From a business perspective, it is important to understand the implications of the SDGs across four key pillars:
Doing nothing is a costly option
As escalating environmental and social burdens begin to restrain future growth prospects, failure to take action on the SDGs represents a mounting business cost. Furthermore, neglecting to integrate the SDGs strategically also poses a long-term regulatory risk and a reputational risk as governments move to reflect the SDGs in national policy and stakeholders look to business to engage meaningfully in this agenda.
The prize of aligning business strategies with the SDGs
There is a massive market incentive for companies who are able to offer SDG-relevant technologies and solutions through sustainable and inclusive business models. Furthermore, companies that align themselves with the SDGs will also be able to consolidate a strong license to operate, differentiating themselves from competitors and building trust among governments, shareholders and customers.
Better information = better decisions
The SDGs also bring a new dynamic to governance and transparency. Better information equals better decision-making; disclosing sustainability risks and impacts, and pricing them appropriately, is increasingly where the market is headed.
Realizing the SDGs is beyond the reach of one company
Business as usual will not achieve the SDGs, nor will innovation by a few pioneers. This agenda is beyond the reach of any one company and will require collaboration across sectors, supply chains and economic systems, as well as innovative partnerships with governments and civil society.
The SDGs, also known as the Sustainable Development Goals, are 17 Global Goals set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 for the year 2030. As the destination for our world in 2030, the SDGs are a unique opportunity for all sectors to rally around a common global agenda to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy a shared and durable prosperity.
The SDG Action Manager developed by B Lab and the UN Global Compact will enable your business to take action on the SDGs through 2030.
Take action. Track progress. Transform the world.
Learn which SDGs matter most to you based on your company profile, and how to take action today.
Get a clear view of how your operations, supply chain, and business model create positive impact, and identify risk areas for each SDG.
We have 10 years to achieve the SDGs. Stay motivated and visualize your progress on the dashboard.
Invite colleagues to join the SDG Action Manager, contribute expertise, and see real-time progress and performance.
Determine high-impact action based on thought-provoking yet actionable assessment questions, benchmarks, and improvement guides.
Join a global movement of companies working to build a better world for people and our planet by 2030.
As the destination for our world in 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals are a unique opportunity for us to rally around a common global agenda to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy a shared and durable prosperity. The SDG Action Manager was developed by B Lab and the UN Global Compact to help your company take action on the SDGs.
The SDG Action Manager is structured as a series of distinct modules consisting of approximately 25 questions, each tailored to the company based on size, sector, and geographic market. Each module features a series of questions to offer concrete actions for your company to improve your impact. Please answer each question to the best of your ability, engaging the relevant members of your team, if you don’t have an answer. Questions will include support texts explaining the question, defining terms, and providing additional resources for your reference.
When you’ve completed a module, review your performance to identify overall strengths and areas of improvement. Don’t focus on perfection – the questions are designed to be thorough and aspirational, and not all questions will be a perfect fit for your business. Use your performance report and specific questions to identify specific practices to implement and areas to improve. Finally, set goals to track progress and access the resources with each question by clicking on your performance to help guide your improvements.
You will start with a baseline module rooted in the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact and the Sustainable Development Goals that covers cross-cutting practices on human rights, labor, environmental management, and good governance.
Once you’ve completed the baseline module, your dashboard will include a list of suggested SDGs that research from the World Benchmarking Alliance indicates are the most relevant for your industry. While it is recommended you start with, and focus on, suggested SDGs, you may complete any SDG that you are interested in, once you have finished the baseline. We want you to explore the modules in a way that fits your company’s needs.
It is not recommended that you try to complete all modules in the SDG Action Manager. SDGs vary in relevance to your business. The purpose is to focus on the most relevant areas and to identify concrete actions your business can take to improve.
There are 16 SDG-specific modules that represent Sustainable Development Goals 1 through 16. Because of its transversal nature, SDG 17 actions relevant to businesses are embedded throughout the SDG Action Manager in the baseline and SDG-specific modules.
The SDG Action Manager is a living solution. Following launch in 2020, features will continue to be revised and added, along with updates to content and methodology, as needed.
The SDG Action Manager and B Lab’s B Impact Assessment were built to work in conjunction with one another. Your answers in one section can be transferred to the other; approximately 35 percent of the content overlaps.
The SDG Action Manager brings together B Lab’s B Impact Assessment, the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), to enable meaningful business action through dynamic self-assessment, benchmarking, and improvement. It is informed by the work and feedback of a range of stakeholders, including experts in corporate sustainability, civil society, UN, and academia; and it is inspired by the Certified B Corp community and participating companies of the UN Global Compact. To learn more, read the SDG Action Manager Technical Guide.
Built on the same platform as the B Impact Assessment (BIA), the SDG Action Manager enables users to connect their BIA’s comprehensive, stakeholder-based view with a more focused and deeper look at their performance on the SDGs. Some content in the SDG Action Manager comes from the BIA. Companies may benefit from both tools to understand and identify areas of improvement in their impact performance regardless of where they are on their journey on B Lab’s Impact Management Platform. When you sign up for the SDG Action Manager, your B Impact Assessment answers will automatically be transferred to the Action Manager to avoid redundant work on your part. If you change any answers on the SDG Action Manager, the changes will also be reflected in your B Impact Assessment (and vice versa). To learn more, see a comparison sheet HERE.
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