Group10_D | SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic growth
Decent Work and Economic growth
Introduction
Sustainable Development Goal 8 along with its mission termed as "Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all," commonly known as Decent Work and Economic growth is one of the famous 17 SDGs(Sustainable Development Goals), established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. SDG 8 comes with a holistic approach while bringing in a change or value creation and works towards the common good across various sectors.
The world has moved ahead to reduce the number of people living in extreme poverty by a great extent despite facing challenges like the 2008 economic recession and global recession. Employment for the middle class has rapidly increased in these years, but the world is facing slower economic growth and lesser opportunities.
This SDG revolves around targeting higher economic productivity (much needed in developing countries) by aiming and bringing in diversification, technological upgrades, innovation across minds, and creating a focus on high-value creation and labor-intensive sectors in different works. Along with other SDGs, it promotes policies that encourage entrepreneurship and job creation.
Some of the targets for SDG 8:
1. Sustain per capita economic growth and maintain at least a 7% GDP growth rate
2. Higher economic productivity and higher value creation and labor-intensive sectors
3. Promotion of development targeting policies aiming at job creation, entrepreneurship, and creativity while encouraging various enterprises' formalization and growth.
4. Achieve complete and productive opportunities in decent work for all men and women and equal pay for equal work.
5. End practices like forced labor, modern slavery, and human trafficking, securing prohibitions and discard of worst forms of child labor by 2025.
India is a developing nation with one of the largest populations in the world. As a developing market economy, India's main sectors include agriculture, industries, and services.
In India, almost half of the labor force still operates in the agriculture sector. With low productivity, promoting gainful employment in agriculture is difficult. India's key challenge is to build well-paying and profitable employment in non-farm sectors capable of absorbing more unskilled employees, including women and rural workers.
India has embarked on a journey to achieve the SDG objective of 8 Decent Job and Economic Development for all. Programs such as Make in India, Startup India, Talent India, and Digital India have the underlying concept of creating job opportunities for young people in the country. The government places tremendous importance on developing a favorable atmosphere for trade and industry. This was expressed in the World Bank's ease of doing the business report for 2016-17.
Agriculture brings 13% of the GDP wheres more than 50% of the population depends on it in some form of employment. A study done by the world bank found that the poverty reduction impact of growth in agriculture is quite high, whereas the industrial sector is almost zero. The government should focus on agriculture and agricultural productivity.
To attain decent work and economic growth sustainability development goals, India needs to focus on two aspects: Urbanization and Manufacturing. Also, the key to all of it is innovation – especially innovation in our education system.
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the supply chain around the world, halting production and shutting down businesses. This has had a direct impact on the labor force. Due to the private companies and the government's inability to provide basic necessities and help to the unskilled labor force in the urban areas, India saw huge mobility of unskilled and semi-skilled labor force back to their villages, some vowing to never return. This will have a long-lasting impact on businesses and the economic growth of India.
Implications on Businesses related to SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)
The agenda of SDG 8 is Decent Work and Economic growth. While the latter is one of the core drivers of businesses themselves, the former decent work, is directly related to companies, as corporates form a large chunk of employment providers. Attempts to achieve this SDG drives businesses towards achieving profit and providing just and fair remuneration and allied services to their employees. Providing decent work conditions requires a firm to engage in extensive Stakeholder Management, making the skill very desirable in prospective managers. Businesses have now started to think on lines of giving back to the community they operate in their endeavors to become increasingly called Sustainable Economic Growth.
Businesses have also started taking steps to upgrade their workforce. Upgradation of their skills makes them feel a sense of security with their jobs, a preeminent condition for their work to be termed as 'Decent.' As Economic Growth directly benefits businesses by bolstering demand, providing decent work conditions helps them in creating a more loyal, innovative, and productive workforce. Since the employees are also brand ambassadors of the company by default, compliance with practices related to the achievement of SDG 8 leads to the attraction of better talent and a lower turnover rate. While Economic Growth is highly desirable, especially in developing and under-developed countries, it has the potential to hamper the achievement of other SDGs, especially the ones directed at curbing emissions and climate change.
Overall, any efforts directed at achieving targets described under SDG 8 help sustain the business itself. Additionally, these efforts contribute significantly to enterprises to run sustainably over more extended periods.
Businesses' The response towards the achievement of SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)
The formalization of the workforce
Corporates now look forward to at least being able to report desirable efforts, for which they have started formalizing their core and allied workforce. While this provides enhanced job security to the people, this also helps policymakers frame welfare programs for the lesser privileged and efficiently directing the support towards such groups.
