Why Businesses Should Care About the Sustainable Development Goals

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which lay out an ambitious goal to address climate change, provide clean water, eradicate poverty, and more, were accepted by more than 190 nations in 2015. The SDGs have a 2030 completion date.

By the time we reach 2024, the midway mark, these objectives have evolved from being only an international pledge to become a guide for risk management, growth, and company strategy.

Why Businesses Should Care About the SDGs

Since the SDGs were initially proposed, a lot has changed in the global business environment. Businesses will realize more and more in 2024 how vital sustainability is to their continued existence and expansion.

Examined over ten years ago, there are three strong arguments for companies to get involved with the SDGs:

Growth Prospects: The consumer base in emerging and frontier economies is expected to provide a $30 trillion potential by 2025, up from $12 trillion in 2010, as a result of their exceptional growth. Businesses may capitalize on this development by tackling SDGs like clean water, sustainable cities, and climate action, which address issues that impede value creation.

First-Mover Advantage and Competitive Pressure: Businesses that lead on the SDGs enhance their brand and market position by presenting themselves as responsible, forward-thinking entities. Microsoft, for example, aligns its approach to the SDGs with its goal of empowering every individual and organization on the earth. On the other hand, companies that don’t support these global objectives can suffer as sustainability becomes a higher priority for investors, customers, and authorities. 

Business Involvement is Critical: Without the proactive involvement of companies, the SDGs cannot be achieved. The private sector’s contributions are essential to achieving these goals, which are expected to cost $3 trillion annually. It is increasingly evident that sustainable business practices are not just a corporate duty but also a financial requirement, as Chakravorti noted in 2015.

SDG operation

What impact will the SDGs have on companies’ daily operations in 2024? The SDGs’ guiding principles are applicable to a variety of industries. For example, Goal 12, which is to guarantee patterns of sustainable production and consumption, is still very much applicable to sectors like as the packaging industry. Companies are urged to embrace more sustainable practices, recycle, and cut back on waste.

For instance, the transition to eco-friendly packaging has quickened. Reuse and repurposing are being promoted by businesses, and techniques including employing biodegradable materials and increasing the amount of recycled material in packaging are being used. Since 2015, there has been a noticeable increase in the implementation of the circular economy concepts, which call for the extended use of products and resources.

Enhancing Advancement: Actions That Companies Can Take

A framework for action is presented in the 2024 update to the SDG Fund report, “Business and the United Nations: Working Together Towards the Sustainable Development Goals.” 

The report outlines several steps businesses can take to accelerate progress toward the SDGs:

Determine the Relevance of the SDGs: Businesses should determine how the SDGs relate to the policies, procedures, and values they already uphold.

Strategy Development: Innovation is stimulated and global concerns are addressed when SDGs are included into long-term company strategies.

Establishing quantifiable Goals and Tracking Them: Companies need to keep track of their progress toward the SDGs and develop quantifiable goals. This shows stakeholders that you are committed to them and improves accountability.

Reporting and Transparency: Gaining the trust of investors and customers depends on transparent reporting, which includes using SDG indices in sustainability reports.

Looking Ahead: The Path to 2030

Acting on the SDGs is more important than ever as we approach the 2030 deadline. By pursuing these objectives, businesses are presenting themselves as leaders and conscientious citizens in a world that is changing quickly. SDGs are a commercial success blueprint as well as a call to action for non-profits and governments.

Businesses may enhance the planet, communities, and economies by integrating sustainability into their core operations, all the while maintaining their competitiveness and long-term profitability.

The transition from 2015 to 2024 has demonstrated that the SDGs are becoming more than just a far-off global agenda; rather, they are essential to company survival and strategy. The next six years offer businesses that support the SDGs an unheard-of chance to expand, innovate, and take the lead in the global economy.