The UN Sustainable Development Goals are 17 goals for humanity to work towards between the years 2015 and 2030. They have been adopted by all member nations of the UN and broadly span two main domains: society and nature.
Summary by The World of Work Project
The UN Sustainable Development Goals
Following on from the Millennium Development Goals, the UN introduced 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These were adopted by all member nations and which we as a planet are working towards achieving by the year 2030. In the words of the UN, these goals will help transform our world.
Each of the 17 goals focus on a specific area that we should work towards to ensure that humanity has a sustainable future on this planet. Each goal also has multiple underlying targets associated with it.
The 17 Goals
The full list of goals is a follows:
- No Poverty
- Zero Hunger
- Good Health and Well-being
- Quality Education
- Gender Equality
- Clean Water and Sanitation
- Affordable and Clean Energy
- Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Reduced Inequalities
- Sustainable Cities and Communities
- Responsible Consumption and Production
- Climate Action
- Life Below Water
- Life on Land
- Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
- Partnership for the Goals
You can learn more about the goals, as well as about all of the targets associated with them via the UN’s SDG website.
What does this mean for organizations?
Organizations play a huge part in our global society, and carry a large responsibility when it comes to helping to transform the world and ensure that we have a sustainable future here.
Organizations should aim to get better at responsible business over time. They should assess their impact on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and try to mitigate any negative impacts and improve any positive impacts they may generate. It’s only through a concerted effort by everyone that we’ll be able to transform the world into the sustainable, inclusive and balanced place it should become.
In addition, organizations should seek to align their strategies as much as possible to the Sustainable Development Goals, educate their employees about the goals and work with their suppliers to ensure they too are aware of the goals. Of course, this is rather idealistic, and we know there are many challenges and realities we need to face along the way, but it’s the direction we should head in.
Thoughts from a B-Corporation
B-Corporations are organizations that strive for more than just profit. Many of them aim to bring the SGDs to life. You can listen to our podcast the the leader of a B-corporation below.
The World of Work Project View
The UN Sustainable Development Goals are an excellent high level set of goals to work towards. We know that they are complex, expensive and very hard to achieve. However, we need to try to make them happen if we are to sustain our current way of life on this planet.
We know it’s easy to dismiss goals like this as someone else’s responsibility, but the truth is that everyone has a role to play in making the world a sustainable place. If we don’t make progress in relation to these goals then the outcomes could be catastrophic.
To put it bluntly, if we don’t make material progress in relation to these goals then there is a risk of an extinction level event for humanity. It’s that simple.
