More Evidence of Benefits of SDGs for Business
It seems that stories about the benefits of applying sustainable development principles to your businesses are becoming more prevalent. Truthfully, advantages of such a noteworthy combination are visible everywhere.
Major industry leaders have projected that by putting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the center of the world’s economic strategy could unleash a major change in growth and productivity, with an investment boom in sustainable infrastructure as a critical driver. However, this will not happen without a radical change in the business and investment community, in its mindset and thought leadership.
For cutting-edge businesses with leaders that comprehend the advantages of this type of thought leadership, this pro-civilization orientation could offer significant outreach opportunities.
Unilever, a diversified food manufacturer, that conducted an analysis of this evolution, also noted that radical change is imperative for the benefits to accrue to businesses and humanity.
Among the required steps is real leadership – thought leadership – for the private sector to become a trusted partner in working with government and civil society to fix the economy.
The Business & Sustainable Development Commission is convinced that the SDGs provide the private sector with a new growth strategy that opens valuable market opportunities while creating a world that is both sustainable and inclusive. And the potential rewards for doing so are significant, the commission noted.
The report reveals 60 sustainable and inclusive market “hotspots” in four key economic areas – energy, cities, food and agriculture, and health and wellbeing – that could create at least US$12 trillion, worth more than 10% of today’s GDP. These hotspots have the potential to grow two to three times faster than average GDP over the next 10–15 years.
The value and anticipated extent of growth cannot by belittled by the business world – even the skeptics.
Earlier this month I “participated” in a webinar on the sustainability-business connection called “Leading the Way to Sustainability” sponsored by the China European International Business School of Shanghai. Conducted by Prof. Lydia Price, director of the Euro-China Center on Leadership and Responsibilities, the webinar demonstrated that paying attention to sustainability is in the best of interest of businesses.
Price said insurmountable evidence shows that businesses should adapt sustainable principles now by balancing financial results with social performance. Repeating the oft-heard crucial word “leadership,” she emphasized that business leaders must champion this new arrangement.
Price indicated that sustainable businesses will succeed only with strong leadership and built-in strategies.
If businesses reject building these principles into their business plans, then consumers and other stakeholders won’t pay attention to their goods and services because sustainability is quickly enveloping all segments of the world. Indeed, she noted, consumers, patrons and average citizens have already accepted its principles. Those consumers and other stakeholders have numerous media through which they can reveal to the world that one or another business is damaging rain forests or refusing to live up to the 17 SDGs, Price warned. Their unambiguous message will be “don’t buy from XYZ Inc.”
It’s not smarter to be a sustainability follower, waiting for others to show the way, she counseled, it’s better to be a leader and take advantage of the opportunities.
“Sustainability investments yield positive financial returns and they reap large rewards,” Price said.
She urged business leaders to strategically align sustainability with their business plans and fully embed it in the company’s strategies, processes and practices.
“Sustainability can create value by reducing costs, growing margins and building business,” Price elaborated.
Sustainability in a business environment works best when it flows in both directions from the top and bottom, she said, and also when management rewards employees for following through with such policies.
Price’s observations tended to focus on big businesses so I asked her about small businesses. Can entrepreneurs also benefit from embracing sustainability? She concurred. Large and small businesses, in concert with civil society, can certainly benefit from this global tidal wave.
However, they should tweak their approaches.
Price said when she speaks with NGOs, she suggests that they try to align their work and their language with a simpler framework so that business leaders can better understand their priorities and needs.
“I often find that NGOs use legal or environmental language that executives may find difficult to follow. This is one reason why sustainability is delegated to specialist departments in large organizations, which inhibits the value to business. If NGOs and large companies spoke the same language, I think we would have more productive collaborations,” she opined.
Regarding business risks and opportunities, Price said it is particularly relevant for entrepreneurs and small businesses to think about sustainable ways of leveraging resources or tapping markets.
“The notion of a ‘circular economy’ is that our current industrial systems generate ‘waste products’ with productive value that can be exploited. I mentioned a technology startup that is trying to make cement using readily available carbon as an example. Similarly, many social entrepreneurs look for ways to offer productive employment to special needs workers, who are undervalued in today’s economy. To summarize, a ‘no waste’ sustainable economy would generate value from these neglected resources,” Price observed alluding to a few of the 17 SDGs.
“Entrepreneurs can also look for ways to tap underserved markets with new and better goods and services. Natural food and cosmetics companies (e.g., Brazil’s Natura), for example, are experiencing high growth as buyers seek healthy lifestyles.”
In other words, sustainability is not merely a theoretical concept with limited applications in the real world but one that can provide all businesses and civil society with opportunities that will benefit them as well as civilization.
By hitching your wagon to the sustainable development goals, your businesses and NGOs will garner promotional mileage. Tell the world about it. That will certainly boost your outreach. As I have written in the past, use all forms of social media, Twitter, Facebook, etc., to promote your decision and projects. Follow the “sustainable,” “SDG” and “Agenda2030” communities with appropriate hashtags, join existing conservations and initiate your own. Share your point of view by reaching out to likeminded stakeholders, explain your success, build followers, think outside the box, and become thought leaders about sustainability and business.
Tell your local government officials and other stakeholders about this important issue. Take photographs of your meetings and post them on Facebook and other sites. Traditional media outreach with press releases is also helpful in this effort because it can neatly tie all traditional and cyber efforts into an understandable package that talks about your business.
Combing sustainability and business is fast becoming a vital business activity. NGOs can play an important role be explaining the principles to entrepreneurs and developing a common language.
Send your examples
Join the conversation in cyberspace about boosting your business and let me know your impressions. If you have examples of how you used social media to boost outreach, let me know about it and I’ll help you spread the word about your success.
I’d also like to invite you to visit my Thought Leadership website:
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