SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS): THE ROLE OF BUSINESSES
On 1 January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at a historic UN Summit — officially came into force. Over the next fifteen years, with these new Goals that universally apply to all, countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind.”
THE ROLE OF BUSINESSES
One of the main differences between the SDGs and its predecessor, the Millennial Development Goals (MDGs), is the enhanced role that businesses are encouraged to play in the achievement of the goals.
The MDGs were initially formulated with the goal to address and solve extreme poverty. They involved mainly the cooperation of governments with richer countries encouraged to aid developing nations.
However, over the course of the 15 years that the MDGs were in place, the world experienced growing influence, power and impact of businesses. And as you know, it’s businesses that power the engine of economic growth around the world.
The UN acknowledged this global shift and in response, crafted the new Sustainable Development Goals and Targets with businesses in mind. The UN worked with individuals, communities, governments, and businesses to formulate a set of goals that could inspire and involve all sectors and areas within a country.
WHAT CAN BUSINESSES DO?
To support businesses, the SDG Compass was released, which serves as a guide for businesses to navigate the goals.
With the SDG Compass, you can better analyse your business functions and set up plans to align your company with the SDGs.
B1G1 AND THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
At B1G1, we’re also motivated by the Sustainable Development Goals. The 17 Goals have provided us with a fresh way of looking at our projects. Each project listed on B1G1 contributes to one or more SDGs. This categorisation method allows you to discover causes that are close to your heart in the global context. Not only that, you can display the impacts you created based on the SDGs too. That way, you can see exactly how your giving is contributing to the goals embraced by businesses and organisations around the world.
Not only that, it is now also possible for you to track the impacts of your giving across the different goals. You can choose the Goals that resonate most with your business and embed them on your own website. And every time you give through B1G1, the impacts you create towards each SDG are automatically counted and updated live on your SDG widget, just like the impact counter widget.
The Sustainable Development Goals are inspiring, powerful and provide hope for the future. But at the same time, without clear direction and resources, businesses can feel lost about what they should do.
B1G1 is here to make your giving simple, convenient and impactful. We hope to use the SDGs as a source of inspiration and guidance in how we choose our projects and create value for the giving community.
“At B1G1, we strive to help businesses around the world give back in meaningful ways so that they can create measurable, long-lasting impacts and an even greater sense of purpose in their businesses.
We believe that if giving was made simple, convenient and truly impactful, every person would want to give and make a positive difference in our world.”
As a start, you can now filter all projects based on SDG classification. And, do check out our brand new SDG page where we track the impacts we have created together for each goal, live!
Thank you so much for encouraging us to do more!
HAVE A STORY IDEA?hello@b1g1.com