(Finance) – Il 70% of European companies claims to have one in-depth knowledge of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set byAgenda 2030and 60% of them actively integrate them into their business strategies, with a particular focus on gender equality, decent work and the fight against climate change. This is what emerges from the report “European Private Sector SDG Stocktake 2024“, created by European networks of the United Nations Global Compact and presented during the UN General Assembly week in New York. The relationship involved 1,422 companies based in ten European countriesincluding Italy, France, Spain and the United Kingdom, to measure companies’ commitment to integrating the Global Goals into their operations.
European companies demonstrate that they are aware of the crucial role of the SDGs not only for improve corporate sustainability, but also to deal with increasingly stringent regulations at European level, such as the new directive Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). 87% of companies subject to CSRD say they will explicitly refer to the SDGs in their sustainability reports. However, the report highlights a critical point: despite widespread commitment, only 39% of European companies have integrated the SDGs into their operational processes, and less than a third have set specific, measurable, time-bound goals to monitor their progress systematically.
In Italy, 88% of companies say they have a good understanding of the SDGsand among those who have developed a sustainability strategy, 72% have already integrated the Global Goals into their plan. The goals that most Italian businesses focus on include SDG 15 (life on land), SDG 3 (health and well-being for all) and SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions). The majority of Italian businesses welcomed the introduction of the CSRD welcoming decree, with 83% planning to include references to the SDGs in their sustainability reports.
However, as in the rest of Europe, it remains in Italy too a certain difficulty in measuring the contribution of companies to the SDGs: only 43% of companies use specific and measurable performance indicators, while 46% limit themselves to simple KPIs without defined time objectives. Furthermore, 22% of Italian companies declare that they have already achieved their objectives, but 70% believe they are still making progress.
To further improve the integration of the SDGs in the private sector, the European networks of the United Nations Global Compact have formulated five key recommendations. These include the integration of the SDGs into business processes, the definition of indicators for measuring progress, the promotion of strategic partnerships with other actors to achieve the objectives of the 2030 Agenda, the training of suppliers on sustainability issues and the development of a stronger connection between the SDGs and financial investments.
The report, created with the support of PwC France & Maghrebrepresents an important step in evaluating the role of the private sector in promoting sustainable development in Europe, highlighting the importance of strengthening actions and developing more effective measurement methods to ensure that the SDGs are not only a commitment in principle, but an operational reality in European companies.