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The US Sustainable Development Goals - How Companies and U.S. Cities Are Leveraging the Goal to Maintain the Pace of Progress The nation’s leading think tanks, home to numerous scholars and policy wonks, including former officeholders (with many centers headquartered in Washington DC) focus on a variety of political, economic, cultural, environmental, science, and global issues and topics -- typically reflecting the points-of-view of their constituent base. These research/policy centers include Brookings, Cato, Heritage, American Progress, Center for Strategic and International Studies, RAND, Council on Foreign Relations, Pew, and American Enterprise. We certainly don’t mean to leave others out – we follow more than two dozen scholar centers that provide research results related to sustainability and good governance. The century-old Brookings Institution typically leans toward the “social liberal” views of the political spectrum on numerous societal issues, including governance, metropolitan policy, economics, social welfare, and foreign policy/global cooperation (there are five major research programs at Brookings). The organization stresses that the work is non-partisan; Brookings is among the most frequent of think tanks cited by media and the political community. Looking at the Corporate Sector Recently, we published the results of a year-long effort that analyzed a total of 1,387 Sustainability / ESG Reports that utilized the GRI’s G4 Framework and then linked them to the 169 SDG targets mapped in the SDG Compass (produced by the collaborators GRI, UN Global Compact and WBCSD). This study allowed us to analyze the activities of these sustainability reporters related to the SDG targets for 40 industries: https://www.ga-institute.com/ This week we present two interesting and timely Brookings Institution commentaries for you, both focused on the UN SDGs and the embrace of the goals by corporations, and by city managements across the United States. The scholars at Brookings (George Ingraham), 2U (Mai Nguyen) and Georgetown University School of Foreign Service (Milan Bala) teamed to examine 40 companies to provide a foundation of understanding of how companies are adopting the 17 SDGs, with interview with executives of 14 of the companies. Business enterprises, they found, go through a deliberative evolutionary process to make the link between mission and sustainability. This helps the leadership to “fit” the 17 SDGs with their 169 targets with their business or values case. Linking SDGs to the business case means (they say) maximizing growth opportunities and minimizing risk for 80 percent of the companies studied. There were three means of doing this: (1) Strategic Integration at the top, (2) Operational Integration and (3) Organizational Integration (throughout the enterprise). Here's the link to the study document from Georgetown University. Looking at the Public Sector There are highlights of the discussion and a video; discussion leaders represented New York City, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and Carnegie Mellon University’s Metro21 Smart Cities Institute. Important themes were explored: (1) cities are leading globally, becoming the standard bearers of American leadership as the Federal government’s sustainability efforts lag under the new administration, which is abandoning the landmark Paris Agreement; (2) cities are becoming more unified and their social fabric is unifying to deliver results on the SDG agenda; (3) no one is going to be left behind, a theme to help residents achieve the American Dream; (4) cities and municipalities are promoting innovation, leveraging the SDG themes; and, (5) best practices and outcomes are being shared as cities communicate their progress as city leaders “GSD” (they Get Stuff Done!). To demonstrate the synergy and interconnectedness of the SDGs, Brookings explains: “Policies meant to advance progress on climate change…must simultaneously address inequities and inequality of opportunity, helping to create peaceful, just and inclusive societies…” We present the two reports as our Top Stories for this week. This Week's Top Stories How corporations are approaching sustainability and the Global Goals US cities leading on the Sustainable Sustainability: Continuing Forward Momentum! The Biggest Sustainability Trend for 2019 Will Be … Policies Or Technology? The Key To A Sustainable Energy Future Plastic-free flights and blockchain offsets: The sustainability success stories of the week The sustainability movement has disappeared. Where did it go? Sustainability execs share strategies for new era of ESG disclosure How CSR Managers Can Inspire Other Leaders to Act on Sustainability California Giant’s sustainability plan progresses Fuel Efficiency, Safety, Sustainability are Top Challenges for Fleets Mammut joins the Sustainable Apparel Coalition Sustainable Packaging Startup TemperPack Raises $22.5 Million To Take On Styrofoam Resolutions: The CFDA Wants Designers to Focus on Sustainability, Body Positivity, Diversity and Equality in 2019
United States: 2019 Proxy Season – Quick Reference Guide Top CEOs Place High Value On Corporate Ethics And Social Responsibility To Drive Business U.S. Carbon Emissions Surged in 2018 Even as Coal Plants Closed Survey Highlights Corporate Governance Trends of Silicon Valley 150, S&P 100 Companies
France presses Renault over executive compensation paid via Dutch holding company Harley-Davidson’s first all-electric motorcycle is coming August 2019, will cost $29,799 27 Meet LiveWire Supreme Court rejects Exxon Mobil appeal in climate case Study: Coca-Cola Shaped China's Efforts To Fight Obesity
News & Opinion: Asset Managers, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Pension Funds San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System Becomes Major ESG Force
Editorial: America can save itself, but we have to get out of the red vs. blue rut Former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan thinks the Ocasio-Cortez 70% tax plan is ‘a terrible idea’ Leading With Ethics | New Governance & Accountability
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G&A Institute Sustainability Update™ Have You Tuned in to The Green New Deal? The “GND”? — You’d Better! ________________________________________
________________________________________ _________________________________________ Louis Coppola from G&A Institute Goes In Depth on How to Improve ESG Performance
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_________________________________________ FLASH REPORT: 85% of S&P 500 Index® Companies Publish Sustainability Reports in 2017
________________________________________ GRI'S USA, UK & IRELAND
G&A Institute is the Data Partner for the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) in the USA, UK and Republic of Ireland. We identify, receive, collect, analyze, database, and communicate about every report issued in any of the 3 countries. Over the past 6+ years, G&A analyzed 6,000-plus sustainability reports in this pro bono role and databased 100+ important data points for each report. Find out more @ G&A's What's A Data Partner_________________________________________
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The Sustainability Highlights eNewsletter is prepared by Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. based on continuous monitoring of trends and developments in Sustainability and ESG. Governance & Accountability Instiute is the "Sustainability Headquarters™" for clients in the corporate, investment, public and social sectors. Based in New York, G&A is a for-profit consulting organization providing a range of value-added strategies, services and resources related to ESG & sustainability to clients in the corporate and capital markets communities.For G&A's full range of services, click on each of the links below: For more information, contact Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. (New York, New York) | ||||||||||||||||
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