About SDGs and ESG

SDGs is an acronym for the Sustainable Development Goals, announced by the United Nations in 2015.
ESG refers to the factors identified as requiring attention when UN Secretary-General Annan proposed the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2005.

Environmental
Social
Corporate

It is an acronym derived from those terms. It has now become a new criterion for assessing the investment value of companies—namely, ESG investment. To put the difference between the two in a nutshell: the SDGs represent the ultimate goals to be achieved, whereas ESG investment is merely one of the means to realize them.

However, both of these elements can be integrated into business management. Take the issue of global warming, for example. The world is moving toward a decarbonized society. In an era of significant environmental change, there are both risks and opportunities. Properly grasping these factors and quantifying them is what constitutes sustainable management.

What matters for both SDGs and ESG is approaching management from a medium- to long-term perspective—looking 10, 30, or even 50 years into the future.

How should a company transform its business portfolio and supply chain by understanding changes in the external environment and envisioning its desired future state?

Let’s think about this together.