What the Sustainable Development Goals mean to Change by Degrees
What the Sustainable Development Goals mean to Change by Degrees
This week, September 20th – September 26th, Ireland is hosting its first Sustainable Development Goal Week. This provides an opportunity to reflect on the purpose of the SDGs, how we can contribute to them, what progress we are making towards the vision they present of a more prosperous, peaceful, and healthy future for all.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were designed with the aim of producing a set of universal goals which could meet the urgent environmental, political, social and economic challenges being faced globally.
According to the Sustainable Development Report 2022, Ireland ranks 10th in 2022 Global SDG Index ranking and score – so we have much to be proud of. However, there is more work needed in to be done on certain SDGs within Ireland. According to Measuring Progress: Economy, Society and Environment in Ireland Report, we are stagnating in our progress for SDG 17 Partnerships or Goals and SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities. We are moderately improving on several SDGs including; SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities, SDG 14 Life Below Water, SDG 2 Zero Hunger, SDG 13 Climate Action and SDG 3 Good Health and Wellbeing. If we want to make positive impact and changes, more targeted effort in the lagging SDGs will be required.
Change by Degrees believes the SDGs are key to successful global action on sustainability. We help clients understand the relevance of the SDGs to their business and how their sustainability strategy and ambitions can align and positively contribute to this international agenda.
As a company we have mapped our actions to the SDGs. We contribute directly to SDG 17: Partnerships for Change and SDG 4: Quality Education and indirectly to all 17 SDGs through the work we do with our clients. We report on our progress towards SDGs 4 and 17 on our website and through our role as European Climate Pact Ambassadors and our Climate Pact Pledge. We recently published our first annual progress report on our Pledge.
We have helped and worked with clients like Mannok, Codec and An Post with mapping their actions to the SDGs. Similarly, with the Irish Development Education Association we ran a series of workshops on the SDGs, which helped organisations in the private sector think and develop new ideas and ways of working using the SDGs as a framework to support their commitment to sustainability. 100% of the participants surveyed from this workshop stated that they were likely to apply their learning from the workshop to their own practice, demonstrating the accessibility and potential of the SDGs for positive change.
This week, why don’t you see how you can contribute to the SDGs? The Irish government has suggested events and activities which you could participate in. If you are participating in an SDG related action, why not register it on the Global Map of SDG Actions.
We’re a team of dedicated experts who provide organisations with the inspiration, skills and tools they need to be thriving, purpose driven and sustainable. If your business needs help to understand what the SDGs mean for you and how to benchmark your actions against this internationally recognised framework, please get in touch info@changebydegrees.com.
Roisin O’Neill Project and Business Intelligence Manager roisin@changebydegrees.com