In September 2015, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, an ambitious clarion call that commits the countries of the world to achieve economic prosperity while protecting our planet and without leaving anyone behind. 

The 2030 Agenda recognizes the enormous opportunities which innovation offers for achieving its goals. It also recognizes the business community’s central role in driving innovation for sustainable development and indeed calls for a renewed partnership between governments and the business community. Every day, all over the world, ambitious, creative entrepreneurs are starting companies with the potential to make a difference to sustainable development, to have a positive impact on prosperity, people and our planet in areas as diverse as agriculture, energy, environment, or health, to name but a few. But much more needs to be done, and much more can be done. The conference will bring together innovators from the private and the public sector from throughout the UNECE region to celebrate the power of disruptive innovation in aligning economic growth with ecological sustainability and social inclusion. It will also discuss how we can get (even) better at it.