Improving government and business coordination through the use of consistent SDGs indicators. A comparative analysis of national (Belgian) and business (pharma and retail) sustainability indicators

Olivier E. Malay and Stephane Aubinet

Ecological Economics, 2021, vol. 184, issue C

Abstract: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015 are a widely recognized framework to guide sustainable development policies and actions. This papers aims to analyze the potential of SDGs to improve government and business coordination by aligning their reporting practices. To do so, we assess the consistency between the sustainability indicators at the national level (Belgian) and of businesses (pharmaceutical and retail sectors). We aim to answer the following questions: Do they measure the same SDGs issues? Do they develop similar quantitative targets on similar issues? And, for both sets of indicators and targets, how can data from one level be used by the other in order to better coordinate their respective actions? Firstly, we show that indicators are developed for each SDG at the national level but fall behind at the business level on several issues, especially regarding goals 9, 10 and 11. Secondly, it appears that there is a general disconnect between both levels' quantitative targets. Thirdly, we show that business measures are poorly focused on issues and goals which are critical at the national level, i.e. facing unfavorable evolutions. Finally, a focus on GHG emissions shows that Belgian GHG targets at the national level are not compatible with reaching the climate objective of 1.5°, while some business targets (scope 1 & 2) seem consistent with this goal, despite measurement uncertainties. These results show room for improvement of indicators in order to ease the coordination of actors and also for public intervention to align businesses on the achievement of SDGs.

Keywords: Sustainability indicators; Micro macro articulation; Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); Pharmaceutical sector; Retail sector (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:184:y:2021:i:c:s0921800921000495

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.106991

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