Firms told: Integrate SDGs into strategies

Companies are urged to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into their core business strategies and prioritize underserved areas in a bid to help achieve sustainable development by 2030.

“This will entail developing new business concepts and transforming philanthropic and CSR (corporate social responsibility) programs into actual business models that deliver value both for society and the company,” said a report titled “Transformational Business.”

In partnership with the government, it said firms can significantly address regional disparities and inequities through target-based solutions that also bring in profit for shareholders.

They thus need to reallocate resources to underserved municipalities and grow them into stronger markets, thereby enabling them to deliver substantial returns on investment later on.

“This could also unclog urban centers and allow the smoother and equitable flow into other locales,” noted the report.

Further, it said firms need to collaborate at the same time invest in monitoring and reporting.

“Companies can reach a wider market base and achieve value at scale by partnering with other companies, as well as the govern- ment and civil society groups,” added the report.

According to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, achieving the SDGs would unlock $12 trillion a year globally in business value across four economic systems alone. These are energy and materials, food and agriculture, cities and urban mobility and health and well-being.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 SDGs is a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and guarantee that no one is left behind in a quest for lasting peace and prosperity. /