facebook pixel
Skip to main content
CEU IAM Business School
en
 | 
es
Training Offer
News
Innovation and Society
Services CEU IAM
Meet IAM
Virtual Campus
TV
en
 | 
es
Training Offer
MBAs
Masters
Executive Programmes
Advanced Programmes
Focused Programmes
Executive Summer School
News
Blog
Events
Innovation and Society
Healthcare Trends Lab Observatory
CEU DHR COL-HUB Observatory
Francesco Economy
Services CEU IAM
Subsidies and Grants
Admissions
Alumni Network
Professional Careers
Custom Programmes
Leadership, Ethics and Talent
Meet IAM
About Us
Contact
Why should companies be concerned about achieving the SDGs?

Why should companies be concerned about achieving the SDGs?

CEU IAM
 / 
CEU IAM Blog
 / 
Business Ethics
 / 
Why should companies be concerned about achieving the SDGs?
Share it 
Share it - LinkedIn Share it - Facebook Share it - Whatsapp Share it - Twitter
No ratings yet 
Why should companies be concerned about achieving the SDGs?
  
 0 % 
  
 0 % 
  
 0 % 
  
 0 % 
  
 0 % 
No ratings yet 

Monday, 6 august 2018 | Redacción CEU

In 2015, the United Nations set seventeen global goals in order to combat the main problems which humanity faces: poverty, inequality, environmental protection and the guarantee of peace and prosperity. These goals, which were planned for the next fifteen years since they were set, are ambitious but also necessary, and they can only be fulfilled if the possible agents of change -governments, civil society, citizens and the private sector- play their part. Therefore, companies have a fundamental role in the future of sustainability. However, why is it so important for companies to get involved in the Sustainable Development Goals? Why should companies care about the SDGs' compliance? Is this just a normative issue or an ethical mandate?

 

At first sight, it may seem that the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) falls just on the shoulders of the respective governments of the 193 countries that adopted this commitment, and, therefore, it is only their duty to ensure their future achievement. It is true that the different world leaders who represent their states agreed to safeguard the sustainability in an international commitment in 2015. However, it is nonetheless the case that forgetting about these goals on the part of the business sector may have a dramatic impact. This international commitment will be practically impossible to achieve, as long as companies do not get involved in fulfilling it.

What are the goals?

As the heirs to the Millennium Development Goals, the Sustainable Development Goals aim at completing and setting the new goals which are needed to overcome the main challenges that the world's current population faces. At this point, we consider that it is essential to enumerate these seventeen goals. Not only because of the interest they can have for companies, but also because, to the extent of their possibilities, each individual can align with them to try to contribute to building a more sustainable and fairer world.

  1. No poverty
  2. Zero hunger
  3. Good health and well-being
  4. Quality education
  5. Gender equality
  6. Clean water and sanitation
  7. Affordable and clean energy
  8. Decent work and economic growth
  9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure
  10. Reduced inequalities
  11. Sustainable cities and communities
  12. Responsible consumption and production
  13. Climate action
  14. Life bellow water
  15. Life on land
  16. Peace, justice and strong institutions
  17. Partnerships for the goals

Indeed, companies have a direct influence on certain SDGs like decent work and economic growth, responsible consumption and production, the reduction of inequalities, gender equality, and industry, innovation and infrastructure. However, there are areas that although at first do not seem to be related to the business world, even if it is in an underlying and indirect way, they definitely are. For example, a corporate decision about the packaging of the food products can have a major impact on underwater life; the plastic is used in the packaging, the less plastic that will end up in the sea (incidentally, this is a hot topic nowadays).

Spanish companies and SDGs

The Organization of the United Nations considers that companies have a fundamental role as key agents for the Sustainable Development Goals. That is why reports such as SDG compass: The guide for business action on the SDGs include recommendations for companies to be in accordance with these goals:

  • Getting to know and understanding the SDGs
  • Analyzing possibilities and defining priorities
  • Setting an action program with indicators and goals that are announced publicly
  • Integrating the program in the company
  • Communicating and reporting the achievements

The SDG Observatory of Spanish companies has also carried out a report which is focused on the role of enterprises in this area. Specifically, this study was born with the aim at evaluating the contribution of Spanish companies to the goals of sustainable development. According to it, only 50.3% of firms that presented company reports (80% of the total analyzed) provided information which is not exclusively financial. Technological businesses are the ones that had more reports of this kind (90%). These are followed by construction and energy companies (70%), and the firms that are specializing in financial services, tourism and engineering. The companies that work in the goods and services sector occupy the lowest position in this ranking.

