SDGs
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Notable News
Business Action on SDGs
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CFO Coalition for the SDGs — 70 Chief Financial Officers (CFOs), including those of CEF member companies BASF, Schlumberger, Schneider Electric, & Unilever, have joined the Leadership Group for a new coalition launched by the UN Global Compact to help integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in corporate finance and create a market for mainstream SDG investments. CFOs in the group will help develop recommendations, frameworks, and best practices to guide corporate investments towards the SDGs. The Coalition aims to (April 2022):
- Leverage commitments from CFOs in the Coalition ($500 billion already committed) to direct trillions of corporate investments towards the SDGs and create a $10 trillion market for SDG-directed finance by 2030.
- Expand the CFO Leadership Group from 70 to 100 CFOs by 2022.
- Encourage 1,000 CFO Signatories to the CFO Principles on Integrated SDG Investments and Finance by 2024.
JACOBS — Launched PlanBeyond 2.0, a refresh of its global sustainable business strategy that includes 6 targets to further embed sustainability in its operations and client solutions in alignment with the UN SDGs. The company’s 2025 targets include (Aug 2021):
- Improving the well-being and mental health of 1 million people
- Delivering water equity in water-stressed regions through partnerships
- Expanding its cyber-solutions portfolio
- Ensuring 100% of its solutions contribute to UN SDGs
- Engaging its workforce in 50,000 hours of volunteering that enhances diversity
CARNIVAL CORPORATION & PLC — The world’s largest cruise company announced 10 new 2030 targets and 2050 “aspirations” with 6 areas of focus aligned with the UN SDGs: climate action; circular economy; health and well-being; sustainable tourism; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and biodiversity and conservation. Climate action and circular economy targets include (June 2021):
- 40% reduction in the carbon rate per available lower berth day by 2030 (2008 baseline)
- 50% reduction in absolute air emissions of particulate matter by 2030 (2015 baseline)
- 50% reduction in single-use plastic by end of 2021 (2018 baseline)
- 30% reduction in per capita food waste by 2022 and 50% by 2030 (2019 baseline)
PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL GROUP — Announced new ESG commitments, including reducing its US carbon emissions 40% by 2035 with intention to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Additional commitments include aligning responsible investment practices with 7 UN SDGs by 2022, doubling the number of diverse small to midsize businesses it supports over the next 5 years, and performing regular diversity and pay equity analysis. (April 2021)
MORGAN STANLEY — Committed to mobilize $1 trillion towards sustainability solutions in support of the UN SDGs by 2030, including $750 billion to support low-carbon solutions—a three-fold increase from its initial 2018 pledge. (April 2021)
JPMORGAN CHASE — Announced a goal to finance over $2.5 trillion through the end of 2030 to advance long-term solutions that address climate change and contribute to sustainable development including (April 2021):
- $1 trillion for green initiatives to accelerate the deployment of solutions for cleaner sources of energy and facilitating the transition to a low-carbon economy
- Capital to support socioeconomic development and quality of life, and advance the U.N. SDGs in emerging economies
- Small business financing, home lending and affordable housing, education and healthcare, and its recent $30 billion commitment to advance racial equity
Dell Technologies unveiled its 2030 Social Impact Goals, which include plans to ensure women account for 50% of the company’s global workforce and 40% of global people managers, advance the health, education and economic opportunity of 1 billion people, and more. (2019)
Archer Daniels Midland has partnered with international humanitarian organization Concern Worldwide to provide an immediate and longer-term response to chronic malnutrition and hunger for people living in extreme poverty in Kenya and Ethiopia. The company has committed $1 million to the initiative. (2019)
Kellogg Company will improve the lives of 3 billion people through a variety of efforts around food and nutrition and provide donations to feed 375 million people. (2019)
Google launched an accelerator program to support social impact startups focused on driving progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. The company will select up to ten startups from around the world to participate in its six-month accelerator program. (2019)
Research & Tools
SDGs and Business: Research
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SDG Showcase: How Companies Are Contributing to Achieving Agenda 2030 (UN Global Compact Network UK) — Provides an overview of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how they are material to businesses. The report explores each of the 17 SDGs, showcasing good practices, practical actions companies can take, and case studies from a variety of companies and sectors. It concludes with ways companies can accelerate action on SDGs, including a list of policymaker asks. (April 2024)
Technology for a Secure, Sustainable and Superior Future (Force for Good) — Finds that while the cost of delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has increased due to COVID and the war in Ukraine, deploying existing technologies that enhance connectivity could reduce costs by up to 20%. These technologies, which could provide savings of up to $33 trillion, can have an influence on 103 of the 169 SDG targets. Increasing connectivity could be used to help improve banking, healthcare, education, farming and other key services. The report also finds that further savings of up to $23 trillion could be realized with targeted innovations that overcome specific education, finance, healthcare, and other SDG challenges. (Jan 2023)
The path to 2030: Delivering a sustainable future (The Consumer Goods Forum, EY) — Identifies pathways for the consumer goods industry to have the greatest impact toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report was launched to coincide with the midpoint between the announcement of the SDGs in 2015 and the 2030 target date for completion. It features insights from interviews with leaders from 13 of the largest global consumer goods companies, including CEF members Procter & Gamble and Unilever. It concludes that the following five areas of focus are critical (June 2022):
- Collaborate for success: Consumer businesses need to share knowledge and combine resources to amplify and accelerate their impact on systemic sustainability challenges – from combating climate change to reducing global inequality.
