The UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were approved at the last United Nations General Assembly. Called an action plan “of the people, by the people and for the people”, it will influence corporate strategy between now and 2030.
These SDGs focus on Corporate Sustainability, and therefore they will have a significant impact on supply chain management globally.
Here are our 5 steps to help you follow these SDGs:
Understand them, and commit to them
Arrange SDG training for management and employees, and encourage initiatives to raise awareness in your supply chain. This will help all stakeholders to understand and commit to the goals.
Review the current situation
Take a look at your current supply chain processes, and the organisations in your supply chain – looking for alignment or divergence from the SDG recommendations. This will help you to build an SDG implementation plan relevant to you.
Learn more about how we can help manage environmental sustainability in your supply chain
Set objectives
As the United Nations Global Compact Network explained in the last Audit Working Group, the SDGs require commitment from every department across your organisation.
Establish internal goals and create a public SDG strategy with objectives and commitments that are relevant to your organisation. See the Deloitte report “2030 Purpose: Good business and better future” for examples of how large companies have already established their own strategies for achieving these sustainable development goals.
Extend the targets into your supply chain
The best way to apply your updated strategy across your supply chain, is to introduce key initiatives such as in-depth training for suppliers and a transparent reporting process for instances of non-compliance in the supply chain.
Supplier audits are an essential tool for assessing your supply chain, and for you to be confident that your suppliers are complying with the SDGs.
Communicate and report
Make your Sustainability reporting readily available – include it on your website and in corporate communications, as well as in a specific SDG report.
Want to know more? Don’t miss this article on detecting and eliminating modern slavery in the supply chain.
