Join in critical conversations on sustainability
JOIN the Critical Conversations seminar series and be a change agent for the world you would like to see for future generations.
Supported by The Mercury and a host of public, private and non-governmental organisations, Regent Business School is planning to hold an eight-part seminar series titled: Beyond Development – Critical Conversations as a Catalyst for Sustainability.
The series will be interspersed with “social evenings” and will include film nights, colloquiums and storytelling, all relating to the critical question of global warming and the need for sustainability.
The essence of the Critical Conversations series is to engage with the business and development sectors with specific reference to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and to learn how they are integrating investments in sustainable development into their strategic mix.
We hope that through the series we will be able to share highlights of what we are learning and the implications for business and the development sector.
The seminar series will be held in the main auditorium, Regent Business School, 35 Samora Machel (Aliwal) Street, Durban.
The official opening night for the series is Wednesday, March 29, and entry is by invitation only.
For more information, please contact Portia Ntetha, the Sustainable Seminars secretary at 031 304 4626 or e-mail sustainability@regent.ac.za. Reservations are on a first-come-first-served basis.
Background
In September 2015, the UN adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – 17 goals underlined by 169 targets to be met by 2030. The aim: “end poverty”, “protect the planet” and ensure “prosperity for all”.
The case could not be clearer: sustainable development means a better life for many. Funding such ambitions will be challenging, so businesses and the private sector will have an essential role to play.
Although fundamentally it will be down to governments to tackle SDG implementation at a national level, the goals will not be achieved without meaningful action by business.
Business has a key role to play as an engine of economic growth and employment, and a source of finance, technology and innovation.
A prosperous, SDG-compatible 2030 will rely heavily on innovations across areas such as sustainable cities, climate-smart agriculture, clean energy, and improved medicine and health care – all areas that depend on the dynamism and the funding of the private sector, working in close partnership with governments and communities.
However, business cannot act alone. Success will also depend on governments regulating in favour of this innovation, which will put new technologies and products on a level playing field with conventional ones.
At the same time, the SDGs also represent an historic opportunity for business. Companies can use the SDGs as an overarching framework to shape, steer, communicate and report their strategies, goals and activities, allowing them to capitalise on a range of benefits.
First of all, while the SDGs themselves are not legally binding, they still serve as an important road map regarding future policy direction at international, national and regional levels.
Companies that align themselves with the SDGs, and are able to communicate clearly around how their business helps individual governments to achieve their goals, are likely to be able to consolidate a strong licence to operate and to differentiate themselves from competitors.
Likewise, those that don’t will be exposed to growing legal and reputational risks. Furthermore, as the SDGs redirect global public and private investment flows towards dealing with the challenges they represent, those companies that embrace the transformative power of the goals and can identify appropriate business solutions will be able to open up exciting and lucrative new markets.
Perhaps most fundamentally however, investing in the achievement of the SDGs supports stable societies and markets – the pillars upon which business success is built. As noted by Paul Polman, chief executive of Unilever: “It is not possible to have a strong, functioning business in a world of increasing inequality, poverty and climate change”. Business has an inherent self-interest in the realisation of the goals and stands to unlock trillions of dollars through new markets if they are achieved.
While pursuing these opportunities, it is also important to remain mindful of the core responsibilities that business has with regard to the development agenda. The baseline for any company should be to ensure that its operations are not hindering global development.
Negative social impacts, in particular around human rights, cannot be offset by positive contributions, and every company has a responsibility to identify and mitigate them as a baseline for meaningful SDG alignment.
The SDGs will not be easy to achieve and, in the case of some goals, it will necessitate complete transformation of existing systems and practices. Despite this challenge, however, the goals also represent an immense economic opportunity.
By developing a better understanding and proactively addressing the SDGs, companies will be able to better manage their risks, anticipate consumers’ demands, secure access to needed resources, differentiate themselves from competitors, and strengthen their supply chains. In essence, the SDGs can help businesses to connect their strategies with global priorities while playing their part in ensuring no one is left behind.
Companies need to look at which of the goals reflect their values, and understand the ways in which others are currently using them to develop their sustainability and corporate responsibility strategies, and identify how they can make the most difference.
Professor Soni is director: Research and Innovation at Regent Business School.