Sustainability: A Business Case for Adoption

A central focus of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is poverty elimination. However, given that poverty is both an input and outcome of our present economic system, there appears to be a contradiction in the expectation for businesses to operationalize the SDGs. The business focus on financial return, which defines fiduciary responsibility, has eliminated the inclusion of social and environmental parameters in decision-making, except when constrained by regulation. This discussion highlights the relationship between the United Nations Global Compact as an SDG integration tool for businesses and the use of corporate social responsibility reporting (CSR) and the environmental, social, and governance attribution (ESG), as business marketing channels to promote sustainability branding. The discussion surfaces the superficiality of present sustainability reporting with a review of the inclusion of the SDGs in the sustainability platforms of the top 10 companies listed in the Fortune 500. The findings are provided along with a suggested catalyst, sustainability marketing, to facilitate business sector transition and adoption of SDGs as parameters in business as usual.