Return to Newsletters
| Harvards Eccles on the UN SDGs They Are Good for Business After months of study, deliberation and negotiation, members of the United Nations task force charged with establishing “Sustainable Development Goals” can take a bow — all 193 member nations have signed on to the goals, which address a wide range of ESG issues, such as solving hunger and poverty issues, addressing inequalities, dealing with climate change issues, creating more “sustainable cities,” and encouraging “more responsible” consumption. There are 17 goals in total, and large—cap company managers we are speaking with in North America and Europe describe how their enterprises are now at work adopting goals and applying these to their long-term planning and target setting. Companies are structuring programs and actions around the goals. The actions/programs usually relate to the mission of the company. A handful of companies that we’ve chatted with are attempting to address all 17 goals. Are these companies unusual? Should corporate boards and managements be wary of the UN setting goals that affect their business prospects? Do senior managers view this as the UN interfering with the ability to create value for shareholders? Harvard University professor Bob Eccles says “no,” business leaders should and are adopting the goals for their companies. Writing in Forbes, Eccles advises: “The 2030 Agenda is very good news for the corporate community. Its goals represent clear business opportunities for those companies that understand sustainable change can be met through innovative products and services.” Some goals, he explains, are industry-specific (such as clean water); some goals can be supported by every company (such as gender inequality). The goals represent aspirational markers for managements in both the short- and long-term (the goals go out to 2030). Important: Eccles sees it as the duty of the board of directors as fiduciaries to recognize the importance of the SDGs, and work to ensure that their company is responding with appropriate strategies. The UN first set these types of goals in 2000, at the start of the new century, with the Millennium Goals. Many public companies adopted these and fitted the goals to their own operations (such as reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions). The usual practice was to align the company strategies and actions with the 2015 target date of those goals. The new goals are much more sweeping and comprehensive and take the actions out to the 2030 date…companies are now assessing the 2000/2015 efforts and strategizing their embrace of the Sustainable Development Goals. The goals were officially launched in September at the United Nations meetings in New York City. In the weeks and months ahead, there will be much news and commentary about the SDGs, with companies, governments, NGOs, multi-lateral agencies, investor coalitions, and other stakeholders weighing in. If you have not tuned in yet, we should point out that Harvard Professor Eccles is a prominent and credible voice in sustainability circles -– we encourage you to read our Top Story with his views. And finally… if you’re a company that wants to explore what the SDGs mean to your organization’s strategy we’ve put together several resources and services here at G&A (and through our partners) that can assist you in this important strategy setting process. Please contact us at lcoppola@ga-institute.com to learn more about how we can help. Top Story of the Week UN Sustainable Development Goals: Good For Business Trust! the magazines introductory Showcase of Service Providers Trust! That’s the title digital magazine of the Trust Across America organization. The Fall 2015 issue is out with the introduction of TAA’s “Showcase of Services Providers.” This the first anniversary issue and Governance & Accountability Institute is pleased to be included in the organizations profiled in the issue. Here is the link to the magazine, with the new directory of providers. The directory profiles contain very interesting and useful information. Barbara Kimmel is TAA founder and executive editor of the 4X a year magazine, which is dedicated to “helping leaders and organizations build long-term trust.” To view, click the cover or go to: http://trustacrossamerica.com/magazine.shtml Sustainability in Focus The path to sustainability runs through politics Science, Sustainability And The Dangers Of Naïve Policy Sustainability Requires Technology, Ethics and Political Will Bentley on Bloomberg: Four Reasons Why Teaching Sustainability Matters to Our Economic Future How entrepreneurs are monetising sustainability 3 Trends Shaping the Future of Business Sustainability 5 Companies Engaing Their Employees Around Sustainability Innovators large and small converge on San Jose for sustainability solutions Sustainable Investing Is Booming. Is It Smart? Farmers Are Embracing Sustainability — You Just Aren’t Hearing About It How to set sustainability goals amidst change Can sustainability and economic growth go hand in hand? Secretary Moniz has the answer. Konica Minolta Among Top 100 Companies in Asia in Sustainability, Panera And Shake Shack Create Sustainability Platform That Wins With Millennials ESG Issues & Players Walmart, McDonald’s and 79 Others Commit to Fight Global Warming Why Having Diversity On Your Board Matters U.S. leads industrialised nations in shift from coal: study If science is good for climate change, why not for GMOs? Asset Managers, US Pension Funds, US public pension funds slowly wake up to risk Sovereign wealth funds sell chunk of Indian stocks, oil-rich countries top sellers
Watching the Watchers EUROSIF – European Social Investment Forum Headquarters: Paris, France KEY PARTNERS OVERVIEW / MISSION “Eurosif, European Social Investment Forum, was created in 2001 to serve as an umbrella association to cover socially responsible investment issues at the European level.” Forum members are pension funds, financial service providers, academic and research institutions, and NGOs. Members’ collective assets total more than 1 trillion Euros. Eurosif assists members through four types of activities: • European Union lobbying; News Sweeps Alphabetic list of European Parliament accreditations Coca Cola Enterprises : Joins Dow Jones Sustainability Index Listing Madison raises $825m for liquidity fund
|
Check It Out… G&A Institute Sustainability Update™ RECENT POSTS VW – Expanding Troubles in Media Spotlight What About Its Cultivated “Responsibility Profile?” GRI Reporting 2025 — Future of Reporting: Deeper Integration, Greater Scrutiny
_______________________________
_______________________________ _______________________________ Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility Reporting G&A Institute is the Global Reporting
_______________________________
Navigating the way to sustainability… Copyrights for other providers are noted where appropriate. Please credit the source if quoted.
| ||||||||||
| SustainabilityHQ Highlights is prepared by the Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. based on continuous monitoring of trends and developments in Sustainability and ESG. Click here for more information on the Governance & Accountability Institute’s SustainabilityHQ resources. The SustainabilityHQ™ platform is available by subscription. Governance & Accountability Instiute is the “Sustainability Headquarters™” for clients in the corporate, investment, public and social sectors. Based in New York, G&A is a for-profit consulting organization providing a range of value-added strategies, services and resources related to ESG & sustainability to clients in the corporate and capital markets communities. The G&A services portfolio includes: SustainabilityHQ™ is managed and published by Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. | |||||||||||
Harvard’s Eccles on the UN SDGs – They Are “Good for Business”
October 30, 2015
