every two years, its members and representatives meet to set new priorities and develop new international laws on environment.

Donovan and Dabaghi will serve the committee for a period of two years, effective on September 1, 2018.

James M. Donovan, chairman of Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA), has been appointed as the Honorary Consul of Samoa to the Philippines on March 27, 2018.

The appointment enables Donovan to promote GCEOA’s key partnership objectives in the country through Track I diplomatic channels. It also plays a significant role in strengthening existing cultural, educational, entrepreneurial, and economic relations between the two nations.

Donovan is the Co-founder and CEO of ADEC Innovations, an impact investing and technology company focusing on areas of sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Solutions.

The Honorary Consulate of Samoa office is located at the 26th Floor, Philippine AXA Life Tower, Makati City, Philippines.

(Regent Hotel, 1 Cuscaden Road, Singapore  February 19-23, 2018) James Donovan, the Chairman of Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA), has been commissioned as the Coordinating Lead Author of the Data and Knowledge Chapter for the sixth Global Environment Outlook (GEO 6) by UNEP. The authors of GEO 6 convened on 19 to 23 February 2018 at the Regent Hotel, Cuscaden, Singapore for the Fourth Authors’ Meeting. The GEO 6 report aims to provide a systemic and integrated approach for decision and policy- making purposes, taking into account the current state of the environment, as well as the forward- looking scientific assessments based on the possible changing factors.

Mr. Donovan presented the progress of the Data and Knowledge Chapter during the Fourth Authors’ Meeting. He highlighted the integrated data system which serves as the overarching framework in developing an evidence-based assessment, anchored on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Chapter covers environment statistics, the existing environmental measuring tools, and the value of emerging data and knowledge including citizen science, big data and traditional knowledge.

On behalf of the Data & Knowledge team, Mr. Donovan provided an overview of the remaining tasks and timeline for the completion of the Data and Knowledge Chapter. He also called for the urgency of addressing data gaps within the realm of environmental assessment to ensure a holistic approach to decision making.

UNEP aims to publish the GEO 6 Report in 2019.

With the Global CEO Alliance’s (GCEOA) recent Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with Sister Cities International (SCI) last July 15, 2017, GCEOA Chairman James M. Donovan discussed the role of data in achieving sustained value in the alliance’s different projects and programs.

During a Q&A session, Mr. Donovan talked about the importance of data in driving sustained value in a framework utilized by organizations like the GCEOA and SCI. “Data is the currency of the future and it produces a knockdown effect once institutions like SCI strategically use them to benefit their stakeholders,” he explains.

According to a recent study released by SCI, there are a number of challenges in measuring the way sister cities impact their member communities, especially in terms of economic factors.

Data management can play a crucial role in measuring these factors that are difficult to quantify, such as the different activities that take place between the organization and its members, especially those related to municipal, tourism and educational exchanges, as well as trade and development in traditional business.

In the GCEOA’s case, data management is one of the standard elements it needs to gather ample evidence and data-driven insights necessary for attaining the goals and objectives set for its various initiatives.

Since the GCEOA and SCI share a similar framework, SCI can easily apply the GCEOA’s guiding principles to achieve sustained value in their own projects and programs.

The GCEOA’s initiatives centered on Knowledge, Expertise and Technology Exchange are advanced using the principles of Open Access, Replicability and Scalability, Efficiency, and Co-learning and Co-creation.

Sustained value can be achieved through:

Leveraging technology platforms in pursuit of sustainable products and services. By taking advantage of Open Access, community building can be more transparent and collaborative where public administration and government institutions are concerned.

Implementing replicable and scalable programs and procedures, because no initiative can yield the same results. Projects must be flexible enough to cater to the needs of a community, its people and their sensibilities.

Regular evaluation of processes and resources to determine areas that need improvement. 
There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution; efficiency must be adapted depending on the community’s needs, and the available human, technical and financial resources

Prioritizing collaboration among key stakeholders to foster the appropriate creation, transfer, sharing, utilization and application of knowledge. Strategic alliances provide the opportunity to scale up business and development solutions necessary for achieving sustainability.

The empowerment of cities and communities also greatly relies on its citizens. It is important to place people at the center of all sustainability and integrated development solutions to achieve sustained value in the social, economic and environmental development spheres.

Citizens must be given the appropriate access to tools that promote knowledge exchange and innovative solutions. Technology plays an important role in producing relevant data-driven insights that can empower and strengthen communities and create smarter cities. Data and technology should be at the core of all community building initiatives to sustain it and produce lasting results.

Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) Chairman James M. Donovan recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Sister Cities International (SCI) during their 61^st Annual Conference in Virginia Beach, Virginia, July 14-15, 2017.

In a Q&A session during the event, Mr. Donovan talked about the role of the GCEOA in the Sister Cities context, and explained the potential benefits of their partnership, including providing visibility and promotion, at both regional and global levels, to all SCI initiatives.

