Where the MDGs were focused on the billion or so people living in extreme poverty, the SDGs are a universal agenda designed to be relevant to all 7 billion of the world’s inhabitants. Where the MDGs were mainly interested in aid as the means to delivering the goals, the SDGs will entail a far broader range of “means of implementation”.

Above all, where the MDG agenda was mainly about actions by governments, the SDGs will involve a hugely diverse range of actors – including, crucially, a much bigger role for the private sector. Business is, after all, the key driver of job creation and growth in developing countries, accounting for an average 60% of gross domestic product, 80% of inward capital flows and 90% of jobs. The private sector is already the world’s biggest engine of poverty reduction and rising prosperity in the developing world.

Looking ahead, it is the private sector that will need to provide the bulk of the trillion dollars a year needed to plug the global infrastructure gap. The private sector will also be the frontline of the global battle for sustainability, whether reducing greenhouse gas emissions or building a circular economy with zero waste.

Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/sep/07/sustainable-development-goals-private-sector-public-partnerships