The UN Global Compact and GRI have implemented an Action Platform called “Business Reporting on the SDGs” that aims to encourage businesses to include SDG reporting in their sustainability communication and relevant processes.
Reminder: What are the SDG’s?
SDGs is an acronym for Sustainable Development Goals which have been defined by the United Nations and came into force in 2016. It contains 17 goals to tackle the most pressuring challenges our planet and society is facing at the moment. Target year is 2030 and they address environmental, social and economic aspects such as climate action, life on land and under water, affordable and clean energy, poverty, equality, well-being as well as economic growth for example.
In 2017, the world’s largest sustainability initiative UN Global Compact (approx. 15,000 participants) and the world’s leading organization for guiding sustainability reporting GRI (approx. 38,000 GRI reports) have initiated the above-mentioned Action Platform that empowers businesses to include SDG reporting in their overall sustainability communication.
Motivation and goals of the collaboration
- Complementation of sustainability reporting according to GRI guidelines and/or UNGC principles
- To enable measuring and reporting on the SDGs
- Help businesses incorporate SDG reporting into their existing (reporting) processes
- To empower corporate action that can make the achievements of the SDGs a reality
Resources
The collaborative action platform has created three tools in order to help businesses in SDG reporting and thus, complementing their reporting processes:
- Analysis of the Goals and Targets to understand how key business of companies impacts the SDGs and their sub-targets
- Integrating the SDGs into Corporate Reporting: A Practical Guide that contains three steps explaining how to integrate SDGs in corporate sustainability reporting and how to use together with GRI reporting for example
- In Focus: Addressing Investor Needs in Business Reporting on the SDGs provides additional information about investor-relevant aspects of corporate SDG reporting
Further resources can be found here:
- SDG Compass as guide for companies on how they can align their strategies as well as measure and manage their contribution to the realization of the SDGs
- DFGE blog post from March 2018 addressing the SDG Compass contents
- DFGE blog posts and contents referencing the SDGs
In cases you need help regarding sustainability reporting according to UNGC principles or GRI guidelines and/or in communicating your SDG contribution don’t hesitate to contact us by mail () or by phone: +49 8192 99733-20.
