Power in numbers and networking, here’s why international cooperation is vital for achieving sustainability goals
The UN Global Compact was officially launched in July of 2000. Kofi Annan called on businesses and business associations to set core values that might allow for prosperity to spread across the globe. Acknowledging lessons learned from the Great Depression through the era of Globalization, he shared the key elements that would become the UN Global Compact:
- Human Rights
- Labor Standards
- Environmental Practices
The evolution of the Global Compact is called Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The core of this 2015 compact was international cooperation. They set 17 goals, and 193 countries agreed to work on these goals jointly. SDG echoing Kofi Annan’s 2019 speech, pushed a collaboration of civil society, the private and public sectors.
International cooperation is at the core of the UN’s mandate, and it has evolved.
Fifteen years after Kofi Annan’s unveiling ideas that became the 8 Millennium Development Goals, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) were adopted in hopes of addressing the challenges we humans face in the years to come.
The most impactful goals that have risen out of the SDG are as follows:
- Humans come first to get rid of poverty and hunger
- Reach universal access to such basic needs and services like water, sanitation, and sustainable energy
- Support human development and opportunities with proper education and work
- Create structures that will allow cities and various communities to produce and consume in a sustainable manner
- Reducing inequalities, and that also means eliminating gender inequalities
- Combat climate change and protect our oceans and terrestrial ecosystems
- Promote collaboration so as to engender an environment of peace and also sustainable development
The UN grew out of the dust, death, and destruction of the 20th Century’s Second World War. It has tried to build a positive world community. It covers a vast set of issues, as you can see from the above highlights. As leaders of the business community, you may already be aware of the bridges they have tried to create.
Here are some examples of U.N. supported initiatives:
Global Issues Overview – the collection issues for which the U.N. focuses on.
Business Focus – the support and focus for businesses contributing to a globally impactful mission.
Greening the Blue – raising awareness about the purpose of sustainability
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Denmark on International Cooperation for SDGs
“With the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), sustainable development has become a global agenda with the private sector as a central driving force. Businesses are playing a crucial role in achieving the SDGs. Many companies and investors can contribute with knowledge, technology, innovation, and capital that help solve global challenges. Therefore, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs collaborates with a number of key international actors and partners to foster the role of industry in meeting the SDGs. Through international cooperation and partnerships, we promote the SDGs across countries and sectors.”
P4G – Partnering for Green Growth
“P4G aims to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals by bringing together the private sector, civil society and public authorities in partnerships for green and inclusive growth. P4G provides a critical platform to bring green growth policies into practice through partnerships that can achieve high-impact, market-driven solutions and as such, P4G offers a way to implement SDG 17.”
Partner countries that aim to make high impact solutions include:
Bangladesh, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, the Netherlands, South Africa, South Korea, Mexico, and Vietnam.
The UN’s Sustainable Goals are pretty comprehensive. Is your company potentially missing opportunities to improve the world with your business?
1. NO POVERTY
Is your business or NGO fighting poverty?
2. ZERO HUNGER
Is your company looking to improve food or recover it so won’t go to waste? How about saving our soils from the likes of factory farming? Go to ZERO HUNGER.
3. GOOD HEALTH & WELLBEING
The third goal is good health and well being. Reducing premature death and eradicating widespread diseases.
4. QUALITY EDUCATION
Right along with health, well educated employees improve business. Want sustainable development, you will need support from an educated workforce.
5. GENDER EQUALITY
An aspiration, yes, but a platform for a more peaceful world.
6. CLEAN WATER & SANITATION
What the world needs now is Clean Water and Sanitation. Essential for life and health, do you have a foot in an industry so critical to life? Look for partnerships, SDG in Action.
7. AFFORDABLE CLEAN ENERGY
How about affordable and clean energy? A sustainable organization. An opportunity to grow.
8. DECENT WORK & ECONOMIC GROWTH
Decent work and pay will help economic growth. A quality job grows a quality community, a quality society, in fact, makes for a sustainable society.
9. INDUSTRIES, INNOVATION, & INFRASTRUCTURE
Industry support, infrastructure, and innovation are absolutely crucial for sustainable development. Look for support from various agencies and programs.
10. REDUCED INEQUALITIES
Reduced inequalities make sense from the standpoint of lowering poverty and societal conflicts. Much work to be done here including improving access to health and education.
11. SUSTAINABLE CITIES & COMMUNITIES
Our cities and communities need opportunities for innovation of basic services, improved energy generation, housing, transportation, and smart development. Imagine a world with clean air.
12. RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION & PRODUCTION
Keep your environment free of waste. The UN politely calls #12 responsible production and consumption. ”Do more with less” might help, but innovation and sharing ideas to improve the quality of life all around us will go a long way too.
13. CLIMATE ACTION
Climate Action, another reason to apply for massive UN support of a sustainable media to counteract the false narratives of some of our “so-called” news and the simple silence from other media because it doesn’t fit into a “sound bite.” At least, the UN and the rest of the world are not ignorant of this issue.
14. LIFE BELOW WATER
Life Below Water refers to the ocean’s health. This vital resource is waiting for a coalition of public, private, and government to salvage the very global systems to continue habitable life on this planet.
15. LIFE ON LAND
They say plant a tree. Like the ocean, land is essential for sustaining life and preserving biodiversity. If you are a business looking to halt the degradation of mother earth check out what the UN might have to help you and your efforts to keep our diverse planet alive.
16. PEACE, JUSTICE, & STRONG INSTITUTIONS
How about some peace, justice, and strong institutions. Support your fellows. Keep them from violence and abuse. Anything less and anarchy reigns. Anything less and sustainability is a lost cause.
17. PARTNERSHIPS
Round it back up to governments, the private sector and civil society committed to sustaining life on this planet.
How can my business join the UN’s SDG’s
Cooperation is key. Coalitions help improve the success rate of SDGs. Each piece is like a building block that depends on the strength of each block to build a sustainable world community. The UN offers businesses a portal to partner and meet the demands for contributing to sustainable goals. Explore your path to building businesses that support a just, healthy future for all on the UN website.
The human condition tends to be resistant to change. Amid the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, we have an opportunity to move forward in new holistic ways. Combining the strength of like-minded leaders like yourself will move the sustainability needle and extend our life on this planet.
Stay Tuned!
In July the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) 2020 will take place. Get involved and stay up to date on the 17 SDGS, here.
Resources
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300
https://www.unglobalcompact.org/about
https://www.un.org/en/sections/what-we-do/promote-sustainable-development/index.html
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/