Private Sector and Investors Have a Role in Promoting the Sustainable Development Goals
I am honored to participate in this weekend’s United Nations Sustainable Development Summit where I will also chair the Roundtable on Peace and Stability at the UN Private Sector Forum on Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With more than 150 world leaders expected to attend, including President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Pope Francis, it is clear that we have achieved a new level of global commitment to a sustainable development agenda.
While national governments will play a central role in achieving the SDGs, the need for private sector contributions to this effort cannot be underestimated. Companies bear tremendous social and environmental impacts and, at the same token, can wield significant positive influence that promotes socio-economic inclusion and climate solutions.
Increasingly, companies understand that they don’t have to choose between “doing well” and “doing good”—they can do both.
· In 2006, The Dow Chemical Company established the 2015 Sustainability Goals, which were heavily influenced by the Millennium Development Goals and aim to address global challenges related to energy and climate, food, health, and water.
· Unilever created its Sustainable Living Plan in 2010 to increase business twofold, while simultaneously reducing the company’s environmental impact and improving its social impact.
· Industry initiatives, such as the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI), help to improve sector-wide approaches to responsible business. Since the UN PRI’s launch in 2006, more than 1,300 financial services companies representing $59 trillion in assets under management have joined the initiative and approximately 94% of these signatories have adopted responsible investment policies.
The private sector should participate actively in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. Doing this will support the global evolution of inclusive, environmentally-conscious societies, which will sustain modern corporations and capital markets in the future. Corporate contributions to the goals can also be an important determinant of company profitability and risk and, therefore, long-term firm value. Many of the social and environmental concerns that the goals address are familiar to responsible investors and to companies that take seriously their responsibility to society and effectively manage non-financial risks and opportunities. Companies contribute to the SDGs when they prioritize energy efficiency and water conservation. Companies also contribute to the SDGs when they pay fair, living wages to their employees and ensure their safety in the workplace. Investors contribute to the goals when they invest in responsible companies and encourage continuous improvement of sustainability approaches. These are sustainable development activities and they are responsible business activities, which are increasingly shown to enhance firm performance. New studies, including research by Calvert’s equity and fixed income experts and a report produced with Harvard Business School Professor George Serafeim, are finding strong relationships between firms’ sustainability performance and financial performance.
Calvert Investments welcomes the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals. As responsible investors, we are proud of our role in ensuring that the goals achieve their full potential to drive environmental stewardship and socio-economic inclusion worldwide.