“Data, when utilized appropriately, can serve as an asset in making a difference, especially in terms of scale, as well as in establishing new relationships and strengthening the old ones,” explained the GCEOA Chairman.

As a champion of big data, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and data-driven insights, Mr. Donovan believes the GCEOA is a perfect fit for SCI’s quest to foster citizen diplomacy through knowledge sharing and community building.

The MOU between GCEOA and SCI solidifies their partnership and commitment to work together in developing and piloting programs that are necessary for the achievement of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It also highlights GCEOA’s pledge to provide SCI necessary assistance, such as strategic institutional partnerships, expertise, collaboration and data technologies required to advance projects beneficial to all members of the Sister Cities network.

Prior to the MOU signing, Mr. Donovan also had the opportunity to address the members of the Youth Leadership Summit during the open session of the Final Summation. During the session, he emphasized the important role of the youth and of quality education in achieving the SDGs.

As an enabling platform that brings together leaders and decision makers from both the public and private sectors, GCEOA has the capability to provide a venue for facilitating PPPs, as well as the exchange of ideas and solutions focused on achieving the targets needed to fulfill the 2030 Agenda.

The 61^st SCI Annual Conference, with the theme “Global Communities for World Peace,” served as a gathering of world leaders, public officials, engaged citizens, diplomats and business leaders from all over the world, aiming to honor the vision of its founder, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, to foster world peace through global people-to-people partnerships.

GCEOA, Chairman, Mr. James M. Donovan delivering a message, moments before signing the Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with Sister Cities International. Looking on is Ms. Mary Kane, CEO and President of Sister Cities International

Prior to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing, there was an open session for the Youth Leadership Summit Final Simulation

It was a great opportunity for GCEOA Chairman Mr. James M. Donovan to address the youth members during the open session.

Ms. Mary Kane, CEO and President of Sister Cities International, delivering a message prior to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding.

The signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between GCEOA and Sister Cities International, a collaboration projected to make a huge impact and take both organizations to greater heights.

The MOU highlights the role and contribution of executive leaders in the private sector within the broader collaborative institutional agenda of the SCI and GCEOA.

The members of the Youth Leadership Summit were all smiles after the signing of the MOU. On the first row are (L-R) GCEOA Chairman James M. Donovan, CEO and President of Sister Cities International Ms. Mary Kane, and San Antonio Mayor Mr. Ron Nirenberg.

GCEOA Chairman James M. Donovan with one of the members of the Youth Summit, exchanging insights about the conference.

During the Youth Leadership Summit, the participants learned how different national interests drive international cooperation on critical issues. This year's theme for the diplomatic simulation is Crisis in our Oceans: Negotiating a Solution to Protect our Food. Effective problem solving strategies, leadership skills and insights into international affairs were the main discussion points in this event.

Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) Chairman and ADEC Innovations CEO James M. Donovan recently participated at the 61^st Annual Conference of Sister Cities held in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA, July 14-15, 2017.

With the theme “Global Communities for World Peace,” the event served as a gathering of world leaders, public officials, engaged citizens, diplomats and business leaders from all over the world, aiming to honor President Eisenhower’s vision of fostering world peace through global people-to-people partnerships.

“Data, when utilized appropriately, can serve as an asset in making a difference, especially in terms of scale, as well as in establishing new relationships and strengthening the old ones,” explained the GCEOA Chairman.

As the representative of the GCEOA, the Chairman talked about the power of data in the Sister Cities context, and engaged in a Q&A where he answered questions on the return on investment of sustainability, the value of data in community building, the role of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in expanding services into the public sector, and the challenge of fostering engagement towards the development of scalable solutions for the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Mr. Donovan also explained the potential benefits of a partnership between the GCEOA and Sister Cities International (SCI), and how the former reinforces visibility and promotion at both the global and regional levels, thus opening doors to more opportunities, especially in terms of gathering necessary funding for SCI projects worldwide.

The GCEOA also provides a venue for the creation and rollout of pilot programs beneficial to the stakeholders and city members of SCI. It also serves as a platform to engage with policy and decision makers from both the public and private sectors.

With the GCEOA’s objective of enabling knowledge sharing to empower PPPs in achieving the 2030 Agenda, its partnership with SCI highlights the importance of collaboration among the private sector, government and civil society in realizing the different targets for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Mr. Donovan spoke alongside Roger Lawrence, Vice President (Global Quality and Regulatory) at McCormick & Company, Inc., during the second session of Day 1, which was moderated by Beth Hendrix, Executive Director of Denver Sister Cities International.

The 61^st Sister Cities Annual Conference covered topics relating to collaboration, citizen diplomacy, technology, art and cultural exchanges, innovation, local and international governments, and community building.

Sister Cities International is a hub for institutional knowledge and best practices in the field of citizen diplomacy. As a membership association, it continues to strengthen the Sister Cities network through strategic institutional partnerships, grants, programs, and support for its members. Founded by President Eisenhower, its mission is “to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation — one individual, one community at a time”.