The information gathered in this report, which was published in May, includes data corresponding  to the year 2016. That may have led to the fact that the SDGs have a limited presence on a large part of the sustainability reports of the companies that were analyzed; out of 143 companies only 41 cited them in their reports (28.7%). The goals that most appeared in them were: decent work and economic growth, action for climate and industry, innovation and infrastructure. By contrast, they focused less in: life on land, zero hunger and underwater life.

 

Why should companies be concerned about achieving the SDGs?

More than an ethical mandate

The SDGs have a more aspirational than legislative dimension. Besides, those aspects that are closer to the business activity are those that are more regulated by governments. That means that the mere regulatory compliance does not guarantee that companies exploit all the potential which they have when it comes to promoting sustainable development. In other words, the decision to align with these goals is a responsibility of the companies themselves and this is a mandate which is rather ethical than legal.

The SDGs can serve as a compass when it comes to setting business goals and envisioning a horizon to go to. In previous articles, we analyzed the different reasons why leadership and ethical commitment lead companies on the path to success. In the same way, the pursuit of these objectives contributes to creating new opportunities such as the access to new markets and businesses, the reduction of expenses, the increase of reputation, the optimization of resources and the strengthening of relations with the rest of the actors of the global ecosystem.

It is true that in comparison to some countries, Spain keeps an advanced position. However, according to the SDG Index & Dashboards, our country reach any of the seventeen goals. It is important to bear in mind that in an increasingly globalized world that is subject to constant change, companies are more profitable when they are more sustainable, and when it is also their environment.

At The CEU IAM Business School, we believe that in an ecosystem like the current one, which is marked by the digitalization and the blurring of borders, it is important to keep a business approach that takes into account a deep ethical sense of business. This is the premise which has guided us when designing the program of our Global MBA.

 

☆
☆
☆
☆
☆
Rate this article
Share it 
Share it - LinkedIn Share it - Facebook Share it - Whatsapp Share it - Twitter

Related articles

Related articles: You don't lead until you delegate

Monday, 30 december 2019

You don't lead until you delegate

Leaders delegate, bosses give orders. Why should a leader learn to delegate? What do you have to take into account when doing so?

Related articles: The myth about corporate opacity

Monday, 18 june 2018

The myth about corporate opacity

Transparency is an ethical principle that some companies shy away from following. When it is not out of fear, they do so out of mistrust. What does the myth of corporate opacity consist of?

Related articles:  Five keys to communicating in times of a pandemic

Monday, 2 november 2020

Five keys to communicating in times of a pandemic

There is no leadership without communication, especially in these times. What keys contribute to improving communication in the current context of the pandemic?

CEU IAM Business School is the CEU group Business School
Universidad CEU San Pablo
Universitat Abat Oliba CEU
Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera
Leadership

The common denominator of CEU IAM programs is Leadership. Fruit of which maintains a unique alliance in Spain with the Center for Creative Leadership. Currently, one of the best leadership programs in the world is taught in all its executive courses.

CEU IAM understands that there is a great need to train professionals capable of leading their organizations in a changing, digital and international environment. Managers are needed to lead the changes, inside and outside their borders, and to generate a positive and profound impact on people and organizations.

Center for Creative Leadership

 

AACSB International
CEU Institute for Advanced Management is a member of AACSB International
(Association to Advanced Collegiate Schools of Business)

 

Asociación Católica de Propagandistas
El CEU es una obra de la Asociación Católica de Propagandistas

 

Madrid Excelente

+34 915 140 445 CEU IAM phone: +34 915 140 445
+34 670 058 726 CEU IAM whatsapp: +34 670 058 726
secretaria[@]iamceu.com CEU IAM email: secretaria[@]iamceu.com
Legal Warning and Data Protection
Social Media Policy
General Conditions of Contract
Cookies Policy
Institutional Ethical Channel
Training Cycles Madrid
Web Map
CEU IAM en LinkedIn CEU IAM en YouTube CEU IAM en Facebook CEU IAM en Instagram CEU IAM en Twitter
x
x
x
x