A brief history of sustainability and the SDG

The first interest in the environment as a political stake appeared for the first time in the 70’s, with the organisation of the first “Earth Summit” in Stockholm in 1972, leading to the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (1972). Then, we must wait until 1992 to see the organisation of the second “Earth Summit” organised in Rio, where the Rio Convention was adopted (also called the convention on biological diversity), introducing the precautionary principle and Agenda 21. In 1997, the conference of Kyoto on climate change marks a turning point in international policies with the beginning of the negotiations of the Kyoto protocol about the reduction of CO2 emissions. This protocol was finally adopted and entered into force in 2005, after 8 years of negotiations. New “Earth Summits” and international conferences were held during the last decade (2009 – Conference of Copenhagen on Climate, 2010, Conference of Cancún on Climate), 2012 Conference of the United Nations on Sustainable Development in Rio, etc.) One of the most important was the International Conference on Climate Change – COP21 organised in Paris in 2015. During this conference, world leaders agreed on Agenda 2030, a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals[1] and 169 targets proposed by the United Nations, which establishes a plan to achieve the Goals in 15 years. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) constitute a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and improve the lives and prospects of people around the world.

Source: www.meuskills.eu[2]

The EU was instrumental in shaping Agenda 2030. Also, the EU and its member countries are fully committed to implementing Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals, as it is reflected in major EU policies. Therefore, the present European policies refer largely to the SDG.

Here is a summary of the SDG:

Source: UN

In January 2019, the European Commission published the Reflection document Towards a Sustainable Europe in 2030, which is presented as the first step for a future European strategy for the global implementation of the 2030 Agenda. This document makes clear allusions to the role that companies could play toward sustainable development.[3] In this publication, the European Commission expressly acknowledges that companies will have an essential role to play in the transition toward sustainability: “our companies are already at the forefront compared to its world competitors“. However, it makes a constant call to action, as there is a lot of scope for improvement. To work on the priorities set, the EU mentions in this document the so-called horizontal instruments, which are areas of action that can accelerate the transition towards sustainability in the regions. Some of the proposals are closely related to the business sector, such as technology, innovation, and digitalization, and others make direct reference to companies, such as social responsibility and new business models. The Commission plans to give companies a vital role, considering their high impact capacity and their efforts in accountability, as demonstrated by the fact that in 2017 78% of the world’s leading companies already included social responsibility criteria in their annual reports.

For now, the level of coercion is still low, and incentive measures are chosen to move toward sustainability. Among the main measures contemplated by the EU is the adoption of incentives for those companies that integrate the Sustainable Development Goals in their activities, the promotion of business standards of conduct such as the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, or the promotion of companies and social entrepreneurs. In addition, the report highlights important opportunities for markets:

• the circular economy can generate a net economic benefit of 1.8 trillion euros in the regions where it is implemented and could create more than a million new jobs until 2030;
• Renewable energies can lead to the creation of 900,000 jobs until the same year.

[1] https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300

[2] Link for the edition of the graph: https://www.canva.com/design/DAEwov3lpkU/yo8ugVtVguZq1OmGggDSVA/edit?utm_content=DAEwov3lpkU&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

[3] Reflection Paper towards a Sustainable Europe by 2030. European Commission. COM(2019)22 of 30 January 2019