Page 13 - Economy_Sustainable Global Economy

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2.2 SDG and market opportunities

A Business and Sustainable Development Commission was launched in Davos in January 2016. This
commission brings together leaders from business, finance, civil society, labour, and international
organisations, with the twin aims of mapping the economic prize that could be available to business if the
UN Sustainable Development Goals are achieved, and describing how business can contribute to delivering
these goals.

According to their report “Better Business, Better Word”, published in January 2017, “Achieving the
Global Goals opens up US$12 trillion of market opportunities in the four economic systems examined by the
Commission. These are food and agriculture, cities, energy and materials, and health and well-being. They
represent around 60 percent of the real economy and are critical to delivering the Global Goals. To capture
these opportunities in full, businesses need to pursue social and environmental sustainability as avidly as
they pursue market share and shareholder value. If a critical mass of companies joins us in doing this now,
together we will become an unstoppable force. If they don’t, the costs and uncertainty of unsustainable
development could swell until there is no viable world in which to do business.”

To illustrate their statement, the Business and Sustainable Development Commission developed the
following table, that identify the major market opportunities linked to the SDG.