The COVID-19 pandemic spotlights how unsustainable models of production and consumption have resulted in health, economic, and social crisis of a global scale.

As the pandemic continues to disrupt economies and lives, a recovery pathway anchored on sustainable development is imperative. The big question is, how?

Society’s collective response to enable among the worst-hit sectors of the economy – the MSMEs to build back better and with greater resilience must be front and center in the COVID-19 economic recovery agenda.

The Global Compact Network Philippines, in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO Philippines), will be hosting the Sustainability Summit 2020. This year’s summit, which will be delivered virtually, is rightly focused on “Uniting Business to Support MSME Recovery and Resilience.

This year’s Summit will stage the outcome reports from three days of high-level, multi-stakeholder Business Expert Group Meetings which GCNP and UNIDO organized in October in the lead-up to the Summit. The main objectives are to present an actionable policy recommendation, synthesised from notable industry players; and, harness commitments from policy and business leaders the two sectors most capable of sustained action to support MSME recovery pathways anchored on the pillars of People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnerships, consistent with the Philippine Socio-Economic and Peace Building Framework, to be agreed between the United Nations and the Government of the Philippines.