Every country in the Caribbean region has a critical role to play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
While there has been some progress, the overall achievement rate is not meeting the necessary targets.
The private sector's engagement is essential, as it forms an integral part of the regional economic system.
Yet current contributions and commitments from listed companies in the Caribbean fall short of expectations. This gap in contribution is reflective of broader challenges in transforming business practices and integrating sustainability, as highlighted by Mariana Mazzucato's analysis in the Transformational Change in Latin America and the Caribbean report for the Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean (ECLAC).
According to Mazzucato, the Latin America and Caribbean region would benefit significantly from adopting a mission-oriented approach to its industrial and innovation strategies.
This involves catalysing cross-sectoral investment and innovation towards solving key goals, such as health for all, reducing the digital divide and achieving net-zero emissions across the production system.
The report emphasises the necessity for countries in the region to leverage the SDGs as a guiding framework for economic policy, focusing on overcoming structural challenges and transforming them into opportunities for sustainable growth.
Strategies for the sustainability transition
Embedding sustainability into corporate strategies is more than an ethical choice. It is now a strategic imperative for long-term business resilience and success.
The Embedded Strategies for the Sustainability Transition guidebook, by Stephanie Bertels and Rylan Dobson, outlines a comprehensive framework for companies to realign their operations and strategies with the goals of systems resilience and sustainability. This involves recognising that businesses are part of a larger system and must operate within the environmental, social and economic thresholds that define system resilience.
The guide outlines three main iterative steps for developing embedded sustainability strategies:
Scan
This step involves gathering data on relevant political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental (PESTLE) forces, their underlying systemic drivers and interactions between them. Companies should explore key systems thresholds to identify issues particularly relevant to them, those requiring urgent action and those that should be monitored continuously.
This process extends beyond tracking potential regulatory shifts to include a comprehensive understanding of systemic trends and their implications in the company's unique operating context.
Understand
In this step, companies should deepen their understanding of how particular issues may affect their business, how their activities may directly or indirectly affect relevant environmental, social and economic systems and stakeholders' perceptions of key system thresholds.
This involves consulting with employees, communities, r
