Many companies are getting into the green campaign to help with environmental protection and societal improvement. These businesses, large and startups alike, play a significant role in building a more inclusive and eco-friendly future. They follow sustainable development goals to make this possible, with which you can also participate. Here are some ways you can tackle SDGs in your organization:
Improve Awareness of the SDGs
The more people in your company are aware of the importance of sustainable development goals, the better. This makes it easier for you to integrate a few policy changes into your system without much friction. In addition, your employees may even find the drive to contribute more to the cause, depending on which SDGs they resonate strongly with.
If your workplace has a significant number of females, they may want to prioritize gender equality and women empowerment. Similarly, if you’re dealing in the marine industry, your workers may have the inclination to heal the ocean. The thing is, getting employees educated about SDGs not only benefits your company but will also spur them into action. All you have to do is distribute some materials or hold a few sessions to kickstart the process.
Define the Goals That Matter to Your Company
There’s no doubt that all seventeen sustainable development goals are important. However, this doesn’t mean you’d have to force your company to implement the entirety of them. This is just impossible, especially if you’re still handling a startup. Instead, you should aim to define the goals that matter most to your business, then do the crucial project planning around them.
Start by inspecting your business’ value chain and evaluate which SGD targets impact it the most. Check out the base and logistics of supplies, manufacturing, production, and your products’ shelf life and services. This way, you get a detailed analysis of which of your processes can benefit the most from SDGs. You can use the data to get a clear view of the areas that will need more of your efforts toward sustainability.
Align Corporate Processes to SDG Strategy
Once you’ve identified which SDGs impact your processes most, it’s time to link them to actual company targets. It’s likely that you already have existing KPIs and objectives, making it easier for you to improve them rather than start from scratch. With these, develop corporate sustainable practices by aligning your current processes to SDGs.
Tip: it’s best to consider your business’ ambition levels when integrating the goals. The more ambitious your targets are, the greater their impact and performance are compared to modest ones. For more strategic discussions, creating a working group of experts or a council well-versed in sustainability is best. Doing so will help you pinpoint more of your company’s viable priorities that fall under the SDGs criteria.
Filter Your Supply Chains
Filtering the supply chains is crucial for a company transitioning into a green mindset. Based on the SDGs, a business needs to practice sustainable consumption and production patterns. This can prove to be a challenge, especially with the scale and intricacy of the majority of the supply chains.
Start by checking the list of all your suppliers, then form consistent partnerships with those that share the same company values. Expand your sphere and engage with other entrepreneurs that fight for the same philosophy. For instance, secure a contract with a logistic business that operates zero-emissions trucking to transport goods. You can also avail of the services of one that uses eco-friendly packaging materials. Simply put, aim for supply chain sustainability to fulfill a huge part of your green policies.
Aim for Transparency
One simple way to integrate SDGs into your company system is by enhancing transparency. Make the most of your data open to the public, including your materials, hiring process, and current partnerships. Opt to show as much information as possible, a lot like the convective outlooks weather prediction centers provide. This has plenty of benefits, like forcing organizations to internalize and make appropriate changes to their operations. Consumers will also have an easier time making the best choice for their lifestyles and beliefs.
If you’re eager to adopt the SDGs into your company, you must always be ready to reveal your progress with related projects. Your core business reporting processes should also be transparent for all shareholders. There are plenty of tools to help you with this; choose those that are efficient and feature concise outlines of key sustainability advancements. For instance, look for a universal cloud-based system that displays CDP reports and progress about energy efficiency.
Prioritize Long-Term Goals
Tackling the sustainable development goals in your business is not a hype that would fade over time. It’s a commitment with long-term objectives that would require you to create significant changes in your company. You’d have to spend countless hours identifying the key SDGs relevant to your processes. Additionally, you also have to make the necessary improvements revolving around them.
For instance, you’d have to explore clean energy options if you’re using significant power to handle your organization. Following through with the SDGs may also mean turning over your employment policies for the better. To achieve your sustainable targets, you should plan your activities in view of long-term impacts.
The Bottom Line
Transitioning towards a sustainable future is a lot of work, but it’s definitely worth it. Participating in meeting the SDGs and relevant target goals is a big step that will positively impact the environment. However, this will also benefit your business in the long run and provide you with more market opportunities. Being aligned with this movement would also mean less scrutiny and loss, especially with the rising public awareness.
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