Sustainability and its Impact

Sustainability and its Impact

Introduction

Several member states mainly adopted sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the umbrella of the United Nations in 2015. The SDGs were primarily established as an approach aimed at addressing the universal plights regarding matters of poverty and the protection of the planet. The SDG’s efforts were created mainly with the intent of ensuring that people enjoy the peace and the aspect of prosperity. In other words, the seventeen SDGs were integrated to provide action plans and frameworks aimed at ensuring that development is balances socially, environmentally, and economically. The Leave No One Behind pledge has seen several nations show their commitment towards fast-tracking their progress towards development. In a lighter note, it is believed that the SDGs were mainly designed to ensure that the world is brought to a series of life-changing scenarios. In this regard, a list of six goals that are intended to come into fruition in 2030 will be analyzed to elaborate on how business development may create positive changes.

Sustainability and its Impact

In an ever-increasingly complex, interconnect, and the turbulent business world lies the need to navigate the uncharted waters. Amid such uncertainties lies the global community that has recently come together through a comprehensive action plan intended at guiding varied stakeholders that include businesses in building an equitable, sustainable, and inclusive form of society. In this regard, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were mainly designed with the intent of constituting a framework that would be used in measuring the contributions of businesses in the society—hence revealing the manner in which business may win with a purpose (Pedercini et al., 2018). A recent study revealed that close to two-thirds of some of the participating companies have laid down proper frameworks that guide their engagements in the SDGs.

However, less than half of these businesses plan to ensure that they embed the SDGs within their business strategies for the next five years. As revealed by the United Nations Global Compact (206) CEO, close to 59% of corporate organizations provide reports that their entities are in a position to quantify their business’s value and the SDG initiatives.

Shared value, as opined in the views of Pedercini et al. (2018), emphasizes the essence of corporate organizations in developing local and international clusters of stakeholders or partners. In other words, such partnerships may be developed with the local governments, for-profit suppliers, trade unions, non-profits, and universities with the intent of forging open as well as transparent markets. The integration of such measures plays a crucial role in the facilitation of a smoother business relation and operations—hitherto, resulting in the creation of a virtuous cycle of plummeting economic as well as social development (Pedercini et al., 2018). In other words, the notion or perception of shared value may be harnessed across the sectoral collaborations with the intent of meeting the ninth goal of the SDGs that emphasizes on the need for the establishment of resilient infrastructures that contribute to innovation as well as smart investments.

Secondly, Le Blanc (2015) establishes that business entities, with precision to the private sector, are accorded the role of leading. In other words, as market leaders, the businesses are obliged to ensure that the aspirations of the established SDGs are primarily translated into quantifiable progress felt on the ground. Business entities, therefore, achieve this goal through the establishment of business investments in innovation and operations aimed at improving the access while ensuring that the environment as well as social stability is achieved. On the other hand, business entities have the capacity to engage with other civil society and public sector institutions in a bid to improve systems and share expertise (Le Blanc, 2015). These efforts vehemently play a significant role in the achievement of the eighth SDG goal intended at promoting sustained, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth. The measures equally aid in the achievement of a full and productive form of employment besides the increase of decent employment for society.

Business organizations are equally accorded the responsibility of supporting smart Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) practices and actions with the focus on reaching some of the vulnerable populations within the society with quality and high products and services. In other words, for the investments of a business to be sustainable for CSR, firms ensure that their goals are aligned with the public sector’s approaches and strategies to progress towards the achievement of their full scope as defined in the corporate missions. The integration of these measures in businesses remains at the center of addressing the fourteenth SDG goal (Le Blanc, 2015). In other words, firms may be in a position to engage in conservation as well as in the sustainable utilization of seas, oceans, and other marine resources to achieve sustainable development. Besides, Le Blanc (2015) alleges that the integration of CSR within the society broadens the scope of a firm’s operations, an aspect that is suspected of playing a significant role in ending poverty within communities.

Businesses are equally held responsible or accountable for their impact on several activities within society. In precision, businesses remain liable for addressing some of the goals that are linked with the SDGs. The integration of the SDGs at the core of every business, as well as the use of a reporting cycle, may aid in ensuring that the organization creates shared value. Such measures may play a role in advocating for the achievement of gender equality as well as empowering women in society (Le Blanc, 2015). The alignment of existing communication and reporting measures of the SDGs may be used in discussing some of the issues that affect the society and the corporate environment through dialogues with the stakeholders.

Businesses equally have the opportunity of developing and integrating measures that may be used in the management of the issues raised by the SDGs in daily decisions. In this regard, business organizations have come to the agreement that the SDGs mainly requires a new approach of thinking. The goals often remain complex and, in many times, interconnected, revealing that the success of organizations in achieving the goal lies in the establishment of partnerships between the civil society, businesses, and governments (Vladimirova & Le Blanc, 2016). Recent measures resulted in the emergence of new tools that enable organizations to understand their contributions in the achievement of the SDGs in a manner that is holistic. Vladimirova & Le Blanc (2016) reveals that it is optimistic for businesses that the SDGs mainly provides a road map for the entities to engage in with their external and internal stakeholders on measures that may be used in creating sustainable strategies. The strategies would, in this case, play a role in the achievement and transformation of communities that the businesses operate, their products and services, as well as their business models.

Businesses in this age are currently making efforts aimed at wooing investors. In other words, investors are currently turning their focus and concerns towards organizations and their sustainability in a bid to understand their sustainable business strategies and risk profiles. In several cases, investors have significantly turned their focus on the SDGs, efforts that have seen the design of proactive measures established to achieve the SDGs. For instance, the American financial sector has recently made efforts intended to back the SDGs (Vladimirova & Le Blanc, 2016). The financial institutions have resorted to the management of billions of different assets besides collaborative efforts to invest in the achievement of the SDGs. Some of these financial institutions have well designed standard procedures and methodologies used in identifying some of the investment opportunities.

Conclusion

As revealed in this audit, sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are primarily adopted by several member states within the umbrella of the United Nations in 2015. The SDGs were mainly established as an approach aimed at addressing the universal plights regarding matters of poverty and the protection of the planet. The SDG’s efforts were primarily established with the intent of ensuring that people enjoy the peace and the aspect of prosperity. As revealed by the United Nations Global Compact (206) CEO, close to 59% of corporate organizations provide reports that their entities are in a position to quantify their business’s value and the SDG initiatives. In precision, businesses remain liable for addressing some of the goals that are linked with the SDGs. The integration of the SDGs at the core of every business, as well as the use of a reporting cycle, may aid in ensuring that the organization creates shared value.

 

 

References

Le Blanc, D. (2015). Towards Integration at Last? The Sustainable Development Goals as a Network of Targets. Sustainable Development, 23(3), 176–187. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.1582

Pedercini, M., Zuellich, G., Dianati, K., & Arquitt, S. (2018). Toward achieving Sustainable Development Goals in Ivory Coast: Simulating pathways to sustainable development. Sustainable Development. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.1721

Vladimirova, K., & Le Blanc, D. (2016). Exploring Links Between Education and Sustainable Development Goals Through the Lens of UN Flagship Reports. Sustainable Development, 24(4), 254–271. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.1626