After the historic year of 2015, marked by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement, the business sector sees 2016 as an opportunity to give concrete form to the decisions made last year. At its annual event, held from April 11 to 14 in Montreux (Switzerland), the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) presented strategies to accelerate and scale business solutions that will respond to global and local challenges.

For Peter Bakker, President of the WBCSD, 2016 is the year of implementation. “The world already has a plan to transition to a sustainable, low-carbon economy. This is the beginning of a new era. If 2015 was the year of commitments, 2016 must be the year to start delivering the solutions that will address the systemic issues facing our society,” said Peter.

This year, the WBCSD will continue working to guide its member companies to develop business solutions through the Action 2020 platform. Considering the global challenges, companies have chosen three priority themes for action. The first of these is Energy and Climate Change, which will continue to be developed through the Low Carbon Technology Partnerships Initiative (LCTPi), which seeks to develop and implement short-term action plans to achieve the Paris Agreement goal. According to an analysis by the consulting firm PwC, if the LCTPi action plans are fulfilled, the initiative could contribute 65% towards reaching 2 degrees, in addition to channeling between 5 and 10 trillion dollars in investments into low-carbon sectors of the economy.

The second priority theme for 2016 is Cities. The WBCSD is coordinating business action to participate in UN Habitat III, a UN conference that discusses sustainable urban development and that is held only every 20 years. The third edition will take place in September, in Quito, Ecuador.

The third theme covers Food and Land Use, addressing challenges such as the potential competition of food from biofuels, deforestation, water conservation, agriculture and health. This ecosystem agenda will be supported by two major events this year: the 13th UN Conference of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Cancun and the IUCN International Conservation Congress in Hawaii.

In Brazil, CEBDS will be responsible for adapting discussions to the national context and that of its companies and also ensuring that the voice of the Brazilian business sector is considered in international projects.

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