Are the Sustainable Development Goals Beyond Measure?
ACCORDING TO SDG WATCH EUROPE, the 100 indicators used to keep track of the performance towards the SDGs ara inadequate.
THE SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRY BAROMETER WILL FILL THE GAP WITH data ON THE sustainability level and maturity of European industry federations
JOIN THE SDG SUMMIT 2020 TO HEAR FROM LEADING INDUSTRY FEDERATIONS LIKE EUROPEAN ALUMINIUM AND CEFIC HOW THEY ARE MAINSTREAMING SUSTAINABILITY
Like sailors in a storm look at the North Star to avoid getting lost, so European leaders look at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to steer us away from this corona world, away from this fragility, away from uncertainty.
As we are changing the way we treat nature, the way we produce and consume, live, and work, can we trust the progresses made towards the SDGs? In other words, the indicators we use to track our performance on the SDGs are reliable? The answer, as suggested by the latest SDG monitoring report published by SDG Watch Europe, is no.
According to SDG Watch Europe, the 100 SDG indicators currently used by Eurostat to measure progresses towards the SDGs ignore key sustainability challenges, such as poverty and inequality, and reflect political priorities. As a result, “claiming that the EU is fast approaching sustainability is, to a good degree, an illusion”.
In this context, the European Pact for Sustainable Industry offers a valid support to implement a comprehensive, inclusive, and transparent SDG monitoring and reporting process.
How? With the Sustainable Industry Barometer. This instrument will provide data on the sustainability level and maturity of European industry federations. Industry Federations have a key role in supporting companies in implementing sustainable business models and improving their performance in sustainability. In this sense, the Barometer will provide complimentary data to the one used by Eurostat for its annual report on the EU progress on the SDGs.
At the European SDG Summit 2020, CSR Europe will showcase some of the industry federations’ success stories in developing and integrating sustainability into the overall business strategy.
European Aluminium will present the sets of objectives and targets of its “Sustainability Roadmap towards 2025” to enable Europe’s transition to a low carbon, resource-efficient and circular economy.
European Aluminium has succeeded in securing over time mutual trust between members. This is reflected in the federation’s long history of sustainability reporting and efforts to promptly respond to the increasing pressure from the market, policymakers, and stakeholders.
These efforts confirmed the key role played by the federation as aggregator, spokesperson, and facilitator, driving companies towards a sustainable recovery.
The European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) will explain how it came to develop the Sustainability Charter and how it will strive to improve the livelihood of over 9 billion people within the planetary boundaries by 2050 with the Responsible Care® programme. In this respect CEFIC succeeded in identifying existing and future sustainability challenges, confirming its leadership in driving the European chemical industry closer to the 2015 Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Sustainability Charter of 2016 puts the vision of the chemical industry into operation, defining a pathway to sustainability and providing a framework for collective action. Later on, in 2018, the chemical industry teamed up with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) to “explore, articulate and help realise the potential of the chemical sector to leverage its influence and innovation to contribute to the SDG agenda”. From this collaborative action, the Chemical Sector SDG Roadmap was created.
Throughout the SDG Summit 2020, we will highlight how despite the peculiarities of each industry sector, success depends on the ability of the federation to cooperate in partnership with others.
For more information:
SDG Summit Opening Plenary on the Pact