2030 Agenda and business strategies: The Sustainable Development Goals as a compass towards a common direction

Titolo Rivista CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Autori/Curatori Sofia Martinoli
Anno di pubblicazione 2021 Fascicolo 2021/1 Lingua Inglese
Numero pagine 24 P. 129-152 Dimensione file 0 KB
DOI 10.3280/cgrds1-2021oa10458
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In 2015, the United Nations (UN) launched the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, adopted by all the 193 UN member states. The Agenda exhorts countries to start working towards achieving the so-called “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs). The 17 Goals of the Agenda represent a to-do list for people and the planet, aiming at improving people’s life conditions and protecting the environment. The COVID-19 crisis has threatened the achievement of the SDGs in several ways. People’s life has been dramatically affected and there is an urgent need for an effective global recovery plan. The crisis should be transformed from a curse to an opportunity; innovation, today more than ever, should be pointed towards building up a sustainable future. To incentivize the spread of innovative and sustainable ideas, it should be clearly outlined their impact. In this work, it is analysed the availability of frameworks and tools to translate the “macro” – the SDGs – into the “micro” – organizational and entrepreneurial strategies. There are different valuable tools provided by many recognized organizations, which aim at supporting companies and organizations in measuring, managing, and reporting their impact over the achievement of the SDGs. With this huge number of available tools, it is difficult to decide in which one to invest time and resources. The contribution of organizations over the SDGs is often not clear.

In 2015, the United Nations (UN) launched the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, adopted by all the 193 UN member states. The Agenda exhorts countries to start working towards achieving the so-called “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs). The 17 Goals of the Agenda represent a to-do list for people and the planet, aiming at improving people’s life conditions and protecting the environment. The COVID-19 crisis has threatened the achievement of the SDGs in several ways. People’s life has been dramatically affected and there is an urgent need for an effective global recovery plan. The crisis should be transformed from a curse to an opportunity; innovation, today more than ever, should be pointed towards building up a sustainable future. To incentivize the spread of innovative and sustainable ideas, it should be clearly outlined their impact. In this work, it is analysed the availability of frameworks and tools to translate the “macro” – the SDGs – into the “micro” – organizational and entrepreneurial strategies. There are different valuable tools provided by many recognized organizations, which aim at supporting companies and organizations in measuring, managing, and reporting their impact over the achievement of the SDGs. With this huge number of available tools, it is difficult to decide in which one to invest time and resources. The contribution of organizations over the SDGs is often not clear.

Keywords:Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); 2030 Agenda; Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); COVID-19; Social impact; ESG indexes

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  • The Impact of External Shocks on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Linking the COVID-19 Pandemic to SDG Implementation at the Local Government Level Björn Mestdagh, Olivier Sempiga, Luc Van Liedekerke, in Sustainability /2023 pp.6234
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Sofia Martinoli, 2030 Agenda and business strategies: The Sustainable Development Goals as a compass towards a common direction in "CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT STUDIES" 1/2021, pp 129-152, DOI: 10.3280/cgrds1-2021oa10458