- Measure for progress and impact: There is a clear need to integrate the SDGs consistently across reporting frameworks. While international regulatory bodies make progress toward a consistent set of standards, businesses should ensure they are able to report robustly on SDGs alignment.
- Embed sustainability into the company DNA: Companies that include and incentivize progress toward SDGs into their entire corporate culture are likely to achieve greater impact.
- Bring the consumer on the journey: Research shows that a large and growing majority of consumers want companies to lead on social and environmental issues and will reward companies that do. Companies should capitalize on that opportunity by enhancing and publicizing their approach to the SDGs.
- Align companies’ SDG priorities according to where the business can make the biggest difference and set material targets.
State of Progress: Business Contributions to the SDGs (GRI) — Evaluates how 206 companies that produced a GRI report in 2020 publicly communicate their support and actions in relation to the SDGs, ranking companies against five categories: plans, commitments, actions, progress, and suppliers. The report also highlights SDG reporting trends and recommends ways that companies can better use the SDGs in sustainability reporting. 4 in 5 companies assessed included an SDG-related commitment in their sustainability reports, yet fewer than half had set measurable targets to fulfill the commitment. (Jan 2022)
Accelerating Action: An SDG Roadmap for the Oil and Gas Sector
(WBCSD and IPIECA) — Identifies pathways, including 90 short-, medium-, and long-term actions, for oil and gas companies to decarbonize and contribute toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. (April 2021)
Sector Transformation: An SDG Roadmap for Electric Utilities
(WBCSD) — Pinpoints pathways, including 7 key opportunities with accompanying short-, medium-, and long-term actions, for electric utility companies to align with UN SDGs and drive toward 2030 SDG targets. (March 2021)
“Making Peace With Nature: A Scientific Blueprint To Tackle The Climate, Biodiversity And Pollution Emergencies” (UN Environment Program) finds that environmental changes are undermining hard-won development gains by causing economic costs and millions of premature deaths annually. The report articulates a scientific-based blueprint for how climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution can be tackled jointly within the framework of the SDGs. (February 2021)
"Sustainable Development Goals: A Misunderstood Market Opportunity?" (Trucost) finds that the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) actions reported by S&P 500 companies are not aligned with the goals that are most material to their business. The report finds that S&P 500 companies have the highest risk exposure to SDG 17: Partnership for the Goals, SDG 15: Life on Land, SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, and SDG 13: Climate Action. The top four SDGs in company reporting are SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being, SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, and SDG 13: Climate Action (Feb 2020).
“Global Goals, Ocean Opportunities” (UN Global Compact, 2019) connects the dots between a healthy marine environment and long-term business success, based on a consultation with 300 representatives of business, civil society, and academia. The report also lays out how businesses can leverage ocean sustainability to boost progress against the 17 Global Goals.
Identifying Business Value in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Trucost, Nov 2018) finds that the 13 companies participating in the inaugural application of Trucost’s SDG Evaluation Tool generated nearly $233 billion of SDG-aligned business revenues in 2017; equivalent to 87% of their total revenues. The 13 companies analyzed in the report include Aguas Andinas, AMD, Arm, CLP Holdings, HP Inc., Iberdrola, Ingersoll Rand, Ørsted, Rockwool Group, S&P Global, Spectrum Brands Holdings, Tarkett, and Walgreens Boots Alliance.
#System Transformation: How digital solutions will drive progress towards the sustainable development goals (Global e-Sustainability Initiative) emphasizes the important role digital technologies can play in helping to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report finds that companies in the Information and Communications Technologies sector could generate $2.1 trillion in additional revenue annually by 2030 from services that directly contribute to SDG achievements. The report also finds that every country has achievement gaps in more than half of the 17 SDGs.
