Industry

Industry holds an indispensable relationship with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) formulated by the United Nations, illuminating the fact that sustainable industrial development plays a vital role in achieving these global objectives. Industry, particularly manufacturing, serves as a critical driver for economic growth, employment, and technological advancement. SDG 9, specifically, underlines the importance of industry, innovation, and infrastructure, underscoring the need for resilient infrastructure, inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and fostering innovation. However, the intricate interlinkages between industry and other SDGs must not be overlooked.

For instance, clean and sustainable industrial processes contribute significantly to SDG 13, aiming at climate action, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving energy efficiency, and adopting clean and environmentally sound technologies. Similarly, SDG 12, responsible consumption and production, demands the industries to promote resource and energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure, and provide access to basic services, green and decent jobs, and a better quality of life for all. It motivates industries to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle.

The role of industries extends to SDG 8 (Decent work and Economic Growth) as industries stimulate economic activities that lead to job creation and thus, improve living standards. Also, in respect to SDG 5 (Gender Equality), industrial sectors have the potential to provide opportunities for women in the workforce and help bridge the gender wage gap.

Nevertheless, the transformation to a more sustainable industry is not without challenges. The demands of rapid technological changes, the need for significant capital investments in green technologies, and the transition to a circular economy are some of the hurdles industry faces. Further, this transformation requires a multilevel and multi-stakeholder approach, calling for cooperation among governments, private sectors, academia, and civil society to pave the path to achieving SDGs.

ICIS,

ICIS Chemical Business, 12 January 2018

President Xi’s environmental drive prioritises air quality over GDP growth
Supporting Goal 11. China’s campaign to clean-up its environment. spurs record profits in chemicals value chains.
For over 15 years, businesses around the world have turned to the UN Global Compact to shape their corporate sustainability approach. We offer an extensive toolbox ranging from leadership engagement platforms to best practices and resources that will help your business embed the Ten Principles into your operations, identify new opportunities to advance the SDGs and partner with the United Nations.
This book chapter addresses goals 7 and 9 by looking at the future plan for nuclear energy to contribute to a cleaner energy mix, considering sustainable development, globalisation and climate change.
Elsevier, Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 8, December 2017
Chemistry made once expensive leisure activities available to public by providing inexpensive materials for fishing rods, golf equipment etc. Nowadays, eco-minded costumers wish the impact of their leisure activities on environment as little as possible, and thus expect materials to be overall sustainable. Particularly, the hospitality sector has to fulfill the expectations of eco-minded tourists who prefer hotels engaged in activities for protecting natural resources and working against waste accumulation.
The replacement of the fossil resources historically employed for chemicals’ production is of major scientific interest the last decades, as a result of the environmental issues arisen and the price versatility of petroleum. Biotechnological routes present promising alternatives for the production of various platform chemicals such as succinic, lactic and muconic acids among others. The utilisation of agricultural and agro-industrial waste and by-product streams would not only reduce the overall production cost but also it would assist towards the direction of the bio-economy era.
Elsevier, Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 8, December 2017
This article describes how a chemical company identified, developed and marketed a new solvent using EPA standards.
SDG resources - poster

The Blueprint for Business Leadership on the SDGs aims to inspire all business to take leading action in support of the achievement of all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each chapter focusses on a separate goal and illustrates how leadership qualities can be applied to create impact at scale.

Elsevier,

Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, Volume 22, August 2017

Access to reliable, affordable and sustainable energy is essential for improving living standards, development and economic growth. From a healthcare perspective, energy is a critical parameter for delivering and improving healthcare services and life-saving interventions in the Global South. This review provides an estimation of the energy needs of different healthcare facilities as a function of patient capacity and services provided. It also presents the strengths and limitations of several energy sources that can be used to meet these needs.

SDG Business Forum
In July the 2017 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Business Forum recognised the critical role of business in delivering on the promise of sustainable and inclusive development. In this article, we elaborate on the SDG business case, and how businesses can engage with the SDG framework; driving business growth and productivity, whilst contributing to the better world envisaged by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Elsevier, Sustainable Materials and Technologies, Volume 12, 1 July 2017
Material and product life cycles are based on complex value chains of technology-specific elements. Resource strategy aspects of essential and strategic raw materials have a direct impact on applications of new functionalized materials or the development of novel products. Thus, an urgent challenge of modern materials science is to obtain information about the supply risk and environmental aspects of resource utilization, especially at an early stage of basic research.

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