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As far as business activities are concerned, companies’ ambitions to drive the achievement of the

SDGs can trigger technological and product innovations aiming to provide more effective and
efficient solutions to key sustainability challenges, such as energy production or emission
reduction. These innovations then enable companies to open up new markets and market
segments and thus increase sales. From an internal perspective, innovative sustainable solutions
can also take the form of technologies helping to improve operational efficiency and thereby

reduce cost. In addition, efforts to integrate sustainability considerations across the value chain
can strengthen the corporate brand, as well.
Moreover, a company’s efforts to realize sustainable development will prove beneficial to the
interactions with and relations to its stakeholders, which, in turn, results in positive effects on
business. Working towards the SDGs is likely to strengthen the company’s license to operate, to

uphold or improve its reputation among its stakeholders and enables the company to better
engage with them.
When it comes to employees, striving towards sustainable development is expected to promote

employee morale, engagement, and productivity. Ultimately, this will lead to lower turnover rates.
Apart from that, a strong sustainability performance serves as a competitive advantage in the so-
called “war for talent”, i.e., the fierce competition on the labor market to attract highly qualified
candidates.
In the long term, investment into the promotion of specific SDGs will help the company to secure

its future workforce. For instance, strengthening education (SDG 4) and empowering women and
girls (SDG 5) in areas where the company operates, will sustain, and increase the supply of skilled
and engaged potential employees.

Besides that, corporate efforts to advance sustainable development are also well received by the
company’s customers, as more and more consumers tend to base their purchasing decisions on
their perception of a company’s sustainability performance. Here again, investing into the
advancement of specific SDGs promises long-term benefits for the company. Support in the
combat against poverty (SDG 1), for example, is expected to increase the purchasing power of
the poorest ones and hereby prepares future consumer markets across the globe.

Whenever speaking about sustainable development, the natural environment is an essential
stakeholder. In a corporate context, promoting environmental sustainability primarily means not
consuming more natural resources than the capacities of the planet provide. This will prove
beneficial to the company in the long run, as it secures the supply of resources indispensable for
production also in the remote future.

Ultimately, government is a key stakeholder exerting considerable influence on a company’s
contribution to the achievement of the SDGs. Sustainability is becoming a top priority on the
political and fiscal agendas on international, national, and regional levels. Government can spur
a company’s efforts for sustainable development by introducing taxes or fines that punish non-

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