If you want to check how sustainable a company is, you will need to look for its ESG report. ESG has become a hot topic in the boardrooms, and an increasing requirement for investors, employees and customers. As a business, If ESG regulations don’t affect you yet, they will soon. 

So, what is ESG? 

We know that when investors look at a business and decide whether to invest, they evaluate areas such as financial data, sales growth, cash flow and market share. These factors are essential, but they are not enough. It is now crucial that investors look at performance metrics in what we call ESG. 

ESG stands for the Environmental, Social, and Governance factors which are used to evaluate companies on how advanced they are when it comes to sustainability. 

These factors are considered the 3 pillars of sustainability. Once enough data has been collected in these areas, they can be integrated into investment processes when making decisions around...

In 2015, leaders from 193 different countries agreed on 17 global goals they felt the world needed to achieve by 2030. The ninth goal is Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, which is about developing and promoting sustainable industry and enhancing innovation.

When we talk about climate change and how we should tackle this crisis, oftentimes we think of the most pressing issues such as poverty, biodiversity loss, climate action, and gender equality.

But how does ‘Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure’ fit into this picture, and is this SDG a vital part of solving the climate crisis, and if so, how? We will be discussing this in this week’s blog!

What is the aim of this SDG?

SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure aims to develop and promote sustainable industry and enhance innovation. It is known that diverse economies with strong infrastructures often sustain less damage and experience faster recovery from potential economic challenges. SDG 9...

UN SDG 8 main goal is to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. However, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), 28 million were in forced labor in 2021.

In today’s blog, we’ll learn about the current forced labor reality and the meaning of decent work and sustainable economic growth.

Forced Labour – modern slavery behind your favourite brands?

Forced Labour refers to situations in which persons are coerced to work through the use of violence or intimidation, or by more subtle means such as manipulated debt, retention of identity papers, or threats of denunciation to immigration authorities. It is also called modern slavery because it refers to situations of exploitation, where a person cannot refuse or cannot leave because of threats, violence, coercion, deception, or abuse of power. Some important facts to know:

• Women and migrants are more likely to be involved in...

UN SDG 6 main goal is to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. However, the most recent UN report on Water warned of an approaching global water crisis because of pollution, global warming and overconsumption.

In today’s blog, you'll read about some of the main problems related to water and sanitation that are included in the United Nations Agenda, but are far away from being solved.

Access to clean water & sanitation

Access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene is the most basic human need for health and well-being, and still having unlimited water running out of the sink is a privilege:

In 2020, only 74% of the global population had access to safely managed drinking water services. Meaning that two billion people live without these services.

Sanitation is essential to prevent diseases such as diarrhea which is the second leading cause of death in children under five. 946 million people still open defecate and 2.4 billion...

 Achieving Affordable and Clean Energy for All!

In 2015, leaders from 193 different countries agreed on 17 global goals they felt the world needed to achieve by 2030. The seventh of these goals is Affordable and Clean Energy, which is about ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.

The main goals of SDG 7 are to create a world where everyone has access to energy, where the proportion of renewable energy is higher, and where funding and infrastructure are made available to the countries that need it most!

Energy can mean many different things - from the food we put in our bodies, to the coal that is burned to power industrial machinery, to the radiation used to carry out an X-ray in a hospital. Energy is all around us. It powers our homes, our cars, and much of our lives.

The vast majority of this energy that powers our world comes from three main sources: Oil (31%), Coal (27%), and Gas (25%). Approximately 35 billion barrels...

SDG 5 focuses on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls by promoting equal rights, opportunities, and access to resources.

The purpose of SDG 5 is to eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls, promote their access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, and ensure their equal representation. This goal also aims to promote gender-sensitive policies and laws and eliminate harmful practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation.

One key aspect of this goal is ensuring that women have access to maternal healthcare services that meet their needs and that they are included in the decision-making process when it comes to their health. In Ireland, there has been a call to include women with Gestational Diabetes (GDM) on the Long-Term Illness (LTI) Scheme for the duration of pregnancy. Diabetes Ireland reports that each year in Ireland approximately 7,440 women...

Quality Education – Sustainable Development Goal 4

Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) places a huge focus on ensuring inclusive and fair quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. As we all know, education is a fundamental human right and crucial for personal and societal development, economic growth, and sustainable development.

The main target of this goal is to help improve the quality and relevance of education, increase access to education for all, reduce disparities in education, and enhance teachers’ capacity and knowledge.

Achieving SDG 4 is crucial to help achieve other sustainable development goals. This is due to education playing a critical role in eradicating poverty (SDG 1 blog), reducing inequality, promoting gender equality, and combating climate change.

Education empowers and enables individuals to make informed choices, improve their well-being (SDG 3 blog), and contribute positively to their communities and...

Good Health and Wellbeing – Sustainable Development Goal 3

Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3) aims to ensure good health and well-being at all ages. This includes a commitment to end the increase of AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria, and other communicable diseases by 2030. It also aims to achieve universal health coverage and provide access to safe and effective medicines and vaccines for all.



What would the world look like if there was more importance put on good health and well-being for all?

If this goal was fully implemented, it would mean a world where everyone has access to quality healthcare, no matter where you live or how much money you have, you would be able to get the healthcare you need. This means more doctors, nurses, and healthcare facilities in disadvantaged areas, and more funding to support healthcare systems in developing countries.

Preventive care would be a priority rather than waiting for people to get sick, we would focus more on preventing...

Is achieving Zero Hunger possible???

In 2015, leaders from 193 different countries agreed on 17 global goals they felt the world needed to achieve by 2030. The second of these goals is Zero Hunger, which is about creating a world free of hunger!

What is the aim of this SDG?

The main goal of SDG 2 is to create a world that is completely free from hunger by 2030. The main aims are to completely end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.

The world is currently on the verge of a global food crisis, with millions of people experiencing hunger.

Currