Achieving Sustainable Development Goals: The Time Has Come!

by Ka Suen Li

“The Time Has Come!” This sentence is actually a sentence with many meanings. In the past two years, almost no country is ready for the arrival of COVID-19. 2020 is also the year with the most severe extreme weather changes in history. Hail, continuous typhoons and wildfires do exist and are increasing in the southern region. This is a good opportunity for enterprises to create sustainable development, and also enables people, especially the next generation, to better face the upcoming challenges and opportunities.

We must first point out clearly that the focus of "sustainable development" is sustainability rather than development.

According to a research report released by the Business Sustainable Development Commission in 2017, sustainable development is not only beneficial to the environment of enterprises, but also can release 12 trillion US dollars of market opportunities and create up to 380 million employment opportunities in the fields of food and agriculture, cities, energy and materials. This can prove that enterprises can reduce the cost of capital by promoting sustainable development goals.

There are many such examples. For example, The Food and Land Use Coalition is committed to changing the way we produce and consume food and use land for the sake of people, nature and climate. And Alliance to End Plastic Waste, a coalition that has brought together more than 40 companies across the plastic value chain to end the flow of plastic waste into the environment.