Four years after the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) came into effect – the most ambitious action plan in favor of people, the planet and prosperity until 2030-, the Spanish Network of the Global Compact stresses that business leadership is one of the key engines to drive the necessary changes to make them a reality. This is detailed in a new guide that under the title SDG Year 4, Business leadership in the 2030 Agenda: from theory to action, the institution has edited to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the approval of the 17 objectives. The publication was presented this morning at an event held at the Official College of Surveyors and Technical Architects of Madrid who have been a member of the United Nations Global Compact since 2007, who have ceded their headquarters, facilities and personnel for the event, where the representatives of the Spanish Network of the Global Compact have been accompanied, among others, by Cristina Gallach, High Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda, and Antonio Garamendi, President of the CEOE.
“It is time to accelerate and increase business action to achieve a truly revolutionary impact. Convinced business leaders are needed, from senior management to expand the message of the SDGs inside and outside the organization and leading companies, willing to set ambitious commitments that trigger a genuine transformation, ”said Cristina Sánchez, executive director of the Spanish Network of the Global Compact, in the event. A few words that strengthen the important work that Spanish companies are playing as drivers of change and that, in addition, is also reflected in the guide. In it, 84 national companies have shown their contribution to the SDGs by publishing, among all of them, a total of 162 quantifiable and time-bound commitments. In this sense, the ranking of the objectives that register a greater number of commitments is headed by SDG 13 Action for climate, which is followed by SDG 7 Affordable and non-polluting energy together with SDG 12 Responsible Production and Consumption. It is a gesture of leading sustainability companies and a trend that has to be spread among the largest number of entities to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs.
In this context, although there is still a long way to go, in Spain there has been significant progress in these four years. Thus, companies continue to take steps forward as, as detailed in the guide, while in 2016 the percentage of IBEX 35 companies that mentioned in their sustainability reports the integration of the SDGs in their business strategies was 49%, currently stands at 86%. A general commitment that is capitalized by large entities, affirming in the text that currently 80% of the companies in the stock index identify priority SDGs for their business, compared to 20% that they did after their first anniversary. In addition, this evolution is also felt in the significant increase in companies that specify how they contribute to the achievement of the SDGs, in 2016 only 6% detailed it and in 2019 66%.
The actions of the companies adhered to the Spanish Network of the Global Compact are also a clear reflection of this trend. Their contribution to the SDGs is increasing, thus, currently 68% of them report the opportunities and responsibilities that the SDGs represent for their business and 66% report how they are integrating them into the business model.
"The advances are very significant, the SDGs have penetrated the big companies and they are incorporated at all levels," said Angel Pes, president of the Spanish Network of the Global Compact, who has also focused on the need to extend this action among small and medium enterprises. “Without being fully aware, SMEs are already carrying out different actions that contribute to sustainable development. In this sense, the great challenge we face is to be able to establish indicators that allow us to measure their scope and, thus, become aware of the progress of their work in achieving the goals of the 2030 Agenda ” added Pes.
On business leadership and other issues that are developed in the publication, such as the economic opportunities provided by the SDGs or the challenges of industry 4.0, CEOs of important companies such as Adif, Arpa and FCC Construcción have discussed during the day. based its interventions on the experience of integrating the objectives of the 2030 Agenda into its business strategies.
The big challenge: move from theory to action
The main message that the publication conveys is the need to activate levers that promote a transformation that integrates sustainability in the culture of the organization, in addition to companies establishing public commitments, quantifiable and with a time limit.
With the objective of encouraging a remarkable evolution in this matter, the document includes interviews and statements of some of the most relevant CEOs and corporate presidents at the national level. These testimonies mark the tendency to follow the set of entities and, everything seems to indicate that 2019 is a new point of departure, to definitively activate, the step from theory to action.
New economic and business opportunities associated with the achievement of the SDGs
A good incentive to foster collaboration in the consequence of the goals of the 2030 Agenda is to transmit to the markets and companies the growth that sustainability can bring both to the global and local economy, and to companies at the individual level. And, as stated in the document, the 2030 Agenda seeks sustainable growth without leaving anyone behind.
Four areas of great potential for the sustainable growth of the economy are pointed out: gender equality, the circular economy, the fight against climate change and the mitigation of corruption.
On the other hand, there are several arguments, specifically ten, which are described in the guide to encourage companies to join the SDGs and, through them, find important opportunities. To this decalogue, we add the testimonies of high positions of large companies that show the benefits they have brought to their companies on contribute to sustainable development.