Businesses Expected to Excel and Grow in Infrastructure and Innovation (SDG 9)
SDG 9 promotes industry, innovation and infrastructure
This week, Global Sourcing Council's 17 Weeks for 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) explores SDG 9 with examples of corporate action for building resilient infrastructure, promoting sustainable industrialization and fostering innovation.
The Global Challenge:
Many developing countries lack widespread basic infrastructure – roads, sanitation, water, electrical power, and phone, internet, and other information and communication technologies (ICTs). This creates a major barrier to doing business, inhibits innovation and entrepreneurship, and limits access to health care and education.
The lack of access to safe drinking water for over 660 million people translates to a demand for water-related infrastructure. Sustainalytics has reported that global water demand is expected to increase 50% by 2030, requiring $25 trillion in water infrastructure.
With regard to internet access – which 60% of the world’s population currently lacks – the UN says a shortage of 900,000 skilled ICT workers is still expected in 2020.
Schools, hospitals and clinics comprise another area of infrastructure where there is acute financing need to achieve the SDGs, says the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB): “the sums involved are enormous and the timeframe is short.”
The Business Opportunity:
PwC research has found that business sees its potential contribution to the SDGs most clearly in Goal 9 (build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation), following Goal 8 (decent work) and Goal 13 (climate change). These are the areas where business most expects to be able to excel and grow.
The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) reports that there is a finance gap of US$500 billion per year for infrastructure investment. It explains, “governments are therefore increasingly looking for mechanisms to close this gap, crowd-in private finance, and improve efficiency and effectiveness of infrastructure projects. Innovative approaches to infrastructure finance and sustainable public procurement will be critical to their success.”
Click Here to Find Examples of How Taking Action Makes a Difference such as:
- Identify Infrastructure and Industrialization Challenges in your Supply Chain – Industrial Development Organizations (UNIDO) and The World Bank’s Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) Project Databases, and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
- Learn from Leaders Taking Action on SDG 9 – Virgin, Cisco and National Australia Bank (NAB).
- Amplify your Impact: Collaborate with NGOs and Other Companies - Equator Principles Financial Institutions (EPFIs), Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP) and Impact 2030.
- Join the Sustainable Sourcing Community: Become a GSC Corporate Member or Individual Community Member to Drive Results.
- Highlight your Work for Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure in Sourcing: Apply Today for 2016 3S Awards - 2015 Impact Sourcing Honorable Mention: Protoprint [VIDEO]
- Participate in an Upcoming Event on Sustainable Business and SDGs
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