A new UN report on the private sector, released by UN Global Compact, shows that progress on bringing about a sustainable future for people and the planet is patchy, and the majority of companies involved in the Compact, are not doing enough to help bring about the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“The scale and pace of change, to date, to deliver SDGs has not been big enough or fast enough”, said Remi Erikson, who led the team that drafted the report, Uniting Business in the Decade of Action, which shows that just 39 percent of companies surveyed believe they have targets that are sufficiently ambitious to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Only 46% of businesses surveyed are embedding the SDGs in their core business. Less than a third of businesses believe their industry is moving fast enough to deliver the SDGs by 2030.
“Incremental change by individual companies will not deliver the business contribution needed to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”, said Mr. Erikson, the CEO of the risk management company, and Global Compact participant, DNV GL.
Companies and the systems they are part of are moving broadly in the same direction, but not in a concerted effort. Achieving the needed change requires a ramping up of ambition among all companies, whether they operate within the energy, healthcare, food, finance, transport, or other systems.
“Policy is not enough to drive change, and we see a marked gap between having policies in place and implementing measures to act on the Principles,” said Mr. Erikson.
In addition, whilst the vast majority of participating companies recognize the importance of sustainable development, they are not doing enough to significantly reduce their negative impact on the environment: whilst science-based targets are considered by many sustainable development professionals as an important indicator of a company’s willingness to reduce its carbon footprint and negative environmental impact, the report reveals that whilst around a third of companies surveyed are developing a science-based carbon reduction target, only 15 percent have already set one.
Despite the slow progress, and the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Eriksen insists that he is hopeful that a post-pandemic “new normal” will be an improvement, in terms of building a better future for all.
“I am slightly more optimistic about the future now than I was two months ago as I have seen how businesses have used their experience, creativity and determination to find ways to serve their customers and create new solutions to operate in an unprecedented environment.”
Original source: UN News
Published on 04 July 2020
