21 November 2016
SDG Fund Report Looks at Business, Universality, SDGs
Photo by IISD/ENB | Pamela Chasek
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A new report by the Sustainable Development Goal Fund (SDG Fund), in collaboration with its Private Sector Advisory Group and the UN Global Compact, focuses on the notion of universality as a potential driver to impact engagement with the private sector.

The report highlights varied perspectives from both large and small companies working to understand the commonality of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

11 November 2016: A new report by the Sustainable Development Goal Fund (SDG Fund), in collaboration with its Private Sector Advisory Group and the UN Global Compact, focuses on the notion of universality as a potential driver to impact engagement with the private sector. The report highlights varied perspectives from both large and small companies working to understand the commonality of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The report, titled ‘Universality and the SDGs: A Business Perspective,’ is based on interviews and inputs from more than 100 private sector companies through workshops in Africa, Latin America, Europe and the US. Based on the year-long series of interactive discussions, the publication provides insights in how companies are working to address the SDGs.

In the context of the 2030 Agenda, universality is defined as “applicable to all countries, while taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development that respect national policies and principles.”

Some of the findings presented in the report include: many firms are working in the areas of the SDGs but their work is not always linked to the goals or articulated as such; more companies are increasingly aware of the concept of the SDGs, but many firms do not fully grasp the intricacies of the SDGs in context of their work or internal operations; and although many companies find a clear and added value to framing sustainability initiatives through the SDGs, which provide a unified set of globally accepted principles, many companies are still accustomed to working within the confines of their philanthropic and CSR programs.

Against this background, the publication highlights the role that the UN could play in educating and informing companies on the universal dimensions of the SDGs, as well as in facilitating access to resources, tools and learning to better promote implementation and alignment across sectors.

The Sustainable Development Goals Fund is an international multi-donor and multi-agency development mechanism created in 2014 by the UN Development Program (UNDP), on behalf of the UN system, to support sustainable development activities through integrated and multidimensional joint programmes. [UN Press Release][SDG Fund Press Release][Universality and the SDGs: A Business Perspective][Interview with the SDG Fund Director]

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