SDG Tools & Reports
No matter how large or small, and regardless of their industry, all companies can contribute to the SDGs. While the scale and scope of the Goals is unprecedented, the fundamental ways that business can contribute remain unchanged. The UN Global Compact asks companies to first do business responsibly through the Ten Principles, and then pursue opportunities to solve societal challenges through business innovation and collaboration.
TAKE ACTION
SDG Showcase
There are significant benefits for businesses incorporating the SDGs into their operations. New business opportunities through market differentiation, expansion, and growth, increased attractivity for employees, customers, and investors, better employee retention, supply chain resilience, and reduced costs through resource and operational efficiency are some of the positive effects SDG-aligned companies can expect. Furthermore, the SDGs – as the only universally agreed blueprint for a sustainable and prosperous future for all – can enable businesses to stay ahead of the curve, not least with rapidly changing ESG regulations.
The SDG Showcase serves as a tool for businesses to assess material SDG impacts and showcases good practice examples of the private sector working with a clear plan to advance the SDGs for the future we all want.
SDG Storytelling for Sustainability
When it comes to ESG reporting, companies are faced with increasing demands from stakeholders for more comprehensive and transparent disclosures, including ever more strict statutory reporting requirements. At the same time, stakeholder and regulator sensitivity to ‘greenwashing’ has never been higher. Due to this, businesses report difficulty with communicating their sustainability efforts, both internally and externally, in a way that meets requirements and mitigates reputational risk. Click here to learn more.
SDG PLAYBOOK for SMEs
There is a multifaceted business case for smaller companies to embrace sustainability. Stakeholders – from regulators to investors to customers to employees – expect all companies to be improving their sustainability performance and they are ready to reward companies that embrace this agenda and punish those that do not.
However, SMEs consistently report difficulties with embedding the SDGs at the core of their business models.
The UN Global Compact Network UK, in partnership with Irwin Mitchell, has developed the SDG Playbook for SMEs: a step-by-step guide to help smaller companies unlock the competitive advantages associated with embracing the SDGs.
SDG AMBITION BENCHMARK REFERENCE SHEETS
Determining the starting point for your company’s efforts to advance the 2030 Agenda and implement the 17 Sustainable Development Goals may seem like a challenging task.
The UN Global Compact, in consultation with business leaders and partner organisations, has developed 12 SDG Ambition Benchmarks, to simplify the task and translate ambition into action. The benchmarks include clear pathways and sample actions for companies to take.
They focus on the areas of the SDGs where the private sector could have the greatest impact and create significant momentum in global efforts to achieve the Goals by 2030. These include gender equality (Goal 5), climate action (Goal 13), waste and circular economy (Goal 12), and corruption (Goal 16).
SDG ACTION MANAGER
The SDG Action Manager is a new web-based impact management solution which has been developed by the UN Global Compact in cooperation with B Lab. The SDG Action Manager enables your company to learn which SDGs matter most to you based on your company profile, to get a clear view of how your operations, supply chain, and business model create positive impact, to identify risk areas for each SDG, to set goals and track improvement on the dashboard, to collaborate across your company and to see real-time progress through thought-provoking yet actionable assessment questions, benchmarks and improvement guides. Watch a recording of our webinar and live demo of the SDG Action Manager.
FORWARD FASTER
Across the SDGs there is a demonstrated correlation between bold action and positive corporate returns. History has taught us that the leaders who succeed are the ones who meet the needs of the future by moving forward. Taking action today will help protect your business, people and the planet.
We’re calling on all companies to commit to move forward, faster, across five areas of action: gender equality, climate action, living wage, water resilience, and finance and investment. Our action guides will show you what you need to do to make progress faster in each area to enable you to build a more resilient company.
SDG PROGRESS
SDG STOCKTAKE
Business is a key stakeholder in SDG success. This report offers an appraisal of private sector contributions to the SDGs so far—and outlines a clear pathway for private sector action over the next seven years. Download the report to learn the current state of the SDGs most relevant to your business—and the business potential that comes with accelerated action, ten pathways for every business to shape their own contribution to the SDGs and the priority actions your company can take, and practical applications and key insights from resources, case studies and real world company examples.
MEASURING UP 2.O
In 2015, the UK Government joined every other country in the world and committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Goals provide a holistic framework to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities, combat catastrophic climate change, and protect our natural environment by 2030. Yet halfway through the 2030 Agenda, the UK is far from achieving the Goals. Our Measuring Up 2.0 (2022) report assesses the UK's performance against each of the 17 SDGs and their 169 targets to understand how and where the government and other organisations should focus efforts for the remainder of this decade of action.
UK’s VOLUNTARY NATIONAL REVIEW
As part of the process for reviewing and monitoring progress towards the Goals, all UN Member States are expected to carry out a national review of progress towards the Goals at least once in the period to 2030. This process is called a Voluntary National Review, leading to a report that is then presented to the annual UN High-Level Political Forum. This is the UK’s first Voluntary National Review.
PARTNER to ACHIEVE GREATER IMPACT
The Global Opportunity Explorer
The Global Opportunity Explorer provides the global business community with direct access to the most innovative business solutions and emerging market opportunities to help achieve and understand the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), end extreme poverty, reduce inequality and protect our planet. A joint project of DNV GL, Sustainia and the UN Global Compact, the Explorer is a digital platform that helps business leaders, entrepreneurs and investors connect with new partners, projects, markets and talents to deliver on the SDGs.
Transforming Partnerships for the SDGs
In this report, the UN Global Compact focuses its attention on transforming partnerships for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Following a decade of research into the views of business leaders worldwide, the UN Global Compact examines the views of UN leaders. As the UN Secretary-General calls for enhanced cooperation between the United Nations and the private sector, the UN Global Compact asks agency heads and partnership practitioners across the UN system: what will it take to scale up partnerships to bring about transformational impact on the SDGs?
