The UN and businesses work together to define Sustainable Development Goals

What an honour!

The Millennium Development Goals (MDG), established in 2000, will be coming to an end. The MDG have been the global road map for reducing poverty and improving the lives of people with few resources in the past 15 years.

World leaders will be holding a Summit next September to adopt a new set of Global Objectives for the period 2015-2030 called the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The aim of these goals is to end poverty by 2030 and transform lives whilst still protecting the planet.

So far, 17 Sustainable Development Goals have been defined:

1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere.
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages.
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation.
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries.
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe and sustainable.
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (taking note of agreements made by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change forum).
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss.
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development.

To achieve these goals, the United Nations (UN), together with the governments of 177 countries, including Spain, has set up a fund, called the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), to further these global objectives

One of the most innovative features of the UNDP is the support from the private sector. This body believes that companies should play a relevant role in defining the development goals and has therefore set up an Advisory Group made up of 12 companies from around the world.

This Advisory Group arises from the need to define a framework in which the private sector can work with the United Nations (UN) in the area of development as an equal partner. Over the different scheduled working sessions, the Advisory Group will gather suggestions to define the responsibilities of the private sector, and devise collaboration models for achieving the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

And what an honour! Ferrovial has been invited to be a member of the Advisory Group!

At the beginning of the year, we were advised that we are one of the 12 companies across the world selected to be part of the Advisory Group.

This is great news for Ferrovial. Each one of us will take part in the discussions on the lines of action and the company’s role as a player in sustainable development. This is because, as a leading global operator in infrastructure and services, Ferrovial plays a fundamental role in the development of local economies. The provision of infrastructure increases productivity and competitiveness in the region. We create jobs at local level and boost the purchase of local goods.

We firmly believe that we are a key player in the SDG.