Sustainable Development and SDGs

Sustainable Development and SDGs: “6 Min. to Understand” with Pierre Léonard. Midoricast: Podcast #204

In this episode, Pierre Léonard explains how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the UN are not just a theoretical framework, but a lever for innovation and growth. We talk about them a lot, but how do you integrate them practically into a company, whatever its size?

• What are the three pillars of sustainable development?
• Why does every company have a key role to play, even the smallest ones?
• How to turn constraints into opportunities and open up new markets?

Sustainable development and the SDGs: constraint or opportunity for your business?

Concrete examples, practical advice and a positive approach to inspire you and make you want to take action. Because every action counts and collectively, we can make a difference.

Listen to the episode now and subscribe to Midoricast to discover other initiatives that are moving the world forward! Sustainable development and the SDGs

Join the discussion! We invite you to leave a voice message on our answering machine.

• What are your concerns about sustainable development?
• What topics would you like to see addressed in upcoming episodes? (6 episodes are already scheduled, but your opinion matters)

We provide an English transcript of this podcast in this article. However, if you are learning French (podcasts are a great way to train your brain to get used to a language, making it easier to learn or practice) or if you understand it as well, feel free to listen this episode here and subscribe to the podcast via Podcastics (If you follow this link, it is only valid for 7 days.), our podcast host. To subscribe, select your favorite app via the “See All” button in the list on our Linktree.

 

Useful links for this episode:

• The Linktree of Pierre Léonard
• The Fresco of the circular economy
• Website of The Podcast Factory Org asbl-vzw
• Join the Kaya coalition

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In addition to the voicemail, each episode is segmented and accompanied by a full transcript, allowing deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals to access it. And with a Google Translate plugin under Chrome, the episode becomes available in all languages! We also offer a video format.

Why this section?

We support companies that apply real and measurable ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) approaches. Pierre, on the other hand, trains and supports them through this transition. Our approaches are different, but complementary: we encourage, he guides.

This choice also presents a real challenge: where do we draw the line?

Some companies mentioned in this section do not align with our current criteria, and we would refuse any collaboration with them unless they initiate a concrete change. But this is exactly where Pierre comes in: his role is to initiate this transformation.

This podcast does not aim to judge, but to inspire. The goal? To encourage rather than discourage, to guide rather than exclude.

Let’s commit together to a circular, sustainable, and inclusive economy. Listen, reflect, act… in 6 minutes.

The transcript of the podcast “Sustainable Development and SDGs”:

Michel Godart: [00:00:00] This podcast project is an initiative created and proposed by the ASBL “The Podcast Factory Org”, with the sponsorship of “transforma bxl – Innovation Playground”, and you can find all the episodes on the “What’s Your Story dot be” website.

Michel Godart: [00:00:18] Welcome to another episode of “Midoricast”. “Midori” means green in Japanese, “Cast” for Broadcast. We’re in the “Six minutes to understand” section, so I’ll give the microphone to Pierre Léonard!

Pierre Léonard: [00:00:28] Thank you Michel. Well, hello everyone, welcome to another episode of the podcast that answers all the questions decision-makers have about sustainable development. Today we’re going to explore two fundamental concepts that will really shape, and are already shaping, the future of our businesses and our planet: sustainable development and the sustainable development goals.

Pierre Léonard: [00:00:53] So, sustainable development – we talked about it in the previous episode – is a form of development that allows us to meet our current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. But it’s not something that’s easy to grasp or put into practice. To take a quick analogy, sustainability is a bit like juggling with three balls, because there are three pillars to sustainable development. There is a pillar that relates to the environment, another that relates to people and society, and a third that relates to the economy. In English we talk about the three P’s: People, Planet and Profit, but I prefer to say Prosperity, we’ll see why as the episodes unfold.

