The UN Sustainable Development Goals and Business
This article discusses how one company, Novozymes, successfully aligned its purpose, strategy, and long-term targets directly with the SDGs. Novozymes says the SDGs are a gift to business because the economic rewards for delivering on the SDGs are very significant. Read this article to find out more about Novozyme's journey to SDG alignment and its many benefits.
Abstract
Environmental degradation and social tensions have put societies under severe pressures the past couple of decades to such a degree that a historic global political agreement was made in September 2015, when 193 countries signed the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, the so-called SDGs or "Global Goals". The SDGs, and their sub-targets, represent a crystal ball for business to "look into the future" and seek long term guidance for investments and new business opportunities. Novozymes, the world's largest manufacturer of enzymes and microbes for industry, has been a frontrunner in sustainability and to our knowledge the first company in the world to align its company purpose, strategy, and long term targets with the SDGs. Novozymes is now in the process of evaluating and prioritizing its innovation pipeline by potential SDG impact and sourcing new partners for SDG impact. With the SDGs in place, businesses now have a much clearer set of long term global priorities with political tail wind, and the alignment between policy makers, civil society, and the private sector is much stronger. The SDGs are a great gift to business!
Source: Claus Stig Pedersen, https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S2212827118300040?token=F9AFA10C32F45005DE7BEB51FAD45BB243F6FA4C8F0CC38FBB1B148D509292874F17FB66C986FC11C66855526905F143
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