Business Alignment to SDGs in India
Background
Businesses across the globe are increasingly realising that sustainability is not a side issue. Both ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors are spurring them to move towards sustainable business practices.
In this context, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a framework of 17 broad goals, 169 targets, and 230 indicators, enable the private sector to have a guided approach to sustainability.
Between January 2020 and September 2020, Sattva and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) undertook the study titled “Business Alignment to SDGs in India” to plot the landscape of reported sustainability interventions across the Agriculture and Allied, FMCG, and Oil and Gas industries in India. For the study, “sustainability interventions” have been defined as activities undertaken as part of business-as-usual, such as adopting more water-efficient manufacturing processes and designing products and services catering to society’s prevailing needs. In other words, sustainability interventions that are a part of core business efforts.
Event: Report Launch
The report was formally launched on 9th December, 2020. The opening remarks were made by the Resident Representative, UNDP India, Ms, Shoko Noda wherein she stressed on the importance of businesses realising that sustainability and profitability are not divorced from each other and incorporating sustainability into core business would be a critical lever to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
Ms. Aarti Mohan, co-founder and partner, Sattva Consulting shared the key insights from the report, followed by a panel discussion on the topic “Making core business sustainability an ubiquitous agenda among businesses in India and the role of the SDGs in achieving the same” The panel was moderated by Ms Charu Sethi, Head of strategic partnerships, UNDP India and the imminent panel comprised of sustainability heads of Amazon India, Pepsico India, HSBC India and Natwest group.
The study was also featured in the season 2 of the CNBC show “Changemakers: Season 2” The episode can be accessed here.
To gain deeper insights on the study read the full report here.
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Sattva has been working with various corporates, non-profits and social organisations to help them define their social impact goals. Our focus is to solve critical problems and find scalable solutions. We assist organisations in formulating their long-term social impact strategy by strategically aligning with business to provide meaningful solutions to social issues.
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