Originally published on July 18, 2016.

The summer is heating up with reminders that the first anniversary of the launch of the 2030 Agenda is not far – and when it comes to implementing sustainable development worldwide, time passes rather quickly. The High Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development is convening in New York, the first since the adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It comes hot on the heels of businesses getting a reminder from Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in New York on June 22, who told those assembled that, “All businesses, everywhere, can and should play a role in improving our world.” He also added, “That starts with integrity – doing business right.”

Doing business right involves integrity at many levels, with commitments to ethical principles as well as commitments to shareholders. In the current economic climate, balancing “improving our world” and “doing business right” can seem a tad challenging. After all, the state of the global economy is not helping. The Brexit vote may not be the last nail on globalization’s coffin, but the pallbearers have been put on high alert, especially given the xenophobic rhetoric of the presidential campaign across the Atlantic. The world’s two largest economies, China and the US are already at loggerheads on the disputes ranging from trade to issues of territorial encroachment by China. The EU and Japanese economies are struggling. Multiple crises — political, security and humanitarian — stretch across the globe. Even the formerly dynamic emerging markets are in a state of slowdown and crisis – many, such as Brazil, Russia and South Africa are in recession, while Turkey has just experienced a failed coup. Therefore, it should not be a surprise that the new SDG Index and Dashboard show that all countries face major challenges in achieving the SDGs by 2030. Even the top-ranked country, Sweden, scores an alarming “red” on several goals.

The region I am most concerned about is Africa. While the continent enjoyed a short-lived “Africa rising” moment, it now struggles with slowing growth because of prospects for drought and dropping demand for its commodities. Capital Economics predicts growth of 2.9% for sub-Saharan Africa– a 17-year low for the region. A key indicator of worry is when multinational companies, with deep experience in the region, head for the exits: Nestlé is cutting 15% of its workforce across twenty-one African countries, while Barclays is out altogether.