Heard enough talk about the Sustainable Development Goals?
The Global Opportunity Explorer features 300 products and services that are turning talk into action.
Danone’s vitamin-enhanced yogurt, Shokti, for example, has generated more than $1 million in revenue in Bangladesh while advancing goal №2 (zero hunger) and №8 (decent work and economic growth). The milk is collected from 475 small herders within 50 miles of the factory. The affordable and fortified yogurt is distributed door-to-door by 250 female micro-entrepreneurs.
The site was launched in New Delhi at the recent “Making Global Goals Local Business” event. “More than 50 percent of the progress towards the global goals will come from India,” said UN Global Compact’s Lise Kingo (again!). “There are $1 trillion worth of market opportunities for companies working in the sustainable area in India,” she says, and 72 million potential jobs by 2030.
The projects in the Explorer are categorized not only by the goals they address, but by business sectors like energy, transportation, or healthcare, and markets such as “smart cities,” “smart water,” and “cyber security” (see: “Corporations play catch-up on Sustainable Development Goals”).
The compendium is the result of a survey of 18,000 business leaders over five years, led by Sustainia, the Global Compact and DNV GL, an advisory and assessment firm, and makes the case the global goals open opportunities outside companies’ traditional lines of business.
The development of smart agricultural tools is a $5.9 billion market.