Valuing the SDG Prize in Food and Agriculture (AlphaBeta and the Business Commission on Sustainable Development) finds that using sustainable solutions to tackle challenges in the food and agriculture sectors could unlock 14 major business opportunities worth $2.3 trillion annually by 2030.
“Better Business, Better World” (Business & Sustainable Development Commission, 2017) identifies 60 sustainable and inclusive market opportunity “hotspots” that could unlock at least $12 trillion in economic opportunities for the private sector, and create up to 380 million jobs globally by 2030. The report also estimates that companies could unlock an additional $8 trillion of value across the global economy if they align their strategies with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the report states that innovative financing and a “new social contract” between business, government, and society are needed to realize these market opportunities.
#System Transformation: How digital solutions will drive progress towards the sustainable development goals (Global e-Sustainability Initiative, 2016) emphasizes the important role digital technologies can play in helping to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report finds that companies in the Information and Communications Technologies sector could generate $2.1 trillion in additional revenue annually by 2030 from services that directly contribute to SDG achievements. The report also finds that every country has achievement gaps in more than half of the 17 SDGs.
“Breakthrough Business Models: Exponentially More Social, Lean, Integrated and Circular” (Volans and the Business and Sustainable Development Commission, 2016) features case studies of companies and organizations that are using a combination of exponential technologies and innovative new business models to drive progress against the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The report details four “exponential” characteristics of these breakthrough business models, which include the following:
· Social: delivering positive impacts for people, in the present and in the future
· Lean: optimizing the use of all forms of capital, including human and natural
· Integrated: managing value creation across economic, social and environmental systems
· Circular: sustaining inputs and outputs at their highest value in both technical and biological cycles
“Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals: Business Action and Millennials’ Views” (Corporate Citizenship, 2016) finds that 81% of millennials surveyed believe the private sector has a “very important” role to play in achieving the SDGs, yet around 66% believe that business will prioritize short-term profit maximization over long-term sustainability. The survey also finds that 40% of companies surveyed are working on a collaboration that contributes to the realization of the SDGs—up from 19% last year. The report concludes that much more private sector action is needed, not only to meet the expectations of the “most important demographic to business over the next 15 years,” but also to “create the world of zero poverty, zero hunger, and zero emissions that everyone would benefit from.”
Aligning SDGs with Business Sustainability Goals - Tools
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SDG Impact Standards (UNDP) — Best practices for an impact measurement and management system (IMM) for entities in the impact investing ecosystem. These best practices guide internal management and decision-making processes to support informed and accountable choices that maximize impact and advance sustainable development.
- SDG Impact Standards for Enterprises
- SDG Impact Standards for Private Equity Funds
- SDG Impact Standards for Bonds
SDG Business Hub (WBCSD) - Major clearinghouse for insights, developments, and emerging trends relating to business and the SDGs.
“SDG Sector Roadmaps” (WBCSD, 2018) lays out a methodology to help companies establish their sector’s current level of interaction with the SDGs across the value chain; identify their sector’s top opportunities for impact, as well as barriers, potential solutions and impact accelerators; and establish key action items and monitoring systems that chart a course towards the sector’s 2030 vision.
SDG Compass (GRI, the UN Global Compact, and WBCSD) is an online resource that provides a 5-step guide, business indicators, and tools to help companies better understand how they can contribute to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals.
SDG Industry Matrix Series (UN Global Compact) has been updated with corporate case examples that help translate the UN Sustainable Development Goals into the Healthcare and Life Sciences, and Industrial Manufacturing sectors. The series now provides matrices for 6 sectors including Financial Services, Transportation, Food, Beverage & Consumer Goods, and more.
Getting Started with the Sustainable Development Goals (UN) aims to help stakeholders get the conversation started on SDG implementation, and to prepare SDG-based national development strategies (or align existing plans and strategies with the goals). It draws upon lessons learned from the Millennium Development Goals, and proposes guiding principles to help countries navigate the SDG Agenda.
