Forward Faster Now | APAC 2026: Driving Business Leadership for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth

Across the Asia-Pacific region, businesses increasingly recognize that sustainability is not only a responsibility but also a strategic imperative for long-term resilience and competitiveness. Companies across the region are navigating a complex set of challenges, including climate risk, regulatory shifts, trade barriers, supply chain disruption and rising demands for transparency and accountability. Despite progress on corporate sustainability commitments, the world remains off track in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the private sector has a critical role to play in accelerating action and scaling solutions that support inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

At the same time, global uncertainty, including geopolitical tension and economic fragmentation, has underscored the importance of multilateral collaboration and regional partnership for business continuity.

In this context, the APAC Regional Hub of the UN Global Compact, together with Global Compact Country Networks across the region, brought together more than 200 senior leaders, including CEOs, Chief Sustainability Officers, Government representatives and UN and civil society partners, alongside more than 70 speakers, for Forward Faster Now | APAC 2026 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The event blended high-level leadership dialogue with action-oriented, practical sessions, reflecting its dual purpose: to showcase what is possible when business leads with ambition, and to equip participants with the tools to move from commitment to delivery. 

Day one focused on strategy and leadership. Top CEOs discussed how they are leading through a shifting world order, managing geopolitical tension, regulatory pressure and climate shocks. Sessions covered the region's most pressing priorities: climate action and just transition, sustainable finance, gender equality in leadership, human rights due diligence and support for SMEs and supply chains. The day closed with a CSO panel on building trust and leading with integrity.

Day two shifted from dialogue to delivery, with working sessions on anti-corruption, circularity, water resilience and ESG data management. An investment forum examined how to unlock more transition capital for APAC's emerging markets, while a dedicated session introduced prospective participants to the UN Global Compact.

Companies that move first on the SDGs and the Ten Principles gain a strategic edge as the region's regulatory and investment landscape shifts. Forward Faster Now | APAC gave business leaders a regionally relevant touchpoint, closer to home than global convenings, feeding directly into global conversations like the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in September. 

For SMEs and companies in emerging markets especially, the event offered access to the tools, financing pathways and support needed to scale action.

Participants left Forward Faster Now | APAC 2026 with a clear and practical roadmap for turning ambition into results. As Asia-Pacific navigates an increasingly complex operating environment, the leaders who move first — and move together — will be the ones best positioned to lead.

As the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative, the UN Global Compact provides a common language for responsible business, grounded in the Ten Principles and helping companies operate consistently across markets and value chains. With more than 25 years of experience and engagement with over 25,000 companies across more than 65 Country Networks, the UN Global Compact brings deep, practical insight into how sustainability commitments are translated into action.

The momentum from Colombo now carries forward, including into the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in September, as the work continues, across the region and around the world, to move Forward Faster.