On September 25, 2015, world leaders, meeting at the United Nations General Assembly, adopted a set of global goals aimed at eradicating poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring prosperity for all. 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been set, for each of them, specific objectives have been detailed and must be achieved within 15 years. In this way, we would try to respect the ambitious 2030 Agenda. Discover elEconomista Sustainable investment and ESG, the “green” portal of elEconomista.es.
We found the seed of the SDGs a few years ago, in 2000, when the UN launched its embryo, what became known as the Millennium Goals. This left only eight human development goals to be achieved by 2015.
The updating and expansion of these purposes gave rise to the creation of the 17 SDGs, which also have the particularity that in their construction, beyond governments, the companies had a very significant weight.
The 17 SDGs are: 1. End of poverty; 2. zero hunger; 3. Health and wellness; 4. Quality education; 5. Gender equality; 6. Drinking water and sanitation; 7. Affordable, non-polluting energy; 8. Decent work and economic growth; 9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure; 10. Reduction of inequalities; 11. Sustainable cities and communities; 12. Responsible production and consumption; 13. Climate action; 14. underwater life; 15. Life of terrestrial ecosystems; 16. Peace, justice and strong institutions; 17. Alliances for goals.
Overlapping goals
Given the large number of objectives, it is not surprising that in some cases they overlap; For example, number 13, Climate actionis intrinsically linked to points 14 and 15 (referring to underwater life and ecosystem protection respectively).
In 2017, to help make progress, the United Nations issued a resolution that identified specific goals for each objectiveand proposed indicators to measure progress toward each goal. Even though the key year to achieve is 2030, some goals have no deadline.
A study carried out by PwC in 2019 found that 78% of Spanish companies mention the SDGs in their annual reports, and that those addressed with the most importance by companies were 13 (Climate action), 8 (decent work), the 5th (Gender equality), 4 and 17 (related to education and alliances).
From an investor perspective, the SDGs have in recent years provided a useful common framework for understanding What is the objective of your investment fund. It helps managers communicate the specific issues their vehicle impacts. It is common to see sustainable thematic products whose investment universe is limited, for example, to listed companies which contribute through their activity to SDG 6 (Drinking water and sanitation) or 14 (underwater life), to give some examples. Also read: dWhere the most sustainable Spanish funds are concentrated.
This, at a time when 35% of investment fund assets in Spain are already sustainable. Thematic funds are precisely one of the most common options for getting started with investing based on environmental, social and good governance (ESG) criteria: the vast majority of Article 9 funds use the SDGs to achieve their investment objectives.
