In August 2010, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the UN High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability to formulate a new blueprint for sustainable growth. The panel was tasked with exploring different approaches to effectively tackle hunger, inequality and the deterioration of the natural environment.

CIGI Chair and founder Jim Balsillie was the only Canadian and the only member from the private sector named to the 22-person panel, which includes former world leaders and is co-chaired by Finnish President Tarja Halonen and South African President Jacob Zuma. The panel issued its findings in the January 2012 report Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing. Supporting Balsillie on the UN panel was CIGI Distinguished Fellow David Runnalls, who is the acting director of CIGI’s Environment and Energy program.