Removal of/ Reduction in Bondage Labour, Child Labour, and Human Trafficking
Corporates who intend to contribute to the achievement of 'Decent Work' have started removing these obnoxious and harmful practices of the past. As the workforce gets included in the formal force, these malpractices are slowly being reduced with provident contributions. While most countries have overcome this problem in Europe and America, businesses in Asian, African, and Caribbean countries need significant adoption of the action plan prescribed in SDG 8.
Promotion of development-oriented policies, entrepreneurship, and innovation
Economic growth, which needs to be sustained over more extended periods, entrepreneurship and innovation have started gaining prominence in companies instead of brute labor. Therefore, Microsoft calls their Product Managers, CEOs of the product, to promote innovation.
Many corporates have also started awarding their senior and mid-level employees stocks as a component of their salaries. This encourages the concerned employees to take ownership of the company's operations and performance, thus promoting entrepreneurship's spirit, secondarily contributing to economic growth.
Investing in Research and Development, and support Growing Businesses
Companies have started to invest substantially in Research and Development to reduce costs, making their products more desirable for survival and growth in competitive marketplaces. This helps to achieve sustained economic growth instead of ephemeral bubbles, making the Business Cycle fluctuations less severe in terms of amplitude variation.
SDG Analysis
United Nations has established 12 targets and 17 Indicators for "Decent Work and Economic growth." These targets designate the main goals while Indicators presents a system to measure the progress on these targets.
Target 1: Sustainable Economic Growth
The aim is to sustain per capita economic growth and promote at least 7% GDP growth per annum among the least developed countries. However, for the past five years, this growth rate has been stagnated at 4.3%.
Target 2: Diversify, Innovate and upgrade for economic productivity
The aim is to obtain higher economic potency levels by diversifying, upgrading technological infrastructure, and Innovating solutions.
Target 3: Promote Policies to support job creation and growing enterprises
Support productive activities and promote job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation. The high unemployment rate has been a significant issue in low-income countries.
Target 4: Improve resource efficiency in consumption and production
The goal is to promote sustainable growth through 2030 and improve resource efficiency in production and decouple economic growth from environmental degradation.
Target 5: Full employment and decent work with equal pay
To promote total employment and relevant work for all men and women. It entails generating opportunities for all, including young people, a person with disabilities, etc.
Target 6: Promote Youth Employment, Education and training
To encourage youth participation in employment education or training programs. In 2019, the total unemployed youth was 22%.
Target 7: End Modern Slavery, trafficking, and child labor
To take instant and efficient measures to end modern slavery, eradicate forced labor, and stop human trafficking in all its form by 2025.
Target 8: Protect labor rights and promote safe working environments
To protect labor rights and promote safe and secure working conditions for all employees, including daily wage employees, migrants workers.
Target 9: Promote beneficial and sustainable tourism
To promote sustainable tourism practices and generate cultural and local employment to preserve the culture and encourage job creation. Tourism act as an essential contributor to GDP.
Target 10: Universal access to banking, insurance, and financial services
To increase domestic financial institutions' capability to promote and develop access to banking, insurance, and commercial services for everyone.
Target 11: Increase aid for trade support
Increase Funding for Trade assistance for developing countries, especially least developed countries, including through the Enhanced Integrated Framework for Trade-related Technical Support to Least Developed Countries.
Target 12: Develop a global youth employment strategy
By 2020, form and operationalize a global policy for youth employment and achieve the International Labour Organization's, Global Jobs Pact.
The completion of these goals is dependent on the variance of success of other SDGs. Decent Work and Economic growth are interlinked with other development goals like quality education, Gender Equality, Industry Innovation and Infrastructure, and Responsible consumption and production. That is because a citizen's well-being and education is a significant driver of economic growth.
The Path ahead
While many SDGs are very detailed in their objectives for water access, poverty eradication, and the deployment of electricity networks, SDG 8 is more widespread. It's about a change of mindset about what a business can and should do. It is also, unsurprisingly, one of the most popular targets among the business community. Business, huge businesses, has been seen as villains for many years, and there have been many predatory practices in the commercial world.
Although major global brands have been among SDG8's most enthusiastic adopters, SMEs will ultimately be vital to its success. It is not about multinationals, but about small and medium-sized companies. They're the most prominent developers of work all over the globe. In developing countries, two-thirds of all formal workers are small and medium-sized enterprises, and 80% in low-income countries. In most OECD countries, about 95% of all enterprises are in small and medium-sized enterprises, accounting for 70% of employment.
