How global brands take lead in sustainable development goals
By Zion Rufus
Sequel to their brand purpose and essence, leading global brands have intensified efforts in support of sustainable development goals even as they remain on top of their markets in corporate social responsibilities.
Specifically, leading brands in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector like Coca-Cola, Nestle, Diageo, Unilever, amongst others have left no stone unturned in championing the noble causes towards achieving the sustainable development goals.
Sustainable Development Goals was launched as a scheme by all countries—developed and under-developed to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. The Global goals which are 17 in total, seeks to address the global challenges of the world; these goals include ending poverty, sustainable consumption and production; climate change; biodiversity, forests, desertification; partnerships; gender equality and women’s empowerment; zero hunger; economic growth and more.
Since the announcement of the sustainability goals in 2015 by the United Nations, top FMCG companies like Coca-Cola, Unilever, Nestle, Diageo, and others have launched initiatives and partnerships towards achieving these goals. The initiatives were designed to promote recycling, going carbon-neutral, becoming future-fit, and protecting the health of the planet.
During the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002, Sustainable consumption and production was identified as one of the three overarching objectives and essential requirements for sustainable development, together with poverty eradication and the management of natural resources in order to foster economic and social development. It was acknowledged that fundamental changes in the way societies produce and consume are indispensable for achieving global sustainable development.
Coca-Cola is focused on a World Without Waste, sustainable packaging, water stewardship, reducing its carbon footprint, and making 100% of its packaging recyclable. Unilever took a bold step towards poverty eradication, improving the health and well-being of more than 1 billion people, halving its environmental footprint, and enhancing the livelihoods for millions. Diageo on the other hand is concerned with promoting positive drinking, building thriving communities, and reducing its environmental impact ; in 2020, Diageo’s Johnnie Walker announced its plan to plant one million trees in Scotland; this vision was launched towards preventing desertification and enabling biodiversity.
Unilever SDG 1: Poverty Eradication
According to the World Bank Report in 2020, the pandemic, and the global recession that is set to follow, will push an additional 150 million people into extreme poverty by 2021.
Unilever believes tackling poverty also means helping others build financial resilience; this FMCG Company has partnered with governments, NGOs, investors, consumers, suppliers and regulators to create systemic change.
In 2015, Unilever partnered with the UK’s Department for International Development to launch TRANSFORM— to support social enterprises that meet low-income household needs in developing countries. TRANSFORM’s aim is to enable 100 million people in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to gain access to products and services that have been shown to improve health, livelihoods, the environment or wellbeing by 2025.
In 2020, as the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic worsened, Unilever in partnership with the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCOD) launched the Hygiene & Behavior Change Coalition (HBCC) with the aim of curbing the spread of Covid-19 and reaching up to 1 billion people by investing £100 million in hygiene programs, awareness campaigns and delivering products to those in the developing world with leading academics from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) also in the core team.
Coca-Cola SDG 5: Women Empowerment
It could rightly be said that Coca-Cola is at the top of this sustainability goal. In 2010, the Company launched the 5by20 initiative to economically empower 5million women across its value chain by the end of 2020. According to Coca-Cola, women are the key to the world’s shared success. The 5by20 program was launched with the aim of helping 5million female entrepreneurs including farmers, artisans, recyclers, and retailers to become part of the company’s value chain. The Coca-Cola Company designed and customized the 5by20 programs to fit the varying needs of women in each region through key partnerships with small, local NGOs across the regions.
As at 2019, 4.6m women across 96 countries had been impacted. In Nigeria, over 21,000 young girls and women benefited from the same initiative through the ENGINE program; a total of over 400,000 women have so far been impacted. The Coca-Cola Foundation also awarded a $66,000 grant to implement the Whitefield Foundation’s female-focused intervention program, S.H.A.P.E for the empowerment of 600 women who received business management training focused on personal branding, accessing micro-credit loans, sales and marketing, basic accounting, and more through the initiative.
Nestlé SDG 5: Gender equality
Gender equality has become an integral part of Nestlé’s culture and approach to achieving diversity and inclusion.
In 2020, Nestle was recognized in the 2020 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index (GEI) for its transparency in gender reporting and advancing women’s equality which highlights the company’s efforts to empower women across its value chain and to provide equal opportunities to all its employees.
Bloomberg’s GEI index tracks the financial performance of public companies committed to disclosing their efforts to support gender equality through policy development, representation and transparency; the GEI reference index also evaluates each company’s approach towards achieving gender equality by measuring female leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, sexual harassment policies and pro-women brand.
Also in 2020, the company laid out an action plan to increase the number of women in its senior executive positions globally. According to Nestle, 43% of these managerial roles are currently held by women; through its Gender Balance Acceleration Plan, the company has placed emphasis on increasing the proportion of women in the group’s top 200 senior executive positions from around 20% currently to 30% by 2022.
Diageo SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation for All
Diageo, a global leader in the beverage sector launched diverse initiatives and strategic approach towards water stewardship; the company, over the years has been committed to increasing its efforts to address global water challenges through their own operations, in the souring of raw materials, in the communities in which they operate, and through local and global advocacy.
In 2016, Diageo announced a 5-year international partnership with Water Aid, an international NGO providing access to safe water and sanitation to some of the world’s poorest communities. Through the first five years of the partnership, Diageo raised over £1m to invest in WaterAid projects managing to transform the lives of over 140,000 people with access to safe water and over 150,000 people with access to a toilet.
The Company’s Water of Life program was launched in Africa with the aim of helping up to a million people every year through improved water supply and sanitation. The water stewardship and the Water of Life program has provided clean water and sanitation to about 10 million people in 18 countries over the last 10 years. According to Diageo, the aim is for the Water for Life program to be self-funded by the local Diageo businesses, rather than being supported from the company head office.
In 2020, Diageo and WaterAid announced a new five-year partnership to help transform lives with water, sanitation and hygiene; the renewed five-year partnership is a £4 million commitment to help transform lives with clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene in communities across Diageo’s global supply chains and beyond.
So far, individuals and consumer behavior are also gearing towards more sustainable products, which besides the Covid-19 pandemic, has prompted brands to become more transparent in their sustainability quest.
According to the 2015 Global Sustainability Report from the US consumer research agency Nielson found that 66% of consumers were willing to pay more for a sustainable brand, up from 55% in 2014. Among millennials, 73% were willing to pay a sustainability premium.
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