The Second Global Business Summit on BRI Infrastructure to Accelerate the SDGs convened over 300 senior leaders, international organization representatives, and private sector pioneers in Singapore to launch a dozen sustainability-driven joint actions. According to the UN Global Compact, the summit focused on unlocking infrastructure cooperation opportunities under the Belt and Road Initiative to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Declaration and Private Sector Partnerships in Singapore
Participants at the Singapore summit adopted a declaration establishing clear business priorities across multiple sectors, including sustainable infrastructure, responsible artificial intelligence, a just energy transition, and global supply chain resilience. Additional priorities cover sustainable finance, women and youth empowerment in the digital era, and international cooperation in traditional medicine. According to the UN Global Compact, the event launched expert groups dedicated to sustainable energy and sustainable digital infrastructure alongside 12 specific sustainable development goal outcomes.
These private sector-led initiatives target areas such as green mining, electricity carbon-footprint standards, biodiversity conservation, ocean protection, sustainable transport, and women’s microenterprise growth. UN Assistant Secretary-General and UN Global Compact CEO Sanda Ojiambo noted that resilient infrastructure serves as the foundation for long-term sustainable development.
“The initiatives being launched today – from new expert groups on sustainable energy and digital infrastructure to new guidance on biodiversity, green minerals, and responsible AI – demonstrate that meaningful progress depends on collaboration across borders, sectors, and value chains,” Sanda Ojiambo stated, according to the UN Global Compact.
Climate Action and Clean Energy Integration
Selwin Hart, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Climate Action and Just Transition, emphasized the practical applications of these partnerships.
“Through the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese businesses and financial institutions can help connect China’s extraordinary clean energy capabilities with the enormous growth opportunities across the developing world,” Selwin Hart said, as reported by the UN Global Compact. He added that retreating behind borders offers fewer opportunities than building bridges, connecting markets, and sharing solutions.
Sustainable Transport and Global Connectivity Goals
With 2026 marking the start of the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport, Jean Todt, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, addressed the scale of connectivity efforts. According to the UN Global Compact, Todt noted that the scale of the Belt and Road Initiative must be matched by an equally strong commitment to road safety.
Concluding the summit, Li Junhua, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, stressed the necessity of multilateral cooperation in addressing modern connectivity challenges. “No single country can tackle today’s complex connectivity challenges in isolation,” Li Junhua stated, according to the UN Global Compact. Additional regional perspectives were provided by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary of UNESCAP, alongside UN Resident Coordinators Stephen Jackson in China and Nikolas Myint in Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei Darussalam, who highlighted the ASEAN region’s ongoing contributions to global progress.
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