To respond to the challenges of sustainable development from a committed business vision, a group of very diverse companies (including Suara Cooperativa) have created a working group in the framework of the business association Respon.cat. It is intended to address the challenge of integrating the Sustainable Development Goals, which are the commitment that the United Nations approved in the framework of Agenda 2030 and that represent a challenge for all of Humanity based on the commitment of all parties , be governments or companies.
With the proclamation of ODS by the end of 2015, companies become a key player in achieving a fairer, more equitable and sustainable Planet. For the first time, the United Nations assigned the private sector a direct responsibility in achieving a global agenda, Agenda 2030.
The objective of the group is to land ODS in local business reality and link them to the development of the business, analyze how to address ODS according to different CSR management systems and define guidelines to communicate the contribution to ODS in a way solid and avoiding the risk of little rigor.
One of the risks that the group has addressed is what is known as cherry picking, which refers to the fact that it confers with the icons of the ODS the actions that a company already carries out in those cases where there is no effort to become aware of the responsibilities that a company should assume in virtue of its impact.
Another related risk is to apply ODS to checklist without carrying out the processes of dialogue with interest groups and identifying and prioritizing matters relevant to each company, and which constitutes the fundamental methodology of the company, CSR. The group considers that the reflection on how to apply the ODS must come from the experience and the practice, the priorities and the needs of the same companies, and of the dialogue and the prioritization of which is relevant to each company, having in addition Note that the reality of each country is different so that the contribution to ODS must be consistent with the reality of Catalonia and respond to the needs, priorities and opportunities of the territory.
The companies that have initiated the Working Group are: TERSA, Auren, Suara, Airpharm, CreaRSA, Lavola, La Unió Catalana de Hospitals, EAP Poble Sec, Vector5 | Excellence and sustainability, the Council of Chambers of Catalonia, TSR Socially Responsible Territory, and Tarannà Viatges. The group is open to new additions and it has acquired the commitment to meet regularly to advance these three objectives and strengthen the contribution of Catalan companies to Agenda 2030.
