Spanish business commitment to the 2030 Agenda in uncertain times

Francisco Manuel Somohano-Rodríguez; Fátima David; Tania Cristina Azevedo; Francisco Manuel Somohano-Rodríguez; Fátima David; Tania Cristina Azevedo

doi:10.3934/environsci.2023015

AIMS Environmental Science

2023, Volume 10, Issue 2: 246-266. doi: 10.3934/environsci.2023015

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Research article Special Issues

Spanish business commitment to the 2030 Agenda in uncertain times

Francisco Manuel Somohano-Rodríguez ^{1
,
,},
Fátima David ²,
Tania Cristina Azevedo ³

1.
Santander Financial Institute, Universidad de Cantabria, Spain
2.
Instituto Politécnico de Guarda, Portugal
3.
Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Brasil

Received: 29 November 2022 Revised: 28 February 2023 Accepted: 09 March 2023 Published: 28 March 2023

Sustainability has become strategic since companies are aware that they must make a positive contribution to society and the environment in which they operate. At the same time, alliances have been formed and pacts have been made among nations to attempt to solve the social, economic and environmental problems that today's society faces. This is the case of the UN's 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This action plan entails the development of different initiatives to help face the challenges of this century, which have increased notably with the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this study is to carry out an analysis of Spanish companies' commitment to the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs and verify what types of activities they propose to ratify their commitment in an uncertain period for firms. For a sample of 100 observations of Spanish firms in 2020 and 2021, we evidence that SDGs 4 (Quality education), 8 (Decent work and economic growth), 9 (Industry, innovation, and infrastructure), 13 (Climate action) and 17 (Partnerships for the goals) have been adopted by many companies, which have presented initiatives, projects and programmes to achieve their goals. Commitment to the SDGs had a positive evolution in 2021, i.e., firms created economic value, protected the environment and contributed to greater social well-being. Our results show companies' preferences in terms of stakeholders as their SDGs' actions focus on women, older people, young people, workers and trade unions, local governments and researchers in issues related to climate change. The paper contributes with a global assessment of companies' initiatives and helps to determine the impact of uncertain environments on business commitments to the 2030 Agenda.
- SDG,
- impact,
- commitment,
- COVID-19,
- stakeholders,
- dilemma
Citation: Francisco Manuel Somohano-Rodríguez, Fátima David, Tania Cristina Azevedo. Spanish business commitment to the 2030 Agenda in uncertain times[J]. AIMS Environmental Science, 2023, 10(2): 246-266. doi: 10.3934/environsci.2023015

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Abstract

Sustainability has become strategic since companies are aware that they must make a positive contribution to society and the environment in which they operate. At the same time, alliances have been formed and pacts have been made among nations to attempt to solve the social, economic and environmental problems that today's society faces. This is the case of the UN's 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This action plan entails the development of different initiatives to help face the challenges of this century, which have increased notably with the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this study is to carry out an analysis of Spanish companies' commitment to the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs and verify what types of activities they propose to ratify their commitment in an uncertain period for firms. For a sample of 100 observations of Spanish firms in 2020 and 2021, we evidence that SDGs 4 (Quality education), 8 (Decent work and economic growth), 9 (Industry, innovation, and infrastructure), 13 (Climate action) and 17 (Partnerships for the goals) have been adopted by many companies, which have presented initiatives, projects and programmes to achieve their goals. Commitment to the SDGs had a positive evolution in 2021, i.e., firms created economic value, protected the environment and contributed to greater social well-being. Our results show companies' preferences in terms of stakeholders as their SDGs' actions focus on women, older people, young people, workers and trade unions, local governments and researchers in issues related to climate change. The paper contributes with a global assessment of companies' initiatives and helps to determine the impact of uncertain environments on business commitments to the 2030 Agenda.

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