What Business Models Best Suit the Private Sector in Achieving the SDGs

Since the United Nations Sustainable development goals and the 2030 agenda were initiated in 2015, it has provided governments with a comprehensive blueprint to take action and meet the challenges of the world’s most pressing issues today. But the private sector also plays a large role in contributing to the problems highlighted in the SDGs and companies ranging from many different industries have increasingly become more involved in developing new and innovative solutions to solve the issues highlighted in the SDGs. Social and environmental accountability has been one of the areas that the private sector has been focusing its attention on. Companies in the corporate sector across all industries have adopted Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) regulations and targets, that aim to ensure ethical responsibility within private companies and promote transparency about their role in promoting social and environmental well-being across the world. This has allowed many companies to align their values and business models to emphasize the importance of the SDGs. Furthermore, innovative technologies are being utilized to ensure that public reports about the company’s practices are fully accountable and transparent to the public community and the overall private sector. For example, some private companies are using Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence to analyze sustainable practices highlighted in the company’s ESG reports and see if they are genuine and free of greenwashing. This shows that technologies are playing a key role in promoting corporate accountability in terms of sustainability and encouraging private companies to adhere to the guidelines highlighted within the SDGs. Furthermore, private companies have adapted their business models to better promote innovations and collaboration with governments, other private companies as well as NGOs. Since the SDGs were designed to be interconnected and not siloed into their own different challenges, many companies who adopt the SDGs as a major sustainability framework will often develop partnerships and connections with other private sector groups so that they could develop new innovative solutions to meet the challenges posed by current global issues. This is especially prevalent in the clean energy sector, which aims to solve SDG 7 and SDG 13 both important in eradicating the issue of climate change. For example, the solar energy private sector has been currently collaborating with a wide range of universities and research institutions in order to develop solar panels that are more energy efficient and affordable for everyday consumers, while still allowing the private companies to generate significant returns in revenue. When private sector Industries adopt the measures highlighted in the SDGs, not only does it allow them to work with other industries to contribute to combating the world’s most pressing issues, but also maintains and improves their sources of revenue and profit. Overall, in order to meet the world’s most pressing challenges and issues, the private sector has increasingly adopted the SDGs in their business models, so that they would be able to better collaborate with others to develop innovative solutions and to bridge commitment to sustainable development throughout different industries.

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