Companies, executives and experts gathered at ESADE to analyse various successful corporate contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at an event centred on the first report of ESADE and the “la Caixa” Banking Foundation’s Observatory on Sustainable Development Goals, entitled The Contribution of Spanish Companies to the SDGs.

“The SDGs are a compass that companies should use to guide their goals, and they provide the best response to the current challenges,” commented Àngel Pes, Director of the Observatory on Sustainable Development Goals and President of the Global Compact Network Spain. “In this sense, there is an fundamental social stakeholder: the public sector.” At the end of his remarks, he added: “The 2030 Agenda is the only serious plan currently on the table that has been approved by all countries; we will only achieve the goals if the entire world is committed to them.

The speakers invited to discuss their successful experiences included Dulcinea Meijide, Director of Sustainable Development at Suez Spain, who commented: “When a company initiates a strategic plan, that’s a good time to include the SDGs.” During her remarks, Lourdes Ripoll, Deputy Manager to the CEO and Vice President of CSR at Meliá Hotels International, echoed Ms. Meijide: “CSR is really the department that spearheads changes in relation to the SDGs, but timetables are set by institutions, not departments.” She added: “It’s a long process that has to evolve. In our case, Meliá Hotels is present in 43 countries. The company has decided to work on a series of common goals, while at the same time each country, depending on its cultural characteristics, will work on other goals.” Meritxell Ripoll, Director of Corporate Responsibility at CaixaBank, explained that her organisation contributes to the SDGs through a well-grounded plan that incorporates experts from various areas and taps into the resources of the bank’s foundation. Mónica Oviedo, Director of Sustainability Management at Iberdrola, commented: “The SDGs are a challenge, a radical change – and we need innovation in order to change radically.”

“When we defined our main issues, the SDGs came up, so it was a good fit; now the important thing is to convey to our workers the importance of these objectives and tap into the impact that our volunteers are capable of having in relation to these goals, “ commented Alicia Bové, Director of Reporting and Measurement at the DKV Group. “For the future, thinking in terms of the SDGs and thinking about our sector – health – we want to work on raising society’s awareness about preventing childhood obesity.”

“We have seen that companies focus on two or three goals and work to fine-tune the contribution that they are able to make without getting too sidetracked from their main activity,” commented Liliana Arroyo, a researcher at the Observatory on Sustainable Development Goals and the Institute for Social Innovation at ESADE. “There is a gateway and a window of opportunity between the SDGs and the companies’ business agenda. They try to make sure that the goals are shared by the entire organisation.”

Àngel Castiñeira, Associate Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Director of the Chair in LeadershipS and Democratic Governance, also participated in the session in his capacity as academic director of the Observatory on Sustainable Development Goals. In his closing remarks, Prof. Castiñeira underscored the importance of translating the findings of the first report into the practical involvement of companies – from large, publicly traded corporations down to small, privately owned businesses.