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Partnership for the sustainable development goals

Overview of the Sustainable Development Goals

You’ve probably heard to the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations, also known as the SDGs or Global Goals. But how are these relevant to you and your organization? How is the Netherlands progressing on these goals? And how do different sectors contribute to the SDGs?

Immerse yourself in the SDGs through virtual reality

PwC Amsterdam built an SDG dome to bring the SDGs closer to its staff and clients. On March 29, 2019, PwC Amsterdam opened the SDG dome to the alumni of Nyenrode Business University.

The United Nations strive to achieve these goals by the year 2030. In the dome we tried to achieve the the Sustainable Development Goals as quickly as possible. Even for people with deep knowledge of sustainability, this proved to be quite a challenge. Our two teams achieved the SDGs by 2037 and 2044. These results and the impact of experiencing sustainability challenges and solutions through virtual reality raised the sense of urgency and the commitment to act in all of us.

Dutch organizations working on SDGs below the surface

At the launch of the SDG dome, PwC also presented research about the application of the SDGs by Dutch organizations. This shows that listed companies in the Netherlands embrace the SDGs, but that these have not been integrated effectively into the strategies and activities. A smaller subset of the Dutch ministries and municipalities refer to the SDGs but is not yet leading to different actions. Social enterprises and NGOs in the Netherlands hardly mention the SDGs at all in their annual reports. They do not see a sufficient added benefit to link their impact to the SDGs. So, below the surface, things seem to be moving, yet organizations could still make much more use of the SDGs. Linked to their operations, their impact in society and as a common language to connect with other organizations.

Dutch organizations primarily focus on SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth) and SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production). While we should pay more attention to SDG 5 (gender equality) and SDG 13 (climate action), as international research by PwC shows we are lagging behind on these SDGs compared to other countries.

PwC brings the goals closer for clients and staff

Wineke Haagsma, Director Corporate Responsibility at PwC shared how PwC integrated the SDGs and how they help clients to do this as well. There is a four-step process to select the SDGs to which they want to contribute:

  1. Start from the positive contribution of your own organization;
  2. Then act on the negative impacts of your own organization;
  3. Focus on the positive impact of your products and services;
  4. and finally, search for the negative impacts in your supply chain.

These four steps help organizations identify which SDGs provide challenges and opportunities for the future, and to select the SDGs on which to focus. For the selected SDGs, the next step is to dig into the underlying targets. Make the selected SDGs very concrete for your own organization, with clear goals linked to your own operations. And with KPIs to measure progress. The SDG selector can be a handy tool to support this selection process.

Through this process, PwC Netherlands selected four focus SDGs and linked these to the strategy. On their website, you can read more about the selected SDGs (8, 10, 12 and 16). Wineke’s enthusiasm and openness sparked many people to really consider how to get to work on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Plant-based networking

As always, these alumni events are wrapped up with networking drinks. PwC served organic wine and vegetarian snacks made from mushrooms grown on coffee grounds from PwC’s own offices.

People mingling after the visit to the SDG dome

This event was organized and chaired by Marjolein Baghuis of Change in Context, in her role as Chair of the Alumni Circle for Sustainability at Nyenrode Business University. This blog was written by Marjolein Baghuis. It also appeared in Dutch on the Nyenrode alumni website and the website of The Terrace. To read about interesting people, book reviews and other posts about sustainability, change, and communications please subscribe to this blog in the right-hand column.

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