Creating a Rallying Cry Around UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development

Oct 13, 2015 11:15 AM ET

Prove Your Purpose

Late last month the United Nations approved the Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs), the most comprehensive and ambitious set of 17 goals to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030. But to achieve these goals it's going to take a village, or rather an entire planet, to succeed. Through a massive effort that can only be achieved with action from governments, businesses, NGOs and individuals, everyone has a role to play to push these goals forward. Many companies are already heeding the call – a recent survey found one-in-five companies are currently involved in collaboration around the goals and another four-in-10 are exploring the implications of these goals. Here's a snapshot of companies that are creating commitments and building a rallying cry around these monumental goals:

  • The B Team, a group of global business leaders coming together to advance the wellbeing of people and the planet including Unilever's Paul Polman, Arianna Huffington and Virgin's Richard Branson, has thrown their weight behind the SDGs. The group is calling on private-sector leaders to "develop a ‘business plan' for embedding the global goals into their corporate strategies."
  • In advance of the adoption of the SDGs, SABMiller adopted its own sustainability development strategy, Prosper. Prosper has five shared imperatives which focus on the issues that are most significant for the company's business and were carefully designed to align with the goals. The company has an infographic showing how its individual commitments ladder up to the broader SDGs.

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