A lack of access to finance exacerbates all the problems. Every adult in high-income countries has a bank account. Just over a third of adults in low-income countries have access to even essential financial services, with women being even less likely to have an account.
Increasing access to financial services is most important to enabling decent work. Most people in developing countries still have no access to finance. Only 35 percent of low-income regions have access to finance, and the solution is not to create more financial institutions.
In short, without rapid reform of how SMEs work in many countries around the world, SDG8 is unachievable. While supporting minority or women-owned SMEs in the supply chain can be an effective way to counter economic disparities and create goodwill, SMEs can also be an essential source of new ideas, creativity, and funding for larger organizations.
References
Corning's Sustainability Report
Rishabh Kataria BD20048
Our 2030 sustainability goals are described in more detail in the chapters of this report. There are several key areas of work that will support the goals, and in some cases, multiple goals will be affected by one focus area. Accountability for progress on these critical priorities rests with the top executives, ensuring broad engagement across the company in our sustainability work. 1. Blowing agent. Solve the technical, business, and commercial puzzles in both our global foam insulation operations and our products to eliminate blowing agents that have high global warming potential. 2. Renewable energy sourcing. Further, reduce demand through energy efficiency and concurrently expand our renewable energy purchases in the U.S. and beyond, establishing programs in China, India, Mexico, Brazil, Europe, and Canada to reduce the footprint of both our operations and our products. 3. Fuel switching. Develop affordable technology to enable conversion from fossil fuel to carbon-neutral and renewable energy to power our processes. 4. Expand our offering of formaldehyde-free insulation products. Convert to formaldehyde-free binders for the global production of our technical insulation and mineral wool products. 5. Recycling into our processes. Increase the amount of recycled materials and production waste we use in our products and processes, and eliminate waste to landfill. 6. Circular economy. Develop business models and technical solutions to recycle Owens Corning roofing, composites, and insulation products to advance the circular economy, reduce waste-to-landfill, and enable us to take back scrap material from our customers’ processes. 7. Supplier sustainability. Inspire our suppliers to engage with us around sustainability priorities like reducing our Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions and certainty of compliance with our human rights policy. 8. Safety. Advance in our journey to zero injuries by understanding, learning, innovating, and executing the right safety-related leadership, processes, and investments. 9. Healthy living innovation. Develop strategy and tactics to inspire and engage our remaining U.S. employees who are not enrolled in our wellness initiatives, and expand the participation of our employees outside of the U.S. 10.Inclusion and diversity. Identify and close gaps, measure progress, enable success with business impact and evolve our leadership voice. These ten areas represent a wide range of projects, initiatives, and opportunities for Owens Corning. With leadership commitment and the dedication of Owens Corning employees, we believe progress on these priorities in 2020 will translate into foundational progress toward our ambitious 2030 goals.
Citibank’s Sustainability Report
APPOORVA GOENKA
BD20012
The Financial Sector has a significant task to carry out intending to this emergency by supporting the change to a manageable, low-carbon economy that adjusts the ecological, social, and financial necessities of society. As probably the biggest lender of carbon escalated areas, for example, oil and gas, power and industrials, Citi accepts that this aspiration to bring its business and the worldwide economy into an arrangement with the Paris Agreement won't be simple. As we start the "Time of Action" to accomplish the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Agreement, Citi's 2025 Sustainable Progress Strategy sets out three key mainstays of action that add to the world's feasible advancement plan:
· Low-Carbon Transition: The organization intends to quicken the progress to a low-carbon economy through the $250 Billion Environmental Finance Goal and encourage ecological arrangements for more than five years on the side of different elements and exercises like Renewable Energy, Clean Technology, Sustainable Transportation, Energy Efficiency, Green Buildings, Water Quality and Conservation, Circular Economy, Sustainable Agriculture, and Land Use
· Climate Risk: The organization intends to quantify, oversee, and lessen the climate risk and effect of its customer portfolio. It further plans to improve its TCFD execution and divulgence through policy development, portfolio analysis, and stakeholder engagement
· Sustainable Operations: One of the significant objectives additionally include a decrease in the environmental footprint of its offices and reinforce its sustainability culture while it keeps on minimizing the effect of its worldwide tasks through operational impression objectives, and further incorporate sustainable practices over the organization.
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