Driver Trett Digest Issue 26 - Flipbook - Page 22
WHAT IS
CORPORATE
SUSTAINABILITY?
Vincent Fogarty
Vice Managing Director of Diales Technical
London, UK
The United Nations (UN)
defines sustainable
development as ‘development
which meets the needs
of the present without
compromising the ability
of future generations to
meet their own needs’1’ It
recognises that organisations
can affect the economy,
environment and people
through their activities and
business relationships,
making negative or positive
contributions to sustainable
development. In 2015, all
UN Member States adopted
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,2 which
provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity
for people and the planet, now and into the future.
At its heart are 17 Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) shown in Figure 1, which are an urgent call
for action by all developed and developing countries
in a global partnership. They recognise 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.
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Figure 1. UN Sustainable Development Goals
1. United Nations Brundtland Commission (1987).
Report of the World Commission on Environment and
Development: Our Common Future Towards Sustainable
Development 2. Part II. Common Challenges Population
and Human Resources 4. [online] Available at: http://www.
un-documents.net/our-common-future.pdf.
2. United Nations (2015). Transforming Our World: the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development | Department
of Economic and Social Affairs. [online] United Nations.
Available at: https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda.
