What are the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

What are the UN's Sustainable Development Goals?

The UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by the 193 member states of the UN in 2015 as targets for action on sustainable development. The goals aim to promote prosperity and ensure the planet's future. The SDGs call on countries worldwide to, among other things, eradicate poverty and hunger, reduce inequality, ensure quality education, improve health for all, and create more sustainable growth.

The goals are universal and involve the entire world. To achieve the 17 SDGs, everyone must contribute—governments, leaders, businesses, organizations, NGOs, and citizens.

Why should your company consider the SDGs?

For these goals to be realized, it is crucial that everyone works towards them. They are universal and apply to NGOs, citizens, governments, organizations, leaders, and businesses. As a company, you need to engage with these goals. Managing all 17 SDGs can be challenging for a company, and this is precisely what Valified's platform is designed to assist with.

Valified's questionnaire framework takes the various goals into account. As a company, you will automatically be updated on and can reflect on which SDGs you are already working towards and which you could start working on when answering the questions. The questionnaire allows you to indicate which SDGs you are actively working on, and this will be included as part of your Impact Report.

Which SDGs are relevant for your company to work on?

There are several ways to integrate the SDGs into your business. The Confederation of Danish Industry (DI), in collaboration with several member companies and experts, has identified a set of core competencies that you can benefit from focusing on. To develop a successful business strategy based on sustainability, you need to merge your company's core competencies with the SDGs (and the most critical global challenges) that you are best positioned to positively contribute to solving. In other words, sustainability and business should be integrated into one strategy. DI has proposed six key points that every company should consider when integrating sustainability into their core business:

1. Understand the company's positive and negative impact.
2. Identify 2-3 SDGs that strengthen the business.
3. Create a new vision for the company.
4. Engage the entire organization.
5. Test and scale the company's development project.
6. Ensure the processes that support the vision are well-established.

Read more about how your company can work with these six points here (in Danish).

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