In 2015 the governments of all 192 UN member states agreed on 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which sets out a 15-year plan to achieve the goals.
In 2019 the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, reported at the SDG summit that the world has made progress towards its destination of opportunity for all and a healthy planet but that “we are far from where we need to be. We are off track.”
By one estimate, we will not achieve the goals as agreed in the next eight years, but may be some 52 years off track, even before covid19 hit: “At the 2019 rate of progress, it would be 2082 before all SDGs are realised – and that was before covid19, which is likely to set back progress by at least another ten years” (World Benchmarking Alliance, quoting 2020 Social Progress Index results).
In fact, the World Benchmarking Alliance finds in 2021 “not one country on track to meet all SDGs by 2030.”
One report published in October 2021, the Production Gap report, which examines the gap between current plans by governments for the fossil fuel energy sector with those that would be consistent with the climate ambitions under the Paris Agreement 1.5 or 2°C increase, finds that recent national energy plans and projections lead, in aggregate, to 110 per cent more fossil fuels in 2030 for 1.5°C increase and 45 per cent more than what would be consistent for 2°C (and by 2040 the excessive growth is 190 per cent and 89 per cent respectively).
[caption id="attachment_920585" align="alignnone" width="935"] - Source: 2021 Production Gap Report[/caption]
Standards and assurance are necessary
Three things are certain – the world’s problems are real and increasing, companies have awoken to the fact that there are great risks for laggards as well as great opportunities for agile and connected companies, and reliable information is key for decision-making.
At the level of their global headquarters, the “big four” auditing firms have not only recognised this, but are also banking on it by investing vast amounts to ready themselves to provide assurance beyond financial values – preparing to include assurance on non-financial value contributions to sustainable development.
Improved data, information, and audits will be absolute necessities. All development signs point in one direction: a path involving performance beyond financial and minimum levels towards maximum contributions to sustainability, regulation, and assurance. The days in which governments, investment funds and companies can get away with greenwashing based on declarations and glossy reports full of "giving back" activities, and pledging support for cherry-picked SDGs and vague assertions of good governance are going to come to a rapid end.
How to get beyond ‘blah, blah’
The world’s youth, including Greta Thunberg, are losing patience with continued "constructive dialogue." At the recent Youth4Climate conference, Ms Thunberg warned of "creative carbon accounting" and criticised world leaders for engagi
