Sustainable Stakeholder Relations

UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17 demands “partnerships for the goal” and revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development. The conviction is that sustainability can only be achieved by global partnership. On an organizational level, this can be best achieved by establishing or repurposing stakeholder relations for sustainability—internally and externally along the life cycle. Sustainable life cycle stakeholder relations are a prerequisite for holistic and efficient progress towards sustainability. The intention is to establish information and material flows as well as partnerships between the life cycle stakeholders. Fostering acceptance by and support from all stakeholders for sustainability initiatives or transformations (e.g. unions/employees, society/customers, investors) is crucial. Negative reactions or instances/news that could damage the reputation of the organization (e.g. in the supply chain) must be avoided. This chapter describes a systematic approach that (1) identifies relevant stakeholders, (2) establishes an enabling operating environment in the own organization and (3) implements sustainable transformation. This chapter focusses on three areas. First, opportunities for sustainability in employee relationships are described in terms of a more sustainable work force and fostering employee engagement in sustainability. Second, investors and the finance sector as key external stakeholders beyond immediate life cycle stakeholders already covered in Chapters 5 , 7 , and 8 are considered. These parties are key in supporting the required transformation towards sustainability. Lastly, the importance of external advocacy in shaping the regulatory environment towards more enabling frameworks is considered.