“What’s in it” for companies working with the SDGs?

Q & A - Are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) just the newest PR gimmick?

Context of the Question -

In a number of business meetings and academic conferences we have attended recently, the same question keeps popping up. Are the SDGs just the newest PR gimmick to make companies look good? What is the substance behind the SDGs, and why should companies care about them?

The Answer to be found in working with Global Goals -

The strength of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is that they can be used as a platform for tracking, reporting, and even more importantly developing and improving the sustainable impact of an organization. When a company engages with this platform by measuring and communicating its progress, the company is provided with direction and focus for action, with 17 Goals and 169 Targets. Companies can use these Global Goals and Targets, and combine them with national and international standards and regulations to create meaningful SMART Indicators (or KPIs), which can be simply measured over time, and help to direct progress in line with sustainable development. In the medium to long term, the way that companies report on each of the SDG Targets can be unified through industry best practice, creating meaningful benchmarks and leading to more streamlined national and international industry standards.

When a company chooses to link its impact (through product and service value) to the SDGs, the company is choosing to contribute to a growing ecosystem for sustainable development. To achieve sustainable cities and communities, solutions need to work together. Linking to the SDGs helps to show how each unique solution makes this possible regarding the specific SDGs and SDG Targets that the solution contributes to, from sustainable energy to climate action to partnerships for sustainable development. As this ecosystem grows, it will naturally include more chosen partners who are working toward achieving sustainable development, excluding those that operate with unsustainable practices.

An example of this growing sustainable development ecosystem can be seen in New York, where Danish Energy Management (DEM) has recently established an office. The Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, has committed NY to becoming the “first city in the world to publish local progress toward global sustainable development goals”. This means that for companies linking their sustainable products and services to the SDGs and SDG Targets, they will be able to feed into the growing platform for sustainable development, and ‘speak the same language’ as their policy makers. And this will not only demonstrate the impact that these individual companies are making with their individual products and services. Instead these companies can showcase how their products and services fit into larger projects and objectives in New York, and contribute to meeting Global Goals for sustainability, which the Mayor’s Office will more easily be able to publish as “local progress,” meeting explicit objectives of government offices as well.  

From our perspective at DEM, the SDGs help to make Sustainable Development more concrete and achievable. The platform provided by the SDGs creates a foundation to measure the sustainability of products and services in a way that is easy to communicate and understand. As the awareness spreads about exactly what is being focused on and accomplished, the network is also spreading and feeding into the platform that is helping us to reach our common Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030  Agenda for Sustainable Development.    

This is “what’s in it” from our perspective.

12.03.2024Dansk Energi Management & Esbensen

Sponseret

DOMI Bolig fik tilskud til CO2-opgørelse og strategiplan for bæredygtighed via SMV:Grøn

07.02.2024Dansk Energi Management & Esbensen

Sponseret

LCA: Livscyklusvurdering på produkt- og bygningsniveau

23.01.2024Dansk Energi Management & Esbensen

Sponseret

Energiforum Danmark d. 6. marts: Hør om DEM's erfaringer med DGNB Drift

19.01.2024Dansk Energi Management & Esbensen

Sponseret

Derfor skal din virksomhed få lavet en EPD

19.01.2024Dansk Energi Management & Esbensen

Sponseret

Harrestrup Å Skole – certificering til DGNB-Guld og LCA

16.10.2023Dansk Energi Management & Esbensen

Sponseret

DGNB Drift: Strategisk værktøj til at energieffektivisere og opnå CO2-neutralitet