Sharing ideas and industry news is hugely important. We are all in this together, whether a distributor or a competitor, the more light that is shed on vital information relevant to what we do day-to-day, the better quality the message we deliver becomes. The sustainability narrative is no different, and that knowledge sharing does not stop within our industry. No matter your size, turning to global platforms to inspire as well as inform are important. If you are beginning your sustainability journey or are interested in the bigger picture, a good starting point will be the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals. They make clear, at a global level, the work that needs to be done and the challenge that we all face.
So, What Are SDGs?
In 2015, the United Nations Member States collectively adopted a set of 17 guidelines intended to promote “peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.” They were developed as a global collective strategy or action framework at a community to country level. You can find a short introduction here:
These guidelines form what is known as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – essentially an urgent action plan to improve global standards of health, education and economy while reducing inequality and the damaging effects of climate change.
Let’s take a look at the SDGs more closely:
Goal 1: “End Poverty In All Its Forms Everywhere”
What This Means: This goal seeks to end extreme global poverty (measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day) to less than 3% by 2030.
Goal 2: “End Hunger, Achieve Food Security & Improved Nutrition & Promote Sustainable Agriculture”
What This Means: Reconsidering the way we grow and consume food globally in order to provide nutritious food for all, while generating incomes and protecting the environment.
Goal 3: “Ensure Healthy Lives & Promote Well-Being For All At All Ages”
What This Means: Increasing life expectancy while reducing some of the common causes of death associated with child and maternal mortality. Eradicating diseases and addressing global health issues.
Goal 4: “Ensure Inclusive & Equitable Quality Education & Promote Lifelong Learning Opportunities For All”
What This Means: Using access to education to help people escape poverty and live healthy, sustainable lives while promoting a peaceful and tolerant society.
Goal 5: “Achieve Gender Equality & Empower All Women & Girls”
What This Means: Ending all forms of discrimination and violence against all women and girls across the globe.
Goal 6: “Ensure Availability & Sustainable Management Of Water & Sanitation For All”
What This Means: Providing clean, safe water and sanitation systems for everyone. These systems will not cause any adverse effect on the environment.
Goal 7: “Ensure Access To Affordable, Reliable, Sustainable & Modern Energy For All”
What This Means: Giving everyone the education and the opportunity to use sustainable energy for the benefit of the people and the planet.
Goal 8: “Promote Sustained, Inclusive & Sustainable Economic Growth, Full & Productive Employment & Decent Work For All”
What This Means: Creating decent jobs for all to improve global living standards.
Goal 9: “Build Resilient Infrastructure, Promote Inclusive & Sustainable Industrialisation & Foster Innovation”
What This Means: Creating investments in infrastructure including transport, sanitation, energy and technology to empower communities through sustainable development.
Goal 10: “Reduce Inequality Within & Among Countries”
What This Means: Creating a better world by making all people equal, regardless of race, gender, income, religion or sexuality.
Goal 11: “Make Cities & Human Settlements Inclusive, Safe, Resilient & Sustainable”
What This Means: Achieving sustainability by creating career and business opportunities for all, along with safe, affordable housing.
Goal 12: “Ensure Sustainable Consumption & Production Patterns”
What This Means: Changing the way we use our resources to produce and consume goods to achieve economic growth and sustainability.
Goal 13: “Take Urgent Action To Combat Climate Change And Its Impacts”
What This Means: Putting measures in place to reduce the effects of greenhouse gas emissions before they become irreversible.
Goal 14: “Conserve & Sustainably Use The Oceans, Seas & Marine Resources For Sustainable Development”
What This Means: Seek to undo the damage that has led to 40% of our oceans being heavily affected by pollution. Implement sustainable measures to reduce this impact and avoid further threat to marine biodiversity.
Goal 15: “Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.”
What This Means: Reducing the loss of natural habitats and biodiversity and the effects of climate change on land.
Goal 16: “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”
What This Means: Eliminating violence and conflict across the globe so that all people can live peacefully.
Goal 17: “Strengthen The Means Of Implementation & Revitalise The Global Partnership For Sustainable Development”
What This Means: Using strong global partnerships and cooperation to achieve the Sustainability Development.
As well as 17 goals there are 169 targets to meet the goals and that is where it can get a little complicated …. so where do you start?
The SDG BusinessHub is a great source of information and inspiration. The hub was designed to ‘provide business with a powerful framework to translate global needs and ambitions into business solutions’.
So, Why Are SDGs Good for Business?
As well as understanding what may be driving the consumer, who ultimately we are producing products for, SDGs are important because:
- They instill customer trust and loyalty. There is growing evidence that consumers are increasingly mindful of a company’s ‘sustainability credentials and are prepared to vote with their wallets’;
- Fossil fuels will be replaced by other forms of renewable energy and the more these are used, the lower costs will become;
- Instability increases risk. Tackling these types of issues through your business or community will ultimately provide a secure supply chain and from a business standpoint, protect you more;
- Diversity into new markets can provide a profitable investment, this could be from your choice of product to a process you adopt. These will give you additional USPs too;
- They are topics that are being taught in schools and are questions that are being asked when recruiting. These topics are fast becoming part of our social conscious, having an answer for those questions will impact retention and recruitment which in turn will impact growth.
Further Reading
With 17 goals and 169 targets that vary from being specific to relatively generic, you can interpret them and apply them directly to your business or life without extensive research. Alternatively you can refer to the Social Progress Index that may make this challenge easier. This framework pockets areas of change into three sections and uses a scoring system based on how they are implemented.

Do Goals Work?
In 2001 the UN agreed a set of Millennium Development Goals where the target was to halve the proportion of people globally living in poverty by 2015. The goal was to reduce global poverty from 36% to 18% by 2015. This was achieved, with the reduction being at 12% in 2015. This shows you that the world can get better.
References
https://www.goldstandard.org/sites/default/files/documents/sdg_report_optimized.pdf
Join the conversation
In association with