What are the SDGs and why are they important for private companies?

The SDGs, also known as the Sustainable Development Goals are an initiative that was promoted by the United Nations to give continuity to the development agenda after the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The SDGs have 17 objectives and 169 goals proposed as a continuation of the MDGs, including new issues such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption and peace, and justice, among other priorities. After a process of negotiation on the SDGs that involved 193 member states of the UN, on September 25, 2015, the 193 world leaders approved at a summit held in New York at a high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly, an Agenda that bears the title "Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development", which entered into force on January 1, 2016.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals are:

Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere.

Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.

Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Goal 6: Guarantee the availability of water and its sustainable management and sanitation for all.

Goal 7: Guarantee access to affordable, secure, sustainable, and modern energy for all.

Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.

Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation.

Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and between countries.

Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects.

Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development.

Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation and halt the loss of biological diversity.

Goal 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels.

Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.

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Each goal has specific targets to be achieved in the next 15 years. To achieve these goals, everyone has to do their part: governments, the private sector, civil society.

It is important to understand that the SDGs are a guide, a map that will allow private sector companies to be able to identify whether their social, economic, and environmental impact adds value to society, and consequently, strengthen their reputation and their relationships with the different groups of interest.

Regarding the involvement of the private sector in working with the SDGs, 4 pillars stand out that are key and that must be taken into account by companies:

• The risk of inaction: doing nothing is an expensive option;
• The possibility of capturing opportunities: the advantages of aligning the business strategy with the SDGs;
• The importance of Transparency and Governance: the better informed you are, the better decisions you make;
• Mutual collaboration: knowing that the SDG agenda is beyond the reach of companies;

The private sector needs to pay attention to SDG 8, which aims to achieve sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth that benefits all people equally and does not harm the environment. This can only be achieved by creating decent employment for all people, especially for women, youth, and other groups in vulnerable situations, eradicating practices such as forced and child labor, and promoting entrepreneurship and technological innovation. Only in this way will it be possible to generate full quality employment and increase the well-being of the population.

Private companies will have a clear role in achieving this Objective since they are the main actor in economic growth and job creation. Therefore, companies must:

• Guarantee decent employment conditions, both for its direct workers and through its supply chains.
• Eradicate practices that endanger labor rights.
• Promote the hiring of new labor, especially among groups in a situation of vulnerability.
• Increase economic productivity.

This is the SDG that companies around the world identify as the one that offers them the most business opportunities.

But, what is the important role that private companies have? Here we leave you the different ways to make changes in your company, depending on the scope, internal or external:

Internally:

It will be of the utmost importance to guarantee decent working conditions for all the company's employees and suppliers, both nationally and internationally, and ensure non-discrimination in hiring, remuneration, benefits, training, and promotion.

In addition, creating a culture of human rights in the company, through the implementation of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, will help promote the right to decent work for all its workers and those in its value chain.

Human rights due to diligence processes must also be carried out in the company, evaluating the possible negative impacts throughout the entire value chain, to prevent, mitigate and remedy them, with a special focus on modern slavery and child labor. To do this, they will establish fair policies for the selection of suppliers and improve economic inclusion throughout the supply chain.

Similarly, it will be important for the company to stand out:

• Training and instructing the human resources department on the right to non-discrimination, so that hiring in the company takes place without taking into account gender, age, or any other type of personal characteristic.
• Carrying out diversity measures in the company, providing women, young people, and unfavorable groups the opportunity to develop equally in the workplace.
• Promoting youth employment in the company through hiring and internship programs, especially with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, to promote social development.
• Guaranteeing indefinite contracts and opportunities for promotion and professional development for employees, especially young people or people with disabilities.
• Guaranteeing freedom of association and collective bargaining and promoting the adhesion of workers to workers' unions.
• Having health and safety management systems in all the company's facilities and requiring them from suppliers, to reduce occupational accidents and illnesses throughout the value chain.
• Promoting the local economy and culture where the company has operations, supporting small local businesses, and training and hiring people in vulnerable situations.
• Carrying out efficient use of natural resources in the company's activities, to reduce the environmental impact, promoting sustainable economic growth.
• Complying with tax laws and regulations in the countries of operation, to promote their economic growth.

Externally:

• Creating tools that support the creation of decent work, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
• Using the activities of the company to promote sustained, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth.
• Offering scholarships to young people and vulnerable groups to provide them with the skills, tools, and knowledge necessary to find employment.
• Promoting education, through specific programs, for example, competitions and prizes for young entrepreneurs or in the field of innovation.
• Opening new businesses and activities in emerging countries under the prism of sustainability, offering decent and safe jobs to the local population, allowing them to progress socially.
• Telling good practices in workshops related to the generation of sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth and decent employment.
• Carrying out development cooperation projects, focused on the sustainable growth of local economies, which allows for improving the living conditions of thousands of people outside our borders.
• Creating public-private alliances with NGOs, universities, the public sector, and other companies to carry out projects that contribute to sustainable economic growth.

Although many companies already contemplate their contribution to the SDGs, there is still a long way to go in measurement. It must be taken into account that the purpose of the SDGs is more than a simple long-term objective since it must begin to be an intrinsic part of the company's culture and strategy for it to be truly solid, differential, and inspiring.

Business success will be increasingly linked to the drive for sustainable development. Humanity shows a growing appreciation and approach to initiatives that respect communities and the environment. For this reason, companies are currently in a very privileged and important situation where they can improve the management of their social impact and also grow their profits.