The GCEOA is an enabling platform that provides a venue for the exchange of SDG-centric solutions in the form of expertise, collaboration, resources and technology in order to address the complexities of achieving the 2030 Agenda.

The Philippine flag being carried by one of the members of the Youth Leadership Summit.

Members of the Youth Leadership Summit participate in the Parade of Flags at the 61^st Sister Cities International Conference.

The youth members gathering, moments before the annual Parade of Flags. A total of 200 flags were paraded for this event, with the Philippines included.

GCEOA Chairman Mr.  James M. Donovan with San Antonio Mayor Mr. Ron Nirenberg, Ms. Mary Bean (FirstCarbon Solutions) and Ms. Mary Kane (CEO and President of Sister Cities International).

GCEOA Chairman Mr.  James M. Donovan with Ms. Lisa M. Gillmor, Mayor of the City of Santa Clara, California.

GCEOA Chairman Mr.  James M. Donovan with Mr. Roger Lawrence (Vice President, Global Quality Assurance and Regulatory, McCormick & Company, Inc.) and Ms. Beth Hendrix.

GCEOA Chairman Mr.  James M. Donovan with Mr. Ron Nirenberg, Mayor of the City of San Antonio, Texas.

GCEOA Chairman Mr.  James M. Donovan with Ms. Beth Hendrix, Executive Director of Denver Sister Cities International.

All 200 flags are on stage after the parade to officially start the 61^st Sister Cities International Conference.

Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms addressing the participants after the amazing Cities Flags Ceremony.

GCEOA Chairman Mr. James M. Donovan as a speaker in the session entitled “Your Mayor's First Question: What is the Return on Investment (ROI) of Your Sister City Partnership?”

GCEOA Chairman Mr. James M. Donovan with Ms. Beth Hendrix (Executive Director of Denver Sister Cities International) as moderator and Roger Lawrence (Vice President, Global Quality and Regulatory, McCormick & Company, Inc.) as a co-speaker.

Mr. Roger Lawrence (Vice President, Global Quality and Regulatory, McCormick & Company, Inc.) as co-speaker in the session, “Your Mayor's First Question: What is the Return on Investment (ROI) of Your Sister City Partnership?”

The speakers of the panel delivering their insights on the subject of return on investment (ROI) from their Sister Cities partnership.

GCEOA Chairman Mr. James M. Donovan discusses “The Power of Data in the Sister Cities Context,” and highlighted that data is the currency of the future.

Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) Chairman James Donovan attended the 47^th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) held June 19-21, 2017 at Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico. With the theme “Strengthening Dialogue and Concerted Action for Prosperity,” the assembly highlighted OAS’ role in providing a platform for its member states in addressing global and hemispheric challenges.

“New jobs, in addition to the fact that we have to readjust all of our business models at the same time, is probably society’s biggest challenge in the next twenty to thirty years,” said Mr. Donovan during a panel discussion entitled “The Americas in a New Economic Paradigm: Creating the Jobs of the Future.”

The GCEOA Chairman pointed out that focus should be on four primary sectors, which are online education, data management and analysis, sustainable development and operations, and healthcare services. These sectors are projected to bring significant job growth.  Aligned with many of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), they can be instrumental in helping nation-states achieve their SDG targets.

With an emphasis on public-private partnerships, Mr. Donovan added that countries, policy makers and businesses need to come together in order to create an enabling environment that can generate funding, digital infrastructure and training.

“We need to expand the Private Public Partnership (PPP) model to embrace not just infrastructure, health information and education but expanding the model into more societal drivers. Training, capacity building, online education have to go hand in hand. These are not small challenges but as new technology and capabilities emerge and are shared, we will be able to succeed with them.” Mr. Donovan concluded.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto also participated in this prestigious event and delivered a speech during the General Assembly’s Inaugural Session.

“We live in a time of accelerated and deep transformations. Social, economic and political paradigms are changing rapidly,” declared President Peña Nieto. “The regional and global challenges put the vitality of our organization and its leadership to the test. Faced with this situation we must reaffirm our confidence in multilateralism as the best way to overcome the challenges we share at the regional and international levels. The key to multilateralism lies in the ability to tackle global problems through concerted action.”

OAS is the world’s oldest regional organization that aims to promote democracy, defend human rights, ensure a multidimensional approach to security, foster integral development and prosperity, and support inter-American legal cooperation.

