Launched two years ago, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were built on the foundations established by Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in order to complete the work that has begun and respond to new challenges. The new agenda combines, in a balanced way, the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental – and covers topics such as the environment, gender equality, eradication of hunger, access to health and education, responsible consumption, inclusive economic growth, among others.

The success of the SDGs will depend on a global partnership and the active participation of governments, civil society and the private sector. As the main conduit between business and the UN, the Global Compact has the mission of engaging the private sector in achieving the 17 Goals and their 169 targets by 2030.

This engagement is necessary not only because of the growing pressure for business practices that have less impact on the environment and human rights, but also because of the business opportunity that achieving the agenda can represent. According to the report Better Business Better World, released in 2017 by Business and Sustainable Development Commission, boosting sustainable business models in favor of the SDGs can create an economic window of opportunity of around US$1.4 trillion, increasing job creation by 380 million jobs by 2030.

For this to happen, private sector engagement with this agenda cannot be marginal. Companies need to internalize the SDGs into their core business, that is, in its strategy, seeking to realistically understand its positive and negative impact on the 17 Objectives. In this sense, an interesting tool is the SDG Compass. Released in 2015 by United Nations Global Compact, World Business Council for Sustainable Development It is Global Reporting Initiative, O SDG Compass presents five steps that represent corporate maturity in the face of this new agenda. At a local level, this guide is the focus of a training developed and offered by the Global Compact Brazil Network, CEBDS and GRI, which has already impacted more than 500 people since 2016.

Another action developed locally by Rede Brasil is the dissemination of content on business engagement with the SDG agenda. We recently published the study Integrating the SDGs into Corporate Strategy – A Contribution from the Brazilian Global Compact Committee to the 2030 Agenda, whose purpose was to learn about the efforts and challenges of 21 companies from the Brazilian Committee of the Global Compact, responsible for managing the initiative in Brazil, in the face of implementing the 17 Global Goals in their strategy.

The results of the study show that half of the sample has already considered the SDGs when reviewing their business strategy. The majority understand that alignment with the agenda helps to strengthen relationships with partners, in addition to enabling dialogue with the government. Another highlight is that 43% of the participants have already communicated the SDGs internally and are measuring the impacts of their actions.

I reiterate the UN's premise in defending that Agenda 2030 belongs to everyone and no one can be left behind. Therefore, the private sector represents an essential part of this mechanism, and companies must seek to adjust their agenda with the SDGs. According to the SDG Compass, the organization can start by working on a single – or a few – SDGs, perhaps the one that has the most direct relationship with its core business. But it is essential to identify how the chosen SDG(s) can affect the others, that is, one must not lose the systemic vision that they are all interconnected.

After all, it is a 50-year challenge in 15. Join us in this endeavor.