The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for an equitable future — peace and prosperity for all people and the planet. At its heart are the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries — developed and developing — in a global partnership. However, governments alone cannot achieve the SDGs.
Achieving the SDGs requires all countries and sectors (individuals, governments, the public sector, civil society, not-for-profit organizations and the private sector) to work together in new ways, to make the goals a reality. Creativity, knowledge, innovation and financial resources from all of society are needed to develop new solutions, business models, and ways of working and being, which support sustainability, regeneration, inclusion, equality and ultimately, achievement of the SDGs. As much as the SDGs need the private sector to realize the aspiration of the 2030 Agenda, increasingly the private sector also needs progress to be made on the SDGs in order to survive and to thrive in the future. Organizations depend on the ongoing viability and stability of environmental and social systems, which are increasingly under pressure. This is creating both risks and opportunities for organizations.
Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, wars and the increasing effects of climate change, the SDGs are more relevant at the time of publication of this document than when the SDGs were launched in 2015. It is easy to become discouraged by the many setbacks which hinder progress towards achieving the goals. Nevertheless, there have been extraordinary achievements. Between 2015 and 2022, the amount of people with internet access worldwide rose from 3,2 billion to 5,3 billion. Such improvements show how technology and innovation can be effective enablers for sustainable development and achievement of the SDGs. While there is still progress to be made, focus should be placed on what works and where public and private sector decisions can make the most difference. Wise and bold decisions with foresight matter. This document provides guidance on how an organization can manage and optimize its contribution to the SDGs and how it can embed sustainability into its operations and decision-making processes, thus giving organizations confidence that their contributions are performed in a holistic and systematic way. By actively managing how it contributes to the SDGs, an organization can optimize its impacts on interested parties and related SDG targets by minimizing negative impacts and maximizing positive ones, thereby strengthening organizational resilience and future performance. This document does not provide requirements for implementing a management system. An organization does not need to have a formal management system in place to use this document. However, organizations with a management system can find it useful to implement these guidelines within such a system. For that reason, this document is broadly aligned to the ISO Harmonized Structure for management system standards. This document includes guidance on: — setting ambitious impact objectives and targets, aligned with the relevant SDG targets and indicators where practicable, to optimize impacts on interested parties and contributions to the SDGs; — engaging with relevant interested parties to identify and prioritize actual and expected impacts, whether beneficial or adverse; — collecting data on actual and expected impacts;
— generating options that support innovation, and making informed choices between those options; — making decisions that take into account the risk tolerance and appetite of those experiencing the impacts of the organization’s decisions and activities; — understanding and managing trade-offs to increase impact at a rate commensurate with planetary needs, and to achieve the SDGs and meet the needs and expectations of those experiencing impacts. This document is intended to help shift an organization from SDG alignment to SDG action: from thinking about the SDGs as a mere “add-on”, to placing SDGs at the core of business operations. This document can assist organizations to better align business purpose, strategy and results with societal needs, and to shift expectations. It can help organizations to be more accountable for their impacts on people and the planet, while also strengthening business performance. It encourages organizations to explore different business models and new ways of working that accelerate innovation (e.g. by driving the development of new products, services and solutions that can lead to new customers and market opportunities) and allocate resources more effectively. Implementing the recommendations in this document can enable organizations to anticipate risks and opportunities related to sustainable development earlier and manage them better. This document can also help organizations to communicate more effectively with governments, regulators, NGOs, partners, investors and other interested parties, including those impacted most by the organization’s decisions and activities. It can also help organizations to meet the requirements and expectations of these aforementioned parties, in terms of the growing and various needs for disclosure, reporting and audit.

ISO/UNDP PAS 53002:2024 Guidelines for contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Resource Key: TXC64JA7

Document Type: Report

Creator:

Author:

  • ISO

Creators Name: {mb_resource_zotero_creatorsname}

Place: Geneva

Institution: ISO

Date: September 2024

Language: en

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for an equitable future — peace and prosperity for all people and the planet. At its heart are the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries — developed and developing — in a global partnership. However, governments alone cannot achieve the SDGs.
Achieving the SDGs requires all countries and sectors (individuals, governments, the public sector, civil society, not-for-profit organizations and the private sector) to work together in new ways, to make the goals a reality. Creativity, knowledge, innovation and financial resources from all of society are needed to develop new solutions, business models, and ways of working and being, which support sustainability, regeneration, inclusion, equality and ultimately, achievement of the SDGs. As much as the SDGs need the private sector to realize the aspiration of the 2030 Agenda, increasingly the private sector also needs progress to be made on the SDGs in order to survive and to thrive in the future. Organizations depend on the ongoing viability and stability of environmental and social systems, which are increasingly under pressure. This is creating both risks and opportunities for organizations.
Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, wars and the increasing effects of climate change, the SDGs are more relevant at the time of publication of this document than when the SDGs were launched in 2015. It is easy to become discouraged by the many setbacks which hinder progress towards achieving the goals. Nevertheless, there have been extraordinary achievements. Between 2015 and 2022, the amount of people with internet access worldwide rose from 3,2 billion to 5,3 billion. Such improvements show how technology and innovation can be effective enablers for sustainable development and achievement of the SDGs. While there is still progress to be made, focus should be placed on what works and where public and private sector decisions can make the most difference. Wise and bold decisions with foresight matter. This document provides guidance on how an organization can manage and optimize its contribution to the SDGs and how it can embed sustainability into its operations and decision-making processes, thus giving organizations confidence that their contributions are performed in a holistic and systematic way. By actively managing how it contributes to the SDGs, an organization can optimize its impacts on interested parties and related SDG targets by minimizing negative impacts and maximizing positive ones, thereby strengthening organizational resilience and future performance. This document does not provide requirements for implementing a management system. An organization does not need to have a formal management system in place to use this document. However, organizations with a management system can find it useful to implement these guidelines within such a system. For that reason, this document is broadly aligned to the ISO Harmonized Structure for management system standards. This document includes guidance on: — setting ambitious impact objectives and targets, aligned with the relevant SDG targets and indicators where practicable, to optimize impacts on interested parties and contributions to the SDGs; — engaging with relevant interested parties to identify and prioritize actual and expected impacts, whether beneficial or adverse; — collecting data on actual and expected impacts;
— generating options that support innovation, and making informed choices between those options; — making decisions that take into account the risk tolerance and appetite of those experiencing the impacts of the organization’s decisions and activities; — understanding and managing trade-offs to increase impact at a rate commensurate with planetary needs, and to achieve the SDGs and meet the needs and expectations of those experiencing impacts. This document is intended to help shift an organization from SDG alignment to SDG action: from thinking about the SDGs as a mere “add-on”, to placing SDGs at the core of business operations. This document can assist organizations to better align business purpose, strategy and results with societal needs, and to shift expectations. It can help organizations to be more accountable for their impacts on people and the planet, while also strengthening business performance. It encourages organizations to explore different business models and new ways of working that accelerate innovation (e.g. by driving the development of new products, services and solutions that can lead to new customers and market opportunities) and allocate resources more effectively. Implementing the recommendations in this document can enable organizations to anticipate risks and opportunities related to sustainable development earlier and manage them better. This document can also help organizations to communicate more effectively with governments, regulators, NGOs, partners, investors and other interested parties, including those impacted most by the organization’s decisions and activities. It can also help organizations to meet the requirements and expectations of these aforementioned parties, in terms of the growing and various needs for disclosure, reporting and audit.

Download Document