IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i24p16647-d1295876.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the Impact of the Sustainable Development Goals on Sustainability Trends

Author

Listed:
  • Eduardo Ordonez-Ponce

    (Faculty of Business, Athabasca University, Athabasca, AB T9S 3A3, Canada)

Abstract

The SDGs have made a significant contribution to the sustainability movement, being used by many organisations from across sectors all over the world as their sustainability framework. However, have they impacted the previous trend of sustainability challenges just because of their existence? This article aims to contribute to answering this question by statistically comparing the trends in the sustainability performance of the SDGs before and after they were launched in 2015. Data were collected for every SDG and their trends were quantitatively assessed using non-parametric tests, finding that most of the SDGs have not significantly improved and that most of the sustainability indicators are still performing poorly in developing countries. While this research is exploratory and does not assess the direct impact of the SDGs on sustainability, it suggests that for the most part, the SDGs have not significantly changed sustainability trends since they were launched in 2015, which is a concerning finding. This article should serve as a wake-up call to design more suitable sustainability frameworks as the SDGs expire in 2030, and for those using them to be more critical of their reach rather than being satisfied with a framework that although helping will not achieve its main goal.

Suggested Citation

  • Eduardo Ordonez-Ponce, 2023. "Exploring the Impact of the Sustainable Development Goals on Sustainability Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-17, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:24:p:16647-:d:1295876
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/24/16647/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/24/16647/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jan Anton van Zanten & Rob van Tulder, 2021. "Improving companies' impacts on sustainable development: A nexus approach to the SDGS," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 3703-3720, December.
    2. Syed Mithun Ali & Andrea Appolloni & Fausto Cavallaro & Idiano D’Adamo & Assunta Di Vaio & Francesco Ferella & Massimo Gastaldi & Muhammad Ikram & Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar & Michael Alan Martin & Abdul, 2023. "Development Goals towards Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-11, June.
    3. Idiano D’Adamo & Massimo Gastaldi, 2023. "Monitoring the Performance of Sustainable Development Goals in the Italian Regions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-19, September.
    4. Eduardo Ordonez-Ponce & Anshuman Khare, 2021. "GRI 300 as a measurement tool for the United Nations sustainable development goals: assessing the impact of car makers on sustainability," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 64(1), pages 47-75, January.
    5. Jan Anton van Zanten & Rob van Tulder, 2018. "Multinational enterprises and the Sustainable Development Goals: An institutional approach to corporate engagement," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 1(3), pages 208-233, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. María Garrido-Ruso & Beatriz Aibar-Guzmán & Albertina Paula Monteiro, 2022. "Businesses’ Role in the Fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-35, July.
    2. Rekha Rao-Nicholson & Htwe Htwe Thein & Yifan Zhong, 2024. "A thematic analysis of the links between multinational enterprises’ corporate social responsibility and the Sustainable Development Goals in Myanmar," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(2), pages 203-223, June.
    3. Idiano D’Adamo & Cristina Di Carlo & Massimo Gastaldi & Edouard Nicolas Rossi & Antonio Felice Uricchio, 2024. "Economic Performance, Environmental Protection and Social Progress: A Cluster Analysis Comparison towards Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-24, June.
    4. Ana M. Osorio & Luisa F. Úsuga & Jaime A. Restrepo-Carmona & Isabel Rendón & Julián Sierra-Pérez & Rafael E. Vásquez, 2024. "Methodology for Stakeholder Prioritization in the Context of Digital Transformation and Society 5.0," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-18, June.
    5. Cecilia Ficco & Paola Bersía & Cecilia Bressan & Edila Eudemia Herrera-Rodríguez, 2023. "Contribution of Argentinian B Corporations to Sustainable Development Goals: Empirical Analysis Based on Their Practices and Solutions to Socioenvironmental Problems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-19, December.
    6. Ernesto D. R. Santibanez Gonzalez & Vinay Kandpal & Marcio Machado & Mauro Luiz Martens & Sushobhan Majumdar, 2023. "A Bibliometric Analysis of Circular Economies through Sustainable Smart Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-22, November.
    7. Ferran Curtó-Pagès & Enrique Ortega-Rivera & Marc Castellón-Durán & Eva Jané-Llopis, 2021. "Coming in from the Cold: A Longitudinal Analysis of SDG Reporting Practices by Spanish Listed Companies Since the Approval of the 2030 Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-27, January.
    8. Smith, Hannah & Discetti, Roberta & Bellucci, Marco & Acuti, Diletta, 2022. "SMEs engagement with the Sustainable Development Goals: A power perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 112-122.
    9. Bauckloh, Tobias & Dobrick, Juris & Höck, André & Utz, Sebastian & Wagner, Marcus, 2024. "In partnership for the goals? The level of agreement between SDG ratings," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 664-678.
    10. Simona Fiandrino & Francesco Scarpa & Riccardo Torelli, 2022. "Fostering Social Impact Through Corporate Implementation of the SDGs: Transformative Mechanisms Towards Interconnectedness and Inclusiveness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(4), pages 959-973, November.
    11. Florentina Madalina Perevoznic & Voicu D. Dragomir, 2024. "Achieving the 2030 Agenda: Mapping the Landscape of Corporate Sustainability Goals and Policies in the European Union," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-54, April.
    12. Jonah Tyan & Shih‐Ching Liu & Jyun‐Ying Fu, 2024. "How environmental, social, and governance implementation and structure impact sustainable development goals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 3235-3250, July.
    13. Iñaki Heras‐Saizarbitoria & Laida Urbieta & Olivier Boiral, 2022. "Organizations' engagement with sustainable development goals: From cherry‐picking to SDG‐washing?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(2), pages 316-328, March.
    14. Anita Fajczak-Kowalska & Anna Misztal & Magdalena Kowalska, 2021. "Energy, Pollution, and Transport Taxes as Instruments of Sustainable Development of Manufacturing Enterprises in Emerging Economies in the European Union," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(2B), pages 724-742.
    15. Sara Trucco & Maria Chiara Demartini & Valentina Beretta, 2021. "The reporting of sustainable development goals: is the integrated approach the missing link?," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 1-13, February.
    16. Odeh Al-Jayyousi & Hira Amin & Hiba Ali Al-Saudi & Amjaad Aljassas & Evren Tok, 2023. "Mission-Oriented Innovation Policy for Sustainable Development: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-21, August.
    17. Raquel Francisco Mafra & Jacir Leonir Casagrande & Ana Regina de Aguiar Dutra & Nei Antonio Nunes & Felipe Texeira Dias & Samuel Borges Barbosa & José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra, 2024. "Social Innovation as a Support for the Visibility of Vulnerable Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-22, May.
    18. Bu, Maoliang & Xu, Liang & Tang, Ryan W., 2023. "MNEs’ transfer of socially irresponsible practices: A replication with new extensions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 58(2).
    19. Chiara Mio & Silvia Panfilo & Benedetta Blundo, 2020. "Sustainable development goals and the strategic role of business: A systematic literature review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3220-3245, December.
    20. Jonathan Taglialatela & Kevin Pirazzi Maffiola & Roberto Barontini & Francesco Testa, 2023. "Board of Directors' characteristics and environmental SDGs adoption: an international study," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2490-2506, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:24:p:16647-:d:1295876. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.