SDGs and Business: Our Sustainable Future

The Hoffmann Institute is raising awareness of the SDGs at INSEAD and beyond

When we invited Paul Polman to speak in October 2018 at The Force for Good Conference, we did not expect his speech to resonate as much as it did. Paul Polman received a standing ovation on that day for showing there are trillions of dollars to be unlocked in embracing the SDGs.

This message has shaped the conversation led by the Hoffmann Institute around the idea that business education should align with the aspirational global goals found in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs.

The SDGs is the common name for the 17 goals agreed in the  2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, the SDGs are a blueprint for peace and prosperity for all people and the planet. They are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing.

The SDGs recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests. The SDGs are the result of decades of work by government leaders, civil society and the United Nations.

Today, the Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG) in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) provides substantive support and capacity-building for the SDGs. To make the 2030 Agenda a reality, broad ownership of the SDGs must translate into strong commitment by all stakeholders to implement the global goals.

To see more about the work that led to the agreement of the SDGs and see more info about each of the individual SDGs, please visit the UN on the web at https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs.

Paul Polman has called the SDGs the biggest business plan that we're sitting on from any perspective. At INSEAD, we want to make sure that our graduates and our community understand the SDGs and what they mean for the future of business and society. On March 18, he opened our SDGs Speaker Series on INSEAD Singapore campus with a full house and an inspirational address to INSEAD community!

To learn more about how INSEAD is educating about the SDGs and contributing to the achievement of the SDGs, watch this space. From partnering on the SDG Tent in Davos alongside the 2019 World Economic Forum to our SDG Bootcamp and the SDGs Speaker Series running throughout 2019, INSEAD is committed to raising awareness about the SDGs at the school and beyond.

INSEAD is actively equipping our graduates and today’s business leaders with the knowledge needed to point their organizations – and indeed the world – on a path toward more sustainable, more inclusive and more responsible development.