Global Sustainability Goals Must Integrate Health
Novo Nordisk shares its views on the role of business in shaping a new set of global sustainability goals.
(3BL Media) September 25, 2012 - Today, in New York, Novo Nordisk’s Executive Vice President Lise Kingo will kick-start the discussion on the role of business in shaping a new set of global sustainability goals to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
At the event ‘Business, the MDGs and Beyond’ Lise Kingo will stress the need to take a systems perspective to the future sustainability goals and make partnerships the preferred mode of action.
“As we embark upon the task at hand, we must build upon what the MDG process has taught us: We must overcome competition between individual goals, each in their own right important, and take a systems perspective where we tackle problems at their roots and understand how they are connected and – most importantly – that as citizens, businesses, government and global organisations, we must work together to create a healthier future,” says Lise Kingo.
Health and sustainability: Two sides of the same coin
Following up on the UN High Level meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in New York, 2011, and the Rio+20 Summit in June 2012, Lise Kingo will highlight the social and economic challenges of the global increase in NCDs and the need to make human health an integral part of the future global sustainability agenda.
“Health and development are two sides of the same coin. Agreeing on a shared vision for a healthy and resilient planet with healthy and resilient people is our first task. Then to set actionable targets that we can all work towards. This, to me, is the most important leadership challenge we are faced with today”.
The links between Non-Communicable Diseases and sustainable development was the key topic of the Next Generation Living event held during the Rio+20 Summit. For a summary of this event, click here.
About the MDGs
The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015.
The UN is currently working with governments, civil society and other partners to build on the momentum generated by the MDGs and carry on with an ambitious post-2015 development agenda. The post-2015 agenda is linked to the outcome of Rio+20 that recognised the importance and utility of a set of sustainable development goals (SDGs) as part of the post-2015 development framework.
About the ‘Business, the MDGs and Beyond’ event
The ‘Business, the MDGs and Beyond’ event coincides with the opening of the UN 2012 General Assembly and is organised by a coalition of leading international business and development organisations, led by the Business Call to Action, Business Fights Poverty, the Overseas Development Institute, the United Nations Development Programme and the UN Global Compact.
Follow the Business, the MDGs and Beyond webstream live and on Twitter - #bizmdgs