The panel members of the Private Sector Forum of the Americas “Reforms for a Booming Private Sector in the Americas: Creating the Jobs of the Future” Session which happened lJune 19 in Cancún, Quintana Roo. From Left to Right: Executive General Secretary of the National Association of Universities and Institutes of Higher Learning (Mexico) Jaime Valls Esponda, Director-General, Center for Economic Studies of the Private Sector (CEESP) Luis Foncerrada Pascal, Jamaican Ambassador to the Organization of American States Audrey Patrice Marks, Chief of the Unit of Global Business of ProMéxico Amb. Mario Chacón Carrillo who did the introduction and served as moderator, CEO of ADEC-Innovations and GCEOA Chairman (USA) James M. Donovan and President of the Tecmilenio University (Mexico) Hector Escamilla.

During the panel session, Mr. James M. Donovan was asked to share his insights about the “Jobs of the Future”.  To which he said, “Online Education has to become a main driver within the area. Next is utilizing data management and analysis to really change the game. By using information governance as the beginning building blocks, you can start the baseline resources and start to develop a new relationship”.

The event was graced by Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who also delivered a statement during the Inaugural Session on June 19. In his speech, President Nieto said that “We live a time of accelerated and deep transformations. Social, economic and political paradigms are changing rapidly. The regional and global challenges put the vitality of our organization and its leadership to the test. Faced with this situation we must reaffirm our confidence in multilateralism as the best way to overcome the challenges we share at the regional and international levels. The key to multilateralism lies in the ability to tackle global problems through concerted action”. [Source]

Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) Chairman, James Donovan, recently participated in the UN Press Briefing and Open Dialogue at the Second Authors Meeting for the Sixth Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6) held last May 23, 2017, in Bangkok. With market leaders and top experts participating, the event centered on the theme, "Rethinking Economic Risk and Opportunity in the Face of Degradation and Extreme Events."

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Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) Chairman James Donovan will be attending the 47^th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) to be held in Cancun, Quintana Roo, from June 19 to 21.

The General Assembly will be an opportunity to strengthen ties with both the public and private sectors and OAS Member States. With the theme, “Strengthening Dialogue and Concerted Action for Prosperity,” the event will focus on the role of the OAS in providing a platform for its member states to address global and hemispheric challenges.The involvement of ADEC Innovations and GCEOA will be instrumental in achieving a fruitful discussion on the significant role of private sector in the Latin America and the Caribbean regional context.

Mr. Donovan will be a part of one of the three interactive panels created based on the OAS’s four pillars which are Democracy, Human Rights, Sustainable Development and Multidimensional Security. He will also be attending the inaugural session hosted by Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto which will mark the start of the 3-day event.

Mr. Donovan’s knowledge and expertise in Data Management, Sustainable Development and Public-Private Partnerships will be valuable in discussions related to tackling global challenges in attaining global progress and prosperity.

The OAS was created to achieve order and justice, promote solidarity, strengthen collaboration, and defend sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence among its member states.

The GCEOA is the collective platform of executive leaders that provide visibility to their contribution and commitment to the 2030 Agenda. It is an enabling platform that provides a venue for the exchange of solutions in the form of expertise, collaboration, resources and technology in order to address the complexities of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Chairman’s participation in the Private Sector Forum will highlight the importance of knowledge and technology exchange to advance ‘Sustainability Shared’ and how it will help contribute to the data-drive requirements of OAS for informed decisions.

The Data Driven Decision making focus of GCEOA will help to contribute valuable insights to the public-private dialogue IN using creativity and innovation to combat the challenges of integration, the jobs of the future, technology and changes in labor.

(Bangkok, Thailand– May 23, 2017) Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) Chairman, James Donovan, recently spoke at the UN Press Briefing and Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue at the Second Authors Meeting for the Sixth Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6) held in Bangkok.

Mr. Donovan’s talk focused on “The Emerging Data-Driven Market on Social Impact and Sustainability,” where he discussed the roles of Big Data and partnerships in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Big Data plays a crucial role in identifying targets, measuring gaps and tracking progress where the SDGs are concerned. It also creates transparency and more accountability from both governments and the private sector,” explained the GCEOA Chairman.

The event with the theme, “Rethinking Economic Risk and Opportunity in the Face of Degradation & Extreme Events,” tackled the need for smarter and greener investments to transform the Asia-Pacific region into a thriving sustainability hub.

As one the most vulnerable regions to the unprecedented effects of climate change, the region needs more Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to successfully implement its sustainable development initiatives.

GCEOA’s participation in the event has shed light on the value of Big Data and the role of global partnerships in creating sustainable investment opportunities necessary to fuel innovative policies and private funding for the region.

GCEOA is a community of business leaders motivated to steer sustainable economic transformation through the collaboration and collective effort of the private sector in driving global change and impact.

Donovan was joined by various industry leaders and experts such as Jian Liu, Chief Scientist of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP); Martin Rueegg, CEO of AXA Insurance Thailand; Paul Ekins, Director of UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources & UK Energy Research Centre; and Joyeeta Gupta, Professor of Environment and Development in the Global South at the Amsterdam University.

The UN Press Briefing and Multi-Stakeholder event was held alongside consultations with top world scientists for GEO-6 last May 22 to 25, and was organized by the UNEP.

