Boris Johnson urged to improve UK’s SDG performance

A business coalition spearheaded by the UK Stakeholders for Sustainable Development (UKSSD) has today (29 January) delivered a brief to Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling for the Government to improve progress towards the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).


Boris Johnson urged to improve UK’s SDG performance

In 2018

Earlier this month, businesses such as Nando’s, Nestle, PwC and charities WWF and the RSPB convened through the UKSSD to launch an action plan aimed at strengthening government performance against the SDGs by driving private sector collaboration.

One of the facets of the action plan was the delivery of a resolute brief to Boris Johnson, which was delivered today. The brief calls on the Prime Minister to orchestrate collaboration amongst the private sector to mobilise progress against the SDGs, publicly communicate the importance of the Goals and develop a more effective implementation approach and set up mechanisms to openly disclose progress towards the SDGs.

UKSSD’s network director Emily Auckland said: “This brief makes the case for why Prime Minister Boris Johnson needs to show leadership on this agenda after a lacklustre approach from the UK Government so far.

“It reflects the work of UKSSD over the last five years and the views of stakeholders across the country, representing different sectors and industries. We hope it shows we’re serious about working with his Government on the SDGs and look forward to receiving a formal response”.

In 2018, research by UKSSD found that the UK is failing to perform on 76% of the targets under the 17 Goals. The UKSSD’s Measuring Up report, released in July 2019, found that of the 143 targets considered relevant to the domestic delivery of the SDGs, the UK is only performing well on 24% of its targets. According to the UKSSD, policy gaps or inadequate performance were listed alongside 57% of the targets, while 15% had “little to no policy in place” to address them.

Previously, the UK Government’s attempts at addressing and implementing the SDGs have been labelled “a total fail” by MPs.

In response to the Measuring Up report, The UK published its first Voluntary National Review (VNR), exploring how the nation was performing against the SDGs. Auckland outlined what that means for businesses in this blog post.

Matt Mace

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