edie Podcast: A Sustainable Development Goals Week special

Episode 120 of edie’s flagship podcast is kindly sponsored by phs Group and is a special edition to mark our Sustainable Development Goals Week 2022. This is a week-long editorial campaign, with all of edie’s exclusive content, events and report dedicated to achieving the 17 Global Goals set out by the UN in 2015.

With just eight years left to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 underlying targets, it’s clear that business must step up if we’re to have the positive impact on society which the Goals ultimately exist for.

How should an organisation define its priorities within the SDG framework? How can Goals and sub-targets be integrated with existing corporate strategies to accelerate action? And how can progress towards the Goals be communicated and reported in ways which maximise reach and impact? Ultimately, what will it take for businesses to achieve the Goals by 2030?

This episode sees senior reporter Sarah George interviewing experts from three organisations working to accelerate progress towards three SDGs relating to nature, climate and water, in the hopes of answering these questions and more.

First up is an exclusive interview with UN Global Compact UK’s global goals and climate programme manager Jessica Lobo. She is on hand to outline why the growing net-zero movement does not necessarily mean that businesses are contributing their fair share to SDG 13, Climate Action, and to provide advice for avoiding “carbon tunnel vision”.

Our second guest speaker for this episode is WaterAid’s senior private sector advisor Ruth Loftus. She recaps on the NGO’s recent research work to quantify how improving access to water and sanitation in operations and supply chains can benefit businesses, and emphasises the importance of delivering climate-resilient water infrastructure.

Last but by no means least is an interview with Tara Austin, a consulting partner at Oglivy. She is speaking with edie on behalf of the sponsor for this episode, phs Group. Austin explains how businesses can drive behaviour change in bathrooms that can improve water management and reduce pollution, with approaches grounded in behavioural science.

edie is hosting this podcast as part of Sustainable Development Goals Week 2022, our four-day editorial campaign supporting readers to develop and deliver meaningful and impactful SDG-linked projects and strategies. Click here to access all related blogs, features, interviews, events and more. 

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Have a question about this podcast or a suggestion for future episodes? Email us at [email protected]. Please be aware that our podcast is currently on a season break.