The 11th Mont Blanc Meetings organized by SSE International Forum took place on January 16, 2025, at the ILO headquarters on the theme of “SSE facing the role of finance and economic pluralism, supporting the SDGs and social development”.
The Mont Blanc Meetings (MBM), the first major international event for the social and solidarity economy under the aegis of the International Year of Cooperatives, brought together more than 70 international SSE leaders from the 4 corners of the globe: Brazil, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Canada, France, Spain, Belgium and others.
“SSE enterprises are not marginal enterprises, but they must emerge from marginality” declared the President of ESS Forum International at the opening ceremony, alongside Simel Esim, Head of the ILO’s COOP/SSE Department and Chair of UNTFSSE.
In a special video for the MBMs, ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo recalled the ILO’s commitment to SSE and its role in social justice and ecological transition. “SSE players must be at the forefront of the fight for democracy” as former Social Affairs Commissioner Nicolas Schmit put it in a keynote, he also made a plea for the rehabilitation of the term ‘citizen’.
The first-round table, moderated by SSE international Forum treasurer Claude Dorion (MCE Conseils), focused on “The relevance of financing circuits for SSE development”. Using Ecuador as an example, UNCTAD’s Chantal Line Carpentier demonstrated that solutions for financing the SSE do exist and can be “transferable”, in advance of the UNTFSSE report on financing the SSE.
“The financing of the SSE by itself” is also a historical and political fact that is sometimes worth recalling, as Jérome Saddier, Chairman of Credit Coopératif, did. He also urged us to be wary of buzzwords like “impact”! Hilde Vernaillen asserted that the SSE must be profitable in order to be self-financing, which is why P&V Group supports many SSE SMEs and CO-OPs so that they can achieve critical mass!
Marc Picard pointed out that the Caisse Solidaire Desjardins’ SSE finance business is almost a craft in the face of the mega-machines of traditional finance, and yet it works! Maciel Dos Santos and Dr Leopoldo Carvalho de Oliveira Neto, President of Sicredi Centro Norte, shared the Sicredi experience in Brazil, with its 9 million members, illustrating the power of cooperativism in terms of financial inclusion of the most vulnerable.
The second round-table discussion focused on the theme of “Can social economy enterprises and private companies share the same concepts to ensure their development?” It was moderated by Antoine Détourné, General Delegate of ESS France, who took stock of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and its current questioning (CSRD, CS3D) in the various circles of power.
Arnaud Breuil of Up Coop disagreed with the adage that “status does not equal virtue”, as “a company’s articles of association enshrine a certain number of ethical and democratic governance practices”. He also spoke of UP COOP’s raison d’être.
Victor Meseguer, deputy director of ABACUS (a cooperative in education and culture), asserted that cooperation with the traditional private sector is possible: CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is anchored in building alliances, provided we know where to go together and that competition is not unfair (as with GAFAM).
Valérie Tiacoh reminded us that Orange naturally works with the SSE via its purchasing activities to achieve the SDGs and human rights, as SSE players are essential stakeholders at a time of hybridization of models.
Professor German Mejia (COACEHL – Honduras) insisted on inter-cooperation and education, on the Corporate Social Responsibility of cooperatives and on the need for public authorities to be more aware of the SSE!
Finally, Jules Gouhan (Ivory Coast – SSE network) urged companies to move away from “gimmicky” or “formal” Corporate Social Responsibility and embrace genuine TRC (corporate territorial responsibility) in the service of territories and communities, with concrete examples.
The day ended with the presentation of the recommendations of the 2025 Mont Blanc Meetings.
Two key themes regarding the role of finance and economic pluralism in supporting the SDGs and social development are on the global agenda, which in 2025 will be marked by two major international conferences: the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Seville, Spain, in July, and the 2nd World Summit for Social Development in Qatar, in November.
For ESS International Forum, “it is necessary to strengthen the dialogue between finance and business development actors and those of the social economy, in order to fully harness the great potential of the social economy as a provider of solutions to the challenges related to the SDGs.”
Read the Mont-Blanc Meetings 2025 recommendations document here.