The participants of the 1st panel entitled “Where We Are and Where We Want to Be”. From Left to Right,  Prof. Joyeeta Gupta, Co-Chair Geo 6 and Prof. University of Amsterdam, dr. Jian Liu, Chief Scientist UNEP,  Jane Smart-IUCN Global Director Biodiversity Conservation Group, Peter King-Asia Pacific Co-Chair Geo6

The participants of the 2nd Panel entitled “Making Cents in an Under 2°C World”. From left to right,  Maria Jesus Iraola-GEO fellow Uruguay, James Donovan-CEO ADEC Innovations and Chairman Global CEO Alliance, Surendra Shrestha-VP Asian Institute of Technology, Paul Ekins- Director at UCL U.K. Energy Research Centre and Co-Chair GEO 6, Martin Rueegg-CEO, Axa Insurance

ADEC Innovations CEO and GCEOA Chairman, Mr. James M. Donovan addressing questions from the participants during the Open Floor session of the 2nd Panel: Making Cents in an Under 2 Making Cents in an Under 2°C World

Washington, USA (March 9, 2017) - “Big data is the blueprint for investments, partnerships and multi-sectoral contribution for UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG),” disclosed Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) Chairman James M. Donovan in a panel at the Global Partnerships Week 2017 (GPW 2017) recently held at the George Washington University (GWU) School of Business.

The GPW 2017 held last March 6 to 12 is an annual conference organized by the U.S. Department of State Secretary’s Office of Global Partnerships, the U.S. Agency for International Development, Concordia and the PeaceTech Lab. A state endeavor which started in 2014, it aims to celebrate partnerships across sectors, industries, and boarders, and the progress they have achieved..

The main forum is supplemented by numerous self-organized events around the world, in various formats. With a focus on the role of partnerships in achieving the SDGs, particularly the 17^th SDG which calls to ‘strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnerships for sustainable development’, the GCEOA and GWU School of Business organized the panel on, ‘Inclusive Partnerships to Achieve Sustainable Development.’

This panel was intended to contribute towards the conversations around the pivotal role of partnerships towards sustainable development. It was divided into two sessions, first of which focused on global and regional perspectives on Public Private Partnerships (PPP) leading to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. The second session focused on Inclusive Partnerships where panelists explored the Innovative Partnering Cycle, which followed the progress of partnerships from set-up to assessment and evaluation.

Mr. Donovan revealed the drive behind the creation of the GCEOA in advancing the SDGs. He further explained, “From traditional contracting and with the launching of the SDG’s, partnership trends are now moving towards People-First PPPs. It entails cross-sector collaboration in delivering infrastructure and services needed to meet the demands of the SDGs. The main challenge is bridging the capacity gap in delivering these People-First PPPs most especially for developing countries. Data and knowledge sharing is essential in improving this capacity to support a strategic decision-making process that creates a blueprint for multidisciplinary use.”

The GCEOA is one of the core initiatives of ADEC Foundation, committed to the advancement of the people and planet by working closely with stakeholders from the public and private sectors, civil society, multilaterals, and the United Nations.

James M. Donovan with Organization of American States Executive Secretary Kim Osborne & Director of Sustainable Devt. Cletus Springer

James M. Donovan with Jim Thompson, Director for Innovation, US State Department

James M. Donovan with Linda Livingstone, Ph.D. - Dean & Professor of Management, George Washington University School of Business

The Secretary’s Office of Global Partnerships, an entry point for collaboration between the U.S. Department of State, the public and private sectors, and civil society, together with the U.S. Global Development Lab at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Concordia, and PeaceTechLab will host the annual Global Partnerships Week (GPW) from March 6-12, 2017, bringing together partnership practitioners and leaders to engage in discussion common knowledge and best practices, identify new partnership opportunities, and coordinate on collaborative solutions.

The event will have a central theme focusing on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that will capitalize on the 17 goals and will highlight Goal 17 on global partnerships.

In an effort to reach and engage different sectors regarding partnerships, the Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) in cooperation with the George Washington University School of Business will be organizing a side-event on March 9 that will complement the main Forum on the role of public-private partnerships (PPP) in achieving the UN SDGs, particularly Goal 17. This event entitled Inclusive Partnerships to Achieve Sustainable Development will have two sessions that will cover Global and Regional Perspective on PPP and Inclusive Partnerships. Distinguished speakers, moderators, and panelists from different sectors around the globe will be invited such as Raj Kumar, the founding President and Editor-in-Chief of the media platform for the global development community Devex; Mary D. Kane, the President and CEO of Sister Cities International; educator Dr. Linda Livingstone who sits as the current Dean of the George Washington University School of Business (GWSB); newly appointed Executive Secretary of the Organization of the American States (OAS) Kim Osborne who focused her work on Small and Medium Enterprises in the region for the past years; current Director in Secretary of State’s Office of Global Partnership and Innovation Jim Thompson who is also responsible for launching innovative diplomacy initiatives in the Department; entrepreneur James Donovan who leads ADEC Innovations, a corporate group that redefines and delivers innovative ESG solutions and the chairman of the Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA); and Bill Guyton, the senior-level leader within international agribusiness and non-profit organization who committed in leading the creation and implementation of global sustainability best practices.

