The Make-or-Break Decade for the SDGs has begun

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Does double materiality actually equate to SDG
materiality or is that not taking it far enough?
Alexander Bassen: The Sustainable Development
Goals were adopted by the
United Nations in 2015 and comprise 17
goals that the international community
has agreed to, along with 169 sub-targets.
These were originally intended for states
to measure their performance. However,
they are now increasingly being implemented
by companies to measure their
own performance in relation to societal
challenges. It’s not necessarily the case
that double materiality is covered by this.
The SDGs are concerned with very,
very different areas – from poverty
and hunger to questions regarding the
environment and water as well as social
questions, such as urban development.
When you use SDG materiality
as a basis, it becomes important to work
out what type of influence companies
have on the SDGs with their activities or
products. Certain companies are already
reporting on this very essential question.
However, when we take a closer
look at the reporting, individual SDGs
are often singled out and are usually
those in areas where one is making a
positive contribution as a company. Of
course, it is interesting to see the whole
picture. Positive contributions are made
by companies as well as negative ones,
which necessarily exist, because the
SDGs also contain conflicting targets.
Aspects surrounding growth often cause
problems not only with environmental
standards but also with social standards.
Obviously, these target conflicts need to
be addressed within the context of an
overall view, otherwise you don’t have
the complete picture.
In the area of climate change, you work with
the “currency” of CO 2
equivalents. It’s not
nearly as defined or as easily measured as in
other areas, such as biodiversity and social
topics. How do we solve the problem when, on
Prof. Dr. Alexander Bassen
has been Professor of Business
Administration, in particular
Capital Markets and
Management, at the University
of Hamburg since 2003.
Furthermore, he has also been
a member of the German
Council for Sustainable
Development since 2013.
30 Global Goals Yearbook 2021