Why Ambitious Sustainability Goals Are Vital for Our Future

Setting eco-friendly goals is a continuous process. Leaders must keep an open mind to update their sustainability strategies to match emerging trends continually.

It’s critical to understand why ambitious sustainability goals are vital. The following are some of the most important factors that drive this imperative:

They Create Opportunities

As more companies set ambitious sustainability goals, they can create new opportunities for themselves and their communities. They can accelerate climate positivity in production, lead a circular economy in plastics, shape the future of work, or build stronger relationships with consumers. These efforts will allow them to grow their brands, attract employees and investors, and drive growth.

But setting and delivering on ambitious sustainability goals is only part of the equation. To succeed, a business must also be prepared to collaborate with various partners, including peers and industry organizations, customers, governments, and other stakeholders.

To make the most of these partnerships, businesses must consider aligning sustainability initiatives with corporate priorities and strategies. Often, leaders must reconcile competing goals, like balancing short-term profit maximization with long-term value creation. They must also understand that the right balance of sustainability practices can produce profound results.

For example, a company might measure its success in eliminating waste by comparing its progress with its competitors. It might also track progress through metrics, such as pounds of waste recycled over time or kilowatts saved in a given month. It’s important that these metrics are meaningful for a specific company and its customers but that they’re also benchmarked with regular updates.

They Build Trust

Companies that fail to set ambitious sustainability goals risk losing their operating license. They also face the challenge of balancing value creation and purpose.

Achieving Sustainable Development Goals can help businesses drive growth and secure their ability to create social, financial, and manufactured capital over the long term. This is particularly important given the growing risks to natural, social, and economic capital posed by climate change, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, rising energy costs, and poverty.

Setting ambitious sustainability targets is essential for progress toward the SDGs. However, these goals need to be science-based and context-driven to maximize impact. This often involves challenging assumptions and tackling challenges, including reducing emissions, switching to renewable energy sources, conserving water, increasing recycling rates, or addressing waste management.

Identifying and taking action on these challenges can deliver powerful impacts and benefits. These include generating revenue, providing business growth opportunities, and stimulating innovation in products and services. SDG-related efforts can also reduce company risks, such as supply chain instability and reputational damage.

Companies must address the interconnected challenges of our time, such as a cost of living crisis, human rights violations, rising inequality, and climate change. These issues are not only a threat to our planet but our very way of life. Every positive action, no matter how small, makes a difference.

They Strengthen Communities

Many institutions and processes that foster cooperation fail in a world of division. With setbacks like COVID-19 amplifying public discontent, it is more vital than ever that we reframe how we tackle global challenges and find new ways to make Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) work for everyone.

The key to success is leveraging the power of people and communities as change agents. Creating an ambitious purpose-led agenda rooted in a community’s values and needs, facilitated by local multistakeholder partnerships, can catalyze new momentum for change.

However, such efforts must be managed in two phases: emergence and acceleration. This requires proactively managing how the innovation is introduced and adopted and compensating those who resist the shift toward a more sustainable mode of operation. To be successful, the emergence and acceleration process requires not just innovative technologies but also building system coalitions and a supportive regulatory framework from policymakers.

They Drive Change

Ambitious sustainability goals are vital because they help companies radically change their operations and products. Leaders must start by understanding whether their organizations are currently green or not so they can identify areas for improvement. Leaders can also learn from competitors who have gone green to see the best methods.

Once leaders set realistic targets they can measure, they should set a timeline for meeting those goals. Having a timeline can make those goals more manageable and creates a sense of urgency that helps motivate teams to take action. Metrics can include how many pounds of waste were diverted from the landfill or how many kilowatts of energy were saved over time. Leaders can even hold a recurring team meeting to discuss these metrics and to keep up the momentum toward the sustainability goal.

Lastly, leadership must create a culture of change. Employees who can see that their bosses care about the environment are more likely to become advocates for a company. Leaders can encourage their teams by hosting eco-friendly events like vegetarian lunches or company-wide presentations. Leaders should also reward employees who take steps toward meeting sustainability goals.

Ultimately, ambitious sustainability goals are essential because environmental degradation and climate change threaten global prosperity. Failing to address these threats will exacerbate health inequalities, deplete natural resources, and push millions into extreme poverty.