Both sessions will be followed by a Question and Answer portion with the audience that will be engaged by the panelists.

Inclusive Partnerships to Achieve Sustainable Development Global and Regional Perspectives on PPP

Hosted by George Washington University School of Business with Global CEO Alliance March 9, 2017

Background

In an effort to reach and engage different sectors regarding partnerships, the Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) in cooperation with the George Washington University School of Business organized a side-event that complemented the Main Forum on the role of public-private partnerships (PPP) in achieving the UN SDGs, particularly Goal 17. This event entitled Inclusive Partnerships to Achieve Sustainable Development included sessions covering Global and Regional Perspective on PPP and Inclusive Partnerships. The first session on Global and Regional Perspective on PPP leading to 2030 Agenda presented a number of high-level panelists engaged in a dialogue with the audience on the “how’s” and “what’s” of PPP and why PPP actors must have a clear indication of what they actually want in partnership to benefit the larger community it purports to serve. The session amplified all fundamentals of PPP as well as the complementing factors that directly contribute to leadership, knowledge acquisition and transfer, and capacity building for sustainable development and investment opportunities.

Introductory Remarks from the event hosts and participating organizations

Dr. Linda Livingstone, Dean of George Washington University, School of Business

Dr. Livingstone imparted the legacy of the George Washington University (GWU) as a global university in engaging people together from the business sector, from the government sector, from non-government organizations (NGOs), and from academia to talk about partnership which is relevant in the nation’s capital. As the host for the event, GWU looked forward to discussions on public-private partnerships (PPP) and sustainable global development – issues that the university deeply believes in as they have courses catering on the subject matter of partnerships.

Mr. James Thompson, Director of Innovations of the Secretary of State’s Office for Global Partnerships and Innovations

Mr. Thompson’s office has been working on PPPs for nine years. He worked with the USAID in reaching out to private sector which in turn brings out ideas, technology, and markets, perfect for the work they are doing for diplomacy and development.  These learning are what he carried out in his current work in the US Department of State. He challenged the business community to rise up and join Goal 17, the Partnership Goal, which he considered as, “the goal to make all the rest of goal go”.

Mr. James Donovan, CEO of ADEC Innovations and Chairman of the Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA)

Mr. James Donovan is a serial entrepreneur focusing on impact investing that generates measurable social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. He leads ADEC Innovations, a corporate group that redefines and delivers innovative ESG solutions and supplies and aggregates data for governments, individual corporations and coalitions. Through his 25+ years of providing data service, he was able to find a big gap in how people use data. While working with the United Nations (UN), he was able to establish the Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) which desires to bring tools or knowledge to the world’s supply chain. This journey with the UN established three years ago paved the way for the GCEOA to be launched in Dubai, UAE in 2016.

As a co-host with GWU, the GCEOA through Donovan highlighted the need to embrace SDGs and the need to find data to make business decisions. GCEOA aims to be the aggregator of the “missing middle” and targets to help reach the gap of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Kim Osborne, Executive Secretary of the Organization of American States (OAS)

The OAS from its very establishment has had its core responsibility to help member states design and implement policies and programs that promote democracy and human rights, seek peace and foster socio-economic stability. The OAS through Osborne aspires to provide critical support to member states in building institutional and human resource capacity to meet the new challenges that they face.

A key component of OAS’ work as an organization is engaging all member states via policy dialogues. OAS possesses the ability to convene at highest levels, to build consensus and direct actions around common needs. Osborne believes that the concept of Cooperacion Solidaria has always been the focus of the work of OAS from its inception. More recently, they have been focusing on Innovative Partnerships for Development. They are convinced that development can be achieved through working together with multiple sectors linked by a common purpose - prosperity and well-being of all people.

Osborne accepts that the 2030 Agenda is extremely ambitious; hence, there is also a need for the OAS to be just as ambitious and forward looking in its implementation of programs. She believes that the organization’s aims and objectives become achievable when it works through partnerships like building bridges and seeking common ground. She considers partnerships in all their forms whether of infrastructure, exchange of technology, or the sharing of experiences and lessons learned must be the driver for the implementation of all programs. She concluded by saying that it is important to note that partnerships, and not about organizations or institutions – are about ensuring the needs and aspirations of the people whom they serve are addressed.

Mr. Raj Kumar, Founding President and Editor in Chief of Devex

Mr. Raj Kumar believes that partnerships should be described as a bottom-up approach and not the other way around. He emphasized that it is about giving up some control and asking the people affected. His company, a media platform called Devex, formed a partnership with the USAID years ago where they created Devex Impact which aims to drive for journalism content and build community around partnerships. They found out a budding group of people who saw themselves as partnership practitioners and who understood the value of the organization’s work, why it matters and why it should be done well.

