Seoul/New York, 22 September 2020 – Hyundai Motor Company and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have entered into their inaugural agreement aimed at spreading messages of sustainability to people around the world and advancing local solutions addressing concrete needs to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS).

Under the agreement, Hyundai Motor and UNDP will collaborate for the first time to create a global initiative, called ‘for Tomorrow’, which will help accelerate progress towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call-to-action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.

A signing ceremony was held today between Hyundai Motor Executive Vice Chairman Euisun Chung and UNPD Administrator Achim Steiner online during which they discussed the future of partnership and global cooperation for sustainability. Actress, activist, and social impact entrepreneur Jessica Alba, officially endorsing ‘for Tomorrow’ and British journalist Lucy Siegle, who moderated the conversation, were also in attendance.

The agreement will enable Hyundai Motor and UNDP to celebrate and crowdsource local innovations from the public and help these solutions scale, a much-needed response to the world’s escalating environmental and socio-economic challenges.

“The ‘for Tomorrow’ project we are launching today with UNDP, aims to offer concrete solutions to many of our problems today.” said Mr. Chung of Hyundai Motor Group. “Through this project, Hyundai Motor Company will help mobilize that power of cooperation and innovation to engineer sustainable progress for humanity.”

At the signing ceremony, Euisun Chung and Achim Steiner unveiled a preview of the for Tomorrow project (www.fortomorrow.org), a focal point for the collaboration and open innovation platform where people can share solutions to be amplified and scaled up. Hyundai Motor and UNDP launched dedicated social media channels (@forTomorrow2030) to promote the project. Under this year’s theme and slogan, “Make Cities Inclusive, Safe, Resilient and Sustainable,” ‘for Tomorrow’ will accept solutions from October 2020 through April 2021, in time for Earth Day on April 22, with project acceleration in the ensuing months.

Hyundai Motor and UNDP will support solutions shared on the platform by advancing, sharing and building upon them with the help of the UNDP Accelerator Labs, a global network of 60 labs (expanding to 90 this year) that are tapping into local innovations to create actionable insights and reimagine sustainable development for the 21st century.

‘for Tomorrow’ is a way of recognizing grassroots innovation as part of the investments of UNDP through its Accelerator Lab network to explore, experiment, and grow portfolios of solutions to tackle today’s sustainable development challenges such as air pollution, waste management and many more.

Through ‘for Tomorrow’, Hyundai Motor will share its commitment to sustainable mobility and lifestyles via its vision of enabling “Progress for Humanity.” The company, via ‘for Tomorrow’ and ensuing sustainable initiatives, plans to leap forward from simply “doing well” to “doing good,” engaging the environmentally conscious and committed local innovators of the millennial and Z generations.

“UNDP is committed to supporting the incredible power of local innovators to change the world for the better - not only today, but also for Tomorrow and into the future," said Mr. Steiner. “With the launch of this platform in partnership with Hyundai we want to explore new ways of connecting these pioneering minds together - and help them unleash their full potential to build a greener, more resilient, more inclusive and more sustainable future.”

“It is inspiring to witness the United Nations and Hyundai come together to collaborate on an initiative like this. We have all spent the better part of the year facing challenges we never thought we would. It’s become clear that working together is our only way forward to create a better, more sustainable, and more humane world for today and tomorrow,” said Jessica Alba.

The signing ceremony and the launch of ‘for Tomorrow’ are the first step in the two parties’ global partnership for sustainable development and lays the foundation for their active involvement in the celebration and amplification of grassroots initiatives. Hyundai Motor and UNDP will continue to work together with people around the world for humanity’s shared liveable future.