Reporting on SDGs
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Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the United Nations Global Compact have released a fully updated edition of Business Reporting on the SDGs: An Analysis of the Goals and Targets (first released in 2017). The resource aims to help organizations report on progress against the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and offers a comprehensive, up-to-date inventory of the disclosures that relate to each goal and target, drawing from international frameworks and standards. (Aug 2021)
Linking the SDGs and the GRI Standards (GRI) — A new version of the tool that connects the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) disclosures with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), allowing organizations to measure, track, and communicate progress toward the 17 Goals. The latest release of the free resource includes GRI Universal Standards 2021 and GRI 11: Oil and Gas Sector 2021 and adds reporting tools and guidance. (May 2022)
GRI announced a new program, “The Business Leadership Forum,” to enhance corporate reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It will include a series of virtual events, peer learning and engagement, with a focus on raising the quality and relevance of SDG data. Over 15 companies are involved, including Cigna and Salesforce. Limited capacity for additional members. (May 2021)
“SDG Reporting Challenge 2018” (PwC, 2018) examines over 700 listed companies across 21 countries to better understand how they are integrating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into business strategy, planning and reporting. Key findings included the following:
- 72% of companies in the study mention the SDGs; the majority (60%) in their sustainability reports rather than in main financial or integrated reports.
- 50% of companies have identified priority SDGs.
- Only 28% disclose meaningful Key Performance Indicators related to the SDGs.
- 27% of the total companies mention SDGs as part of their business strategy.
- Just 19% of CEO or Chair statements in annual reports mention the SDGs.
- The average score for reporting quality of those companies that had prioritized SDGs was 2.71 out of 5.
- The broad sectors of Technology, Media & Telecoms and Energy, Utilities & Mining lead other industries examined on mentioning the SDGs in their reporting.
State of Progress on SDGs
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Sustainable Development Report 2023 (Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)) — While there was some progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from 2015-2019, since the pandemic in 2020, SDG progress has stalled globally. Not a single SDG will be achieved by 2030 at the current rate, and fewer than 20% of the SDGs’ composite targets are on track. While off track, the report argues that none of the objectives are beyond reach yet. Achieving them, however, will require significant investment, including financing of at least $500 billion to low-income and lower-middle income countries by 2025. This includes funding to national and subnational governments as well as private businesses needed to carry out SDG investments. Other recommendations include: aligning private business investment flows with the SDGs; creating ambitious criteria for sustainable finance that are mandatory for all public finance institutions; and revising debt sustainability metrics to facilitate long-term sustainable development. (June 2023)
Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (UN General Assembly Economic and Social Council) — Finds that of the roughly 140 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets with data, only 12% are on course to meet their 2030 deadline. Close to half, while showing progress, are moderately or severely off track (at the halfway point in 2023), and about 30% have either seen no progress or regressed below the 2015 baseline. Recognizing the lack of SDG progress, especially in developing countries, the report urges actions in five key areas (May 2023):
- Have heads of government recommit to seven years of “accelerated, sustained and transformative action, both nationally and internationally,” including overhauling the international financial and economic system;
- Advance concrete and targeted policies to “eradicate poverty, reduce inequality and end the war on nature;”
- Strengthen public institution capacity to deliver accelerated SDG progress;
- Have the international community recommit to mobilize investments needed for developing countries to achieve the SDGs, including an SDG Stimulus of $500 billion/year until 2030;
- Continue strengthening the UN development system and increase the capacity of the multilateral system to tackle emerging challenges.
Capital as a Force for Good: Capitalism for a Secure and Sustainable Future (Force for Good Initiative) — Finds that at the mid-point of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world is not on track to achieving them by 2030 and has a significant funding gap of $102-135 trillion. Among the conclusions (Sept 2022):
- The total cost of meeting the SDGs rose 25% to up to $175 trillion, driven by under-funding, a compressing timeframe, inflation, and rising costs to reach net-zero;
- Economic pressures have worsened several SDG outcomes, with 100 million more people in extreme poverty since 2019, and 210 million more experiencing acute food insecurity;
- Global wealth totals $450 trillion. However roughly 80% of this wealth is constrained by client obligations, further slowing successful SDG implementation;
- SDGs are seen as a “cause” rather than a business case to fund, which makes them less likely to fund;
- Creating affordable housing for the estimated 2.4 billion urban inhabitants by 2050, creating educational technology for the 260 million children currently out of school, and providing digital banking for the two-thirds of the world that is underbanked could be profitable ways to leverage wealth to achieve several SDGs.
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 (United Nations) - Tracks global progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, using the latest available data and estimates, revealing that the 17 Goals are ”in grave jeopardy due to multiple, cascading and intersecting crises” including COVID-19, climate change and conflict. Selected findings include (July 2022):
- More than 4 years of progress on poverty have been “erased” by Covid-19, further exacerbated by inflation and the war in Ukraine. The working poverty rate rose for the first time in twenty years, with 8 million workers pushed into poverty.
