When the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015, all national governments committed to keeping global warming to below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a special report which warned of catastrophic consequences should global warming exceed 1.5°C. In response to the newest science, the UN Global Compact, with its partners the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), launched the Business Ambition for 1.5 Campaign to raise the ambition on climate action and push companies to set science-based targets aligned with 1.5°C as opposed to 2°C or well-below 2°C.

The campaign launched in 2019 with 87 major companies — with a combined market capitalization of over $2.3 trillion USD and annual direct emissions equivalent to 73 coal-fired power plants. Since then, over 5,900 companies are setting science-based emissions targets aligned to 1.5°C— and 1.5°C has become the official, global standard for corporate climate strategies.

The UN Global Compact Ocean Stewardship Coalition brings together the private sector alongside UN agencies, academia, Governments and non-governmental organizations to drive action and determine how the ocean, and ocean industries, can deliver on the Paris Agreement and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The Coalition has convened actors in offshore energy, shipping, ports, aquaculture and fisheries, among others, to develop the Sustainable Ocean Principles and sector-based guidelines, as well as new frameworks, such as a global practitioner's guide for bonds to finance the sustainable blue economy.

Since 2021, the Coalition has provided substantive input to the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO’s) greenhouse gas (GHG) strategy, which regulates and sets standards for emissions in the shipping industry. The IMO Strategy has been signed by 176 countries. This Coalition has also worked with the IMO to develop the training materials necessary for seafarers to safely use the new zero and near-zero fuels and draft associated competency standards.

The CEO Water Mandate is an initiative established in 2007 by the United Nations Secretary-General and the United Nations Global Compact in partnership with the Pacific Institute. The Mandate offers a powerful forum for companies to share good practices and forge partnerships to address urgent water challenges related to scarcity, quality, governance and access to water and sanitation. Within the CEO Water Mandate, the Water Resilience Coalition (WRC) mobilizes the companies to commit to ambitious 2030 and 2050 goals while fostering collective action to scale water resilience in water-stressed basins around the world.

In 2023 the WRC mobilized 5 member companies along with the United States Development Finance Commission committed investments toward a USD $150 Million fund to help 5 million people around the globe gain access to safely managed water sanitation and hygiene by 2025. In tandem the WRC also mobilized 3 member companies in collaboration with WaterAid to launch the Women + Water Collaborative. The initiative lands in two important basins, the Godavari and the Krishna, with potential to positively impact over 5 million people. The Women + Water Collaborative also marks the first time that companies from different sectors spanning apparel, biopharma, and agriculture have united with shared goals, metrics, and governance to provide access to clean water and sanitation in the same communities.