Sustainable Development Goals in Corporate Reporting: What Matters to Investors?

Ten Recommendations to Meet Investor Needs in SDG Reporting

UNITED NATIONS, New York, 17 July 2018 — Ten recommendations intended to stimulate more investment in sustainable business solutions to help advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were published today at the SDG Business Forum by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and the United Nations Global Compact. The recommendations focus on how corporate reporting on the SDGs can best address investors’ information needs to help mobilize sustainable finance needed for the achievement of the SDGs. The three entities represent the world’s leading organizations in the areas of sustainability reporting, corporate responsibility and responsible investing.

The 17 SDGs, adopted by 193 Members States at the United Nations in 2015, provide a shared framework to address the world’s most urgent sustainability challenges. Achieving the SDGs requires commitment not only from Governments and companies, but also from investors. It is estimated that by 2030, a total of US$90 trillion is needed to achieve the SDGs. Mobilizing this capital will require businesses to report on their actions to advance the Global Goals in a way that helps investors make informed decisions, directing resources towards investments with positive real-world impacts.

“The globally agreed SDGs are an articulation of the world’s most pressing environmental, social and economic issues. As such, they act as a definitive list of the material factors that investors should consider as part of their fiduciary duty,” says Fiona Reynolds, CEO of PRI.

There is also a strong business case for investing in opportunities aligned with the SDGs, and the benefits of meaningful sustainability disclosures are well established. The publication released today, In Focus: Addressing Investor Needs in Business Reporting on the SDGs, provides guidance to businesses on how to better ensure their SDG-related disclosures are useful for investors.

Says Tim Mohin, Chief Executive at GRI: “Investors want to see balanced reporting that showcases a company’s targets and progress against the SDGs. Companies should consider risk factors and impacts on people and the society in a focused manner and strive to put out concise, consistent, current and comparable data.”

In 2017, GRI and the UN Global Compact established a joint initiative to help businesses to measure and manage their impacts on the SDGs. This new publication on the investor angle of SDG reporting is the latest achievement of this effort. “There is a need for bold leadership from business to realize the SDGs, an ambitious agenda which seeks to transform our world by 2030. We hope this report will support businesses in their efforts to reach investors and help mobilize the sustainable finance needed for the achievement of the SDGs, paving the path to a world where no one is left behind,” says Lise Kingo, CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact.

The new report complements an earlier publication titled An Analysis of the Goals and Targets (2017). Later this year it will be followed by another report, Integrating the SDGs into Corporate Reporting: A Practical Guide. The report launched today is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. It is available for download here.

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Press contacts

UN Global Compact
Dan Thomas
Chief, Communications
Tel: +1 646-884-7511 | Mobile: +1 917-225-1913
Email: thomas@unglobalcompact.org

GRI
Peter Paul van de Wijs
Chief Communications Officer
Tel: +31 20 531 0000 | Mobile: +31 6 2313 2463
Email: vandewijs@globalreporting.org

Principles for Responsible Investment
Joy Frascinella, Head of PR
Tel: +44 20 3714 3143 | mobile: +44 (0)7415725244
Email: joy.frascinella@unpri.org

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About the United Nations Global Compact 

The United Nations Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and to take action in support of UN goals and issues embodied in the Sustainable Development Goals. The UN Global Compact is a leadership platform for the development, implementation and disclosure of responsible corporate practices. Launched in 2000, it is the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world, with more than 9,500 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and more than 70 Local Networks. For more information, follow @globalcompact and visit www.unglobalcompact.org.

About GRI

GRI is an international independent organization that has pioneered corporate sustainability reporting since 1997. GRI helps businesses, governments and other organizations understand and communicate the impact of business on critical sustainability issues such as climate change, human rights, corruption and many others. With thousands of reporters in over 100 countries, GRI provides the world’s most trusted and widely used standards on sustainability reporting, enabling organizations and their stakeholders to make better decisions based on information that matters. Currently, over 50 countries and regions reference GRI in their policies. GRI is built upon a unique multi-stakeholder principle, which ensures the participation and expertise of diverse stakeholders in the development of its standards. GRI’s mission is to empower decision-makers everywhere, through its standards and multi-stakeholder network, to take action towards a more sustainable economy and world. The GRI Standards are the first global standards for sustainability reporting. They feature a modular, interrelated structure, and represent the global best practice for reporting on a range of economic, environmental and social impacts.

About the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)

The PRI works with its international network of signatories to put the six Principles for Responsible Investment into practice. Its goals are to understand the investment implications of environmental, social and governance issues and to support signatories in integrating these issues into investment and ownership decisions. The six Principles were developed by investors and are supported by the UN. They are voluntary and aspirational, offering a menu of possible actions for incorporating ESG issues into investment practices. In implementing the Principles, signatories contribute to developing a more sustainable global financial system. More information: www.unpri.org