The 12th Mont-Blanc Meetings took place on 29 and 30 January 2026 at the headquarters of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva. The event brought together representatives of cooperatives and SSE entities, international institutions and experts from different countries, with the aim of exchanging experiences and proposals under the theme “Building a sustainable and sovereign future with the social and solidarity economy.”
The 2026 Meetings were held in a global context marked by the search for more equitable economic and social frameworks capable of addressing 21st-century challenges such as artificial intelligence, climate change and widening inequality gaps. Participants and observers agreed that the SSE not only provides relevant tools for job creation and community cohesion, but also for reconfiguring the relationships between the economy, technology and human rights.
Among the key themes of the Meetings were the SSE and energy and food sovereignty, democracy and financing, and the implications of artificial intelligence and digitalisation.
In his opening speech, Alain Coheur, president of Rencontres du Mont-Blanc, advocated for SSE diplomacy as a tool for influence and international projection. By promoting values of solidarity, economic democracy, and sustainability, the SSE can help redefine the norms of development and international trade, offering a more human vision of globalization, in which economic performance is also assessed in terms of its social and environmental impact.
The Forum also welcomed the momentum to advance the SSE stemming from the outcomes of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development and the Second World Summit for Social Development, both of which included key references to the SSE.
Participants included Alioune Badara Dione, Senegal’s Minister of Microfinance and Social and Solidarity Economy, who recalled that 2026 has been declared the Year of the Social and Solidarity Economy in his country; and the French Minister for SMEs, Serge Papin, who emphasised the importance of the SSE not only for the economy but also for sovereignty.
The director of CIRIEC-International, Barbara Sak, and the President of the Scientific Commission for Social and Cooperative Economy of CIRIEC-International, Carmen Marcuello, also participated in the meetings, highlighting the extraordinary and growing role of the scientific community in promoting the SSE throughout the world.
For her part, Simel Esim, Head of the ILO’s Cooperative, Social and Solidarity Economy Unit and Chair of the UNTFSSE, warned of a “global development emergency”, marked by economic uncertainty, rising insecurity and the weakening of multilateral cooperation, which is already affecting institutions such as the UN itself and its various development agencies, including the ILO and the UNTFSSE.
A Manifesto for a sustainable and sovereign future with the SSE is expected to be drafted, aimed at translating the shared priorities of the Mont-Blanc Meetings into concrete actions at national, regional and global levels.
