The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, launched in September 2015, were agreed in 2015 by more than 190 governments with the aim to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all.
Business interest in the SDGs has been high since their launch, with the retail sector probably furthest ahead. Most CEOs in the business community have now heard of them – and according to one study, 71% of CEOs have started to plan how they will respond to them. For some companies, the SDGs have become central to their sustainability discussion.
Compared to other sectors, we’ve found that the uptake hasn’t been as swift among construction and property companies. But a few companies have clearly noticed the opportunities the SDGs present, and are acting accordingly.
These companies feature as some of the ‘sector leaders’ in our new guide to the SDGs for the built environment: Build a better future: the built environment and the Sustainable Development Goals.
They have noticed that the goals don’t just make environmental sense, they also make business sense. We explain more about this business case in our new guide, as well as share why they matter, and how they relate to the built environment sector. We also provide some practical tips on how to get started.
Built environment companies are struggling to get to grips with the Sustainable Development Goals. So we've created an easy-to-digest guide with practical advice on how to get started. Let's build a better future together
Download PDFIt’s also great to see that the Building Research Establishment (BRE) has mapped the SDGs against the BREEAM standards and created a graphic for download. It plans to evolve the BREEAM family of standards and tools so that they enable significant contributions towards meeting the SDGs.
Get started on the SDGs
In her latest blog, our CEO Sue Riddlestone calls for the built environment sector to play its essential role in delivering on our climate change targets and making it easy to live and work in a sustainable way.
Get started on building a better future by downloading our new guide today!
Are you using the SDGs? Let us know on Twitter using #ImWithTheSDGs. See which other companies made pledges to use the goals at ecobuild 2018.
As we launch our new guide providing practical tips on how the built environment sector can get started on the SDGs, our CEO Sue Riddlestone OBE calls for the sector to play its essential role in building a better future
As the Global Engineering Congress kicks off this week as part of the Institution of Civil Engineers’ bicentenary, Hayley Baines-Buffery quizzed Davide Stronati about the built environment’s crucial role in implementing the SDGs
Anthony Probert argues that there is still a compelling case to create zero carbon homes, despite the government scrapping legislation