- International financial flows to developing countries for renewables has declined for a second year in a row. Total renewable energy consumption increased by a quarter between 2010 and 2019, but the share of renewables in total final energy consumption is only 17.7% (2019).
- Global unemployment is expected to remain above pre-pandemic levels until 2023, and 1 in 10 children are engaged in child labor worldwide.
- The “window to avoid climate catastrophe is closing rapidly” yet energy-related emissions increased 6% in 2021 and reached the highest level ever recorded. Climate finance has not met the 100 billion yearly commitment.
- 17+ million metric tons of plastic entered the ocean in 2021.
- 10 million hectares of forest are destroyed annually, with 90% of global deforestation due to agricultural expansion.
The World Economic Forum’s Friends of Ocean Action coalition (FOA)—made up of more than 70 cross-sector leaders from around the world working to solve pressing threats to the oceans—has published a “landscape scan” examining existing studies and data relevant to the funding of SDG14, the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for the oceans. SDG14 is currently the least funded of all the SDGs, so the FOA has identified funding gaps and opportunities to help ensure successful fulfillment of SDG14. Paramount among the report’s recommendations (June 2022):
- Current reporting on project progress is fragmented and inconsistent. To make the most of current funding will require a more robust and integrated data collection process.
- More comprehensive and comparable project data will, in turn, make it easier to adopt a outcomes-based approach to future funding. Reaching SDG14 targets requires not only increasing investment, but also directing resources to places and communities that need it most and/or are doing the most effective work.
Collaboration
SDG Collaborative Business Action
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Impact Disclosure Taskforce — This network of financial institutions and industry participants is developing voluntary guidance to help corporate entities and sovereigns measure and disclose their efforts to reduce major gaps to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The guidance will help entities set targets to address developmental challenges most relevant to them and to monitor and report progress against those targets. The Taskforce plans to release the Guidance for public consultation in April 2024. The Taskforce includes CEF members JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, and is being observed by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). (Dec 2023)
Design For Good — A new global nonprofit alliance of companies and institutions committed to harnessing the power of their design communities to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Founding partners—which include CEF members McKinsey & Company, Microsoft, PepsiCo along with General Mills, Logitech, Nedbank, Nestlé, Philips, and the Royal College of Art—will allow their 5,000+ designers to work together to research, design and develop open-source products and services that measurably advance the UN SDGs. Each year, Design For Good will focus on one UN SDG—with Goal 6 (clean water and sanitation) the focus this inaugural year. The most promising new solutions each year will be awarded funding for accelerated scaling and implementation for global benefit. (April 2022)
“World’s To-Do List” campaign —
The
Global Goals Business Avengers—a business group that includes CEF members
Google and
Unilever—launched an awareness campaign to show support for and action towards achieving the 17 Global SDGs.
(Sept 2021)
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The U.N. Global Compact launched a three-year strategy to increase and accelerate business contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement. The strategy will prioritize impact on five SDGs: Goal 5 (gender equality); Goal 8 (decent work and economic growth); Goal 13 (climate action); Goal 16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions); and Goal 17 (partnership for the goals). (February 2021)
“A Time for Transformative Partnerships: How Multistakeholder Partnerships Can Accelerate the UN Sustainable Development Goals” (WRI, November 2020) examines the role of transformative partnerships in reaching the SDGs. The report also identifies four key success factors of transformative partnerships:
- Articulating a clear understanding of the system of interest.
- Agreeing on joint transformation vision, goals, and activities.
- Establishing a strong performance tracking system that integrates system thinking.
- Leveraging external stakeholders.
Partnerships for SDGs (UN) is a free online platform created to inform stakeholders on initiatives carried out by multi-stakeholder partnerships around the world in support of the sustainable development goals, track progress, and share innovative ideas.
A coalition of 17 companies — including Google, Mastercard, Microsoft, and Unilever — have joined forces to amplify the important role of business action in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. (2019)
A coalition of 130 banks — representing $47 trillion in assets — and the United Nations launched the “Principles for Responsible Banking,” which commits signatories to align their business with the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. (2019)
The United Nations Global Compact launched SDG Ambition, a global initiative to help companies incorporate the SDGs into their core business operations and measure their performance. (Feb 2020)
“Private-Sector Collaboration for Sustainable Development” (BSR and The Rockefeller Foundation, 2018) draws on insights from expert interviews, group discussions, and lessons learned to identify five key success factors that have enabled impactful private-sector collaborations. The five key success factors include: 1) A compelling, common purpose; 2) the right partners in the right roles; 3) good governance; 4) an organizational design that is fit for purpose; and 5) accountability.