Practical Sustainability Strategies, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 3Imbedding the UN Sustainable Development Goals to Achieve Sustainability

It is important to note that there are many activities that an organization can undertake for the benefit of the environment. Some of these activities may be sustainable, but many of them are not truly sustainable yet very beneficial as they reduce the negative impact on the environment. These environmentally beneficial activities embraced by corporations become the guidelines that are followed, better known as “principles.”

As a result of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, a group of investors launched the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES). This group, which subsequently went by the name CERES, consisted of over 130 institutional and socially responsible investors, environmental and social advocacy groups, and other public interest organizations. This organization developed a set of 10 principles that organizations should adopt in order to achieve sustainability. In addition to the CERES principles, other organizations adopted their own set of principles with associated goals. Some of these other principles include the following:

• The Hannover Principles
• Precautionary Principle
• Community
  • Principles of Sustainable Development for Minnesota
  • Ontario Round Table on Environment and Economy (ORTEE)
  • The Netherlands National Environmental Policy Plan (NEPP)
  • The Earth Charter
  • International Council of Local Environment Initiatives (ICLEI)
• Natural resources
  • American Petroleum ...