Kumar and Devex believe that partnerships are about the people they try to serve, about the people behind them, about the needs of those people and about the best way forward to make these successful partnerships happen.

Ms. Mary D. Kane, President and CEO of Sister Cities International (SCI)

Sister Cities International is a 60-year old worldwide grassroots effort that engages citizen promoting peace. Ms. Mary D. Kane believes in the words of Former President Dwight Eisenhower from his remarks at the People-to-People Conference that partnerships will help build the world to peace and that it will help build the world to an enduring peace. She also believes that prosperity cannot be achieved without peace. Kane highlights that part of the SDGs is to promote prosperity and peaceful co-existence.

Her company, SCI is a network of 1.1 million people that not only develops economic development opportunities to all its members but also brings them together through partnerships involving cultural, student and professional exchanges. In fact, they have started a partnership with Jalalabad, Afghanistan called Afghan Youth Connect where students get together thru Skype once a month to learn the culture, religion and the other details of the US which changed the students’ views and perspectives about the US in a good manner.

Panel Discussion

Organizations’ take on using multi-sector partnerships to achieve impact on the SDGs:

Partnerships are a tool for achieving greater impact and outcomes as identified by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Understanding the true impact and outcomes of those partnerships can be a route towards institutionalization and capacity building. The session highlighted important aspects of carrying out public-private partnership (PPP) projects such as:

1. Getting partners together to use holistic approaches to solve complex issues in meeting sustainable development requirements;
2. Getting business to transition from philanthropy, to incorporating PPPs focused on sustainable development into their business models; and
3. Engaging with local communities and other actor to figure out how they can work together.

The different organizations presented ways of using multi-sector partnerships to achieve impacts on the SDGs. Some organizations play a match making role in bringing together corporations and large foundations with cities, non-government organizations (NGOs), and start-ups aiming to solve a specific problem. Partners and players in PPPs were advised to use data and the information gathered from them to inform better decision-making, address specific issues/challenges that arise, and then change human and business behavior for the better. Multi-lateral banks cover the financing of these PPP projects, as well as developing policy and legal frameworks that can be replicated in other projects. However, the challenge rests in setting realistic and practical expectations as to the right blend of public and private roles in the partnership (particularly in infrastructure projects).

Defining a partner and a stakeholder

The panelists demonstrated how even simply defining the roles of members in a partnership can be incredibly complex. To them, a partner and a stakeholder can be synonymous, and the differentiation may be blurred. Everybody who is in a partnership should also be a stakeholder and have a voice in developing the solution. In legal agreements, formal partners are identified as the private and public entities that have gone into a contractual agreement to provide a service, build infrastructure, etc., and are contributing resources towards its completion and maintenance. However, there are informal partners that have interest in the project or are affected by its outcome – these parties may be identified as the stakeholders.

Beyond the distinction between these two entities lies the need to understand the metrics to which the PPP project will be measured against, and the analysis of the entire ecosystem of the project to aid in identifying possible roadblocks or challenges.

Usefulness of partnerships

According to the panelists, no one entity has enough resources and expertise to answer challenges for everyone, on their own. So partners are a necessity. In order for a partnership to work, the government and the country must be ready in terms of its capacity to understand the scope of work and their responsibilities, as well as the capability to actually manage the project once it is completed.

A formal PPP can only be successfully carried out if there is a reasonable amount of risk allocated to the private sector, and they are provided enough evidence of a potential opportunity for gain. They need to have an incentive to bring in their own creativity and expertise into the project, and contribute beyond just giving financial resources.

Moreover, the panelists emphasized that PPPs can work in any scale. There is a case to be made for starting PPP projects on the small scale, and then expanding them later on. Lastly, there is no one size fits all solution for PPPs. There is a need to continually carry out research to find out what works and what doesn’t based on the specific circumstances present.

Challenges on the PPPs around the SDGs and how to overcome them

There is a lot being done in terms of using PPPs as a vehicle towards achieving sustainable development, however, there is no formal effort in place towards collectively measuring the progress against the SDGs and their indicators. It will be a journey towards integrated reporting, especially because there is a veritable alphabet soup of frameworks that can be used towards promoting compliance to certain standards and ensuring transparency. There is a need for a single reporting framework that will allow organizations to know what SDGs they’re contributing towards and how big their impact is.

Below are the challenges the panelists have identified:

• Large multinational corporations and even large governments have predefined processes and frameworks in place for engagement in PPPs. These can prove to be inflexible and conflict with the cultural or spiritual beliefs of the local communities they are trying to help. Most projects faced with this type of problem lead to a dead end. Also, some organizations organizations/entities from all sectors may have problems identifying where they will be providing value, what they stand to gain, and why they should be actively involved in the project. This may cause them to choose not to act at all.
• There is a need to unlearn certain systems/processes, and see the true priorities with the PPPs. These projects need to move from being focused on philanthropy, and move up to the CEOs in order to make a difference.
• Attracting investment for infrastructure projects seems to be difficult task due to a.) Establishing political commitment on the part of the government and b.) Institutional capacity to manage these transactions in both the public and private sectors.
• There is a need for an enabling political environment for PPPs with legal documents that clearly stipulates what the rules and regulations are, and the certainty that these rules will be enforced fairly and equally and consistently.
• In terms of mainstreaming the SDGs or making it viral, there is a need to create an enabling framework for the SDGs to be consumable to the private sector, and help them identify them as a value proposition. We need to market ‘why the SDGs’ and how private sector participating will lead to better results. There are efforts being carried out to integrating the SDGs into capacity building materials which are distributed to members of the public and private sectors. However, it is seen as a long term education process.

Replicability and scalability of partnerships based on the SDGs

There is a need for an alignment of public policy, corporate policy, and the data that goes behind all those things, as well as a strong local presence to mobilize the local resources and expertise. Driving public policy change entails bringing in PPP partners so it could prompt governments to bring about change in their policies.

The panelists drew attention on data visualization as an impactful tool that every organization and entity must do a better job on. There are a lot of data available, but the more important thing is how to make these data into effective scorecards, how to make them consumable and actionable, and how to use them to promote transparency.

Identifying the path to scale early on in the design process is an effective way to attract donors to projects and subsequently, finding ways to bring visibility to successful projects is also an effective way to promote its replication in other areas/countries.

There are barriers that stand between organizations to create better partnerships for the SDGs. Due to lack of policy and enabling environments, it is difficult for PPPs to be successfully implemented in governments where there is no enabling environment, but there are some one-off projects that have been successful because of the intervention by donors that created a very stable environment for a particular project. Aside from ensuring that there are policies in place that promote PPPs, there is also a need to identify how well these policies are being enforced or implemented. In addition to the lack of policy, there is also a need for mitigating risks and the role of the government in making these partnerships a little more accessible.

In terms of driving small-medium enterprises (SMEs) and consumer awareness and engagement, the panelists stressed the need to find ways to show everyone at every level what the SDGs mean for them, and what part they play in their achievement. These are the people that can be the best partner to engage local communities and protect natural resources. Lastly, delivering a PPP that addresses the 17 SDGs will definitely benefit the community, but there must be certain that the consumer will be using the service or infrastructure that will be built through the PPP.

List of attendees for GPW 2017 side event:

Mr. David Sutherland, Board Chair of International Care Ministries, will talk about the challenges and influence of civil society in global partnerships, at the Global South-South Development Expo of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) to be held at Dubai World Trade Center on October 30-November 3, 2016. 

Mr. Imran is part of the Global CEO Alliance Regional Network and will be participating at the Global South-South Development Expo of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) to be held at Dubai World Trade Center on October 30-November 3, 2016. 

Mr. Imran was appointed to the Board of Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad (MRCB) on March 2015, and currently serves as its Executive Director. He holds a Degree in Electrical and Electronics from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, United Kingdom (UK) and a Masters in Commerce from Deakin University, Australia. He is a member of the Institution of Engineers Malaysia and Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, UK. He is also a member of the Institute of Value Management of Malaysia and The International Real Estate Federation, Malaysia.

He has consolidated a large portfolio of property projects under MRCB, a leading urban property and construction company in Malaysia. MRCB has been listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia since 1971. MRCB Group’s activities span four areas: Property Development & Investment, Engineering, Construction & Environment, Facilities Management, and Infrastructure and Concession. Apart from its commercial and residential development, MRCB’s Engineering, Construction & Environment Division also has a track record of developing highways, rail infrastructure, high voltage power transmission projects and the rehabilitation of rivers and coastal areas.

Engr. Sobhi Batterjee is part of the Global CEO Alliance Regional Network and will be participating at the Global South-South Development Expo of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), to be held at the Dubai World Trade Center on October 30- November 3, 2016. He will talk about the about the challenges and influence of the private sector on global partnerships at the Expo.

Engr. Sobhi A. Batterjee is the Chairman of the Middle East Healthcare Company (MEAHCO), which owns and operates the Saudi German Hospitals (SGH). Under his leadership, MEAHCO has become the leading healthcare company in the Middle East, establishing a wide geographical footprint. SGH has branches in Jeddah, Riyadh, Madinah and Aseer.

He is one of the most dynamic and recognized private healthcare leaders in the Middle East and North Africa region. In 2016, he was given recognition as the Healthcare CEO of the Year at the CEO Middle East Awards. Engr. Batterjee served as Chairman of the National Health Committee at the National Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Riyadh and likewise as Chairman of the Jeddah Health Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce.