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The Sustainable Development Goals and Leading European Retailers

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  • Peter Jones
  • Daphne Comfort

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed at a United Nations General Assembly in 2015 embrace an ambitious and wide-ranging set of global environmental, social and economic issues designed to effect a transition to a more sustainable future; the United Nations important role of the private sector in addressing the SDGs. The majority of Europe’s leading retailers have been pursuing sustainability strategies, and reporting on their achievements against their strategies, for some time and within the European retail community there is a recognition that retailers have a vital role to play in contributing to the achievement of the SDGs. This exploratory paper reviews and reflects on how seven of Europe’s leading retailers claim to be committed to addressing the SDGs. The findings revealed that all seven retailers reported on their commitment to contributing to the achievement of the SDGs, though the scale and the extent of their commitment varied. In reviewing the retailers’ approach to the SDGs, the authors drew attention to a number of issues namely, concentration on specific SDGs, issues of measurement and reporting and tensions between sustainability and economic growth.Keywords: Engagement, Governance, Smart City, Technology, Transparency

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Jones & Daphne Comfort, 2021. "The Sustainable Development Goals and Leading European Retailers," Athens Journal of Business & Economics, Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER), vol. 7(1), pages 105-122, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:ate:journl:ajbev7i1-5
    DOI: 10.30958/ajbe.7-7-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sefa Awaworyi Churchill (ed.), 2020. "Moving from the Millennium to the Sustainable Development Goals," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-981-15-1556-9, January.
    2. United Nations, 2016. "The Sustainable Development Goals 2016," Working Papers id:11456, eSocialSciences.
    3. Regina Scheyvens & Glenn Banks & Emma Hughes, 2016. "The Private Sector and the SDGs: The Need to Move Beyond ‘Business as Usual’," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(6), pages 371-382, November.
    4. José Luis Ruiz-Real & Juan Uribe-Toril & Juan Carlos Gázquez-Abad & Jaime De Pablo Valenciano, 2018. "Sustainability and Retail: Analysis of Global Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-18, December.
    5. Schor, Juliet B., 2005. "Prices and quantities: Unsustainable consumption and the global economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 309-320, November.
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