Pierre Léonard: [00:01:37] So you may be wondering how sustainable development can impact your company? Well, to make things a little more concrete, sustainable development was actually transformed by the United Nations in 2015 into a series of goals. They turned it into 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which cover a whole range of issues from ending poverty to tackling climate change, rmoting gender equality and so on. It’s a whole series of goals that are entirely self-imposed. So, there is basically no obligation, but these goals have nonetheless been signed by almost all UN member countries. These sustainable development goals are supposed to be implemented by 2030, so we’re not going to make it, but we also have to ask ourselves where we would be if they didn’t exist. They do, however, make a considerable difference to the contribution that individuals, organisations and countries can make to staying within planetary boundaries, even if we’ve already crossed a lot of them.

Pierre Léonard: [00:02:37] So you’re going to say “Why is this important for a company? Well, companies have a crucial role to play in achieving these objectives because, on their own scale, they have much more leverage than individuals to contribute to their achievement, whether by cutting their consumption of raw materials, or their waste, by ensuring inclusiveness in their human resources policy, or by making sure that their suppliers have decent working conditions, etc.

Pierre Léonard: [00:03:03] And make no mistake, it’s not just the big corporations that have a stake in this. Every company, every organisation has the opportunity to do its bit. Whether you’re a coffee roaster that recovers its customers’ coffee grounds to make fuel briquettes, a museum that donates its old catalogues to libraries or universities, or even a bakery that reuses its unsold stock to make alternative products like breadcrumbs… Every gesture counts, and as the saying goes, small streams make big rivers. All these examples show that sustainable development is good for the planet, but also for the economy, because the concept of “sustainabledevelopment” includes “development”, so it stimulates innovation, improves the quality of the business and can even open up new markets… even for your local bakery.

Pierre Léonard: [00:03:46] How can you integrate these sustainable development objectives into your business? I’m going to give you some very, very general guidelines. And of course, we’ll come back to all these points in greater detail in future episodes.

Pierre Léonard: [00:03:59] My first tip is to start where you are. Identify the sustainable development goals that are most relevant to your company. You don’t need to tackle them all, just focus on the ones where you can have the greatest impact.

Pierre Léonard: [00:04:12] Then, second, set measurable goals, what we call SMART goals in relation to these SDGs. For example, if you choose twelve: Responsible consumption and production, you can decide to reduce your waste by 30% by 2030.

Pierre Léonard: [00:04:27] The third point is to integrate these objectives into your overall strategy. Sustainable development should not be an isolated initiative. It has to be an integral part of your business model if you want to be perceived as credible and to show the outside world that you are walking the talk.

Pierre Léonard: [00:04:42] The fourth point is that you’re not alone, you don’t work in a silo. Don’t hesitate to involve all the stakeholders in your value chain, including even your competitors, so that you can ultimately make progress in integrating sustainable development objectives into your business. Another important thing is to show what you’re doing, to communicate regularly about the progress you’re making and the challenges you’re facing. Why should you do this? Because firstly, it will show that you are committed to the process, and it will also help to fuel the optimism which I like to foster. Because, as I was saying earlier, we hear a lot about what’s going wrong, but we don’t talk enough about what’s going right, and there are plenty of things that are going right. Communicate about your progress, transparency is really key to winning the trust of your stakeholders.

Pierre Léonard: [00:05:26] And this is where we really come to the purpose of this podcast: how companies can integrate the key values of sustainable development into their activities, so as to combine sustainability with profitability. Because in the three pillars of sustainable development, there is also an economic pillar. And without the economy, we’d still be living in caves and wearing scratchy woollen jumpers.

Pierre Léonard: [00:05:50] I’ll come back to all these aspects in detail in later episodes, but in summary, sustainable development and the SDGs are not abstract concepts, they are very hands-on tools for building a better future, and you can contribute to that. In today’s world, sustainable performance is no longer an option, it has really become a necessity, and every action counts, no matter how small. Thank you for staying with me for these six minutes to understand sustainable development. See you next time for an episode where we’ll talk about ESG.

Michel Godart: [00:06:18] Great! Thank you Pierre, see you very soon for a new “Midoricast” episode, in the “Six minutes to understand” section.

Michel Godart: [00:06:28] This podcast project is an initiative created and proposed by the ASBL “The Podcast Factory Org”, with the sponsorship of “transforma bxl – Innovation Playground”, and you can find all the episodes on the “What’s Your Story point be” website.

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