Despite efforts, many UK businesses are not on track to meet the United Nation's Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) by their 2030 deadline, finds a new report involving researchers from UCL.
The report, Trailblazers & Transformers: UK Business Sectors Redefining Sustainability, developed in collaboration with UN Global Compact UK, found that while UK businesses across the six assessed sectors of the economy have invested financial resources into the goals, in many cases this has not led to the improvements required to realistically meet the SDGs.
With the agenda's deadline just five years away the report emphasised the need for businesses to make significant progress to meet the goals. In addition, the report highlights how sustainability efforts will not just benefit the environment but extend benefits to the individual businesses and overall British economy.
The Sustainable Development Goals are 17 global objectives that seek to promote peace, prosperity and environmental protection around the world. Goals range from eliminating poverty and hunger to achieving gender equality and quality of education around the world.
Professor Gail Taylor, Chair of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network UK and (UCL Faculty of Life Sciences) said: "By partnering with UN Global Compact UK, we're combining academic insight with business leadership to accelerate progress on the most pressing challenges facing society. Together, we aim to deliver impact that is greater than the sum of our parts."
