Case Study
SDGs and CSR: tackling sustainability issues for the future prosperity of society
In 2015 all the United Nations Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. At its heart is the ambition to include all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership aimed at achieving peace and prosperity for people and the planet. This initiative is shaped around 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which came into effect in January 2016. They address the global challenges of poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice. Achieving the SDGs assumes cooperation of governments, businesses, civil society and individuals.
The UK was among the leading countries negotiating the SDGs and strives to be at the forefront in delivering them. For example, in June 2019 Prime Minister Theresa May announced new legislation aimed at eradicating the UK’s net contribution to climate change by 2050 putting the UK on the path to become the first major economy to set net zero emissions target in law. In Scotland, the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon proposed a legally binding target of meeting Carbon Net Zero by 2045, five years earlier than England.
The resulting benefits of such an ambitious target are expected to be evidenced through improvements in jobs and economic growth. Tackling plastic waste is another priority of the UK government which has already invested up to £70 million to tackle plastic pollution. Launched in December 2018, the UK’s Resource and Waste Strategy focuses on boosting the UK domestic recycling market and oversees controls on the waste we export.
The political ambitions of UK leaders require immediate action by government and businesses, as recognised by The Confederation of British Industry (CBI). The CBI calls on businesses to lead the way towards achieving our environmental targets in order to find and enable solutions to change our practices of consumption, powering the economy, travelling and working.
One of the most recent examples of businesses engaging in sustainability agenda is the waste management initiative introduced by Boots, one of the leading pharmaceutical retailers in the UK. Seeking to make a difference to local communities and to demonstrate the company’s concern and care for the environment, it committed to swap all their plastic carrier bags with unbleached, brown carrier bags from June 24th, 2019. Starting in 53 Boots stores, the initiative will encompass all 2,485 stores by early 2020. It is expected that, as a result, this will remove 900 tons of plastic from Boots’ operations each year.
Issues of plastic waste focus not only on pollution of our planet (water and land). Human consumption of plastic products and packaging also raises concern of its effect on human health. This is particularly relevant to the potential danger of microplastics entering human bodies through exposure via diet or inhalation.
It is fascinating that the problem of plastic use and waste has recently been brought to our attention by way of Sir David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II and War on Plastic by celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and TV presenter Anita Rani in order to raise the public’s awareness of plastic use and waste, and their devastating effects on the planet and humanity.
• As a group of consultants, prepare a list of recommendations to a well-established multi-national company with the head office in London to advise on the following:
o How to effectively communicate the company’s response to meeting the UK government’s commitment of achieving zero emissions target by 2050 to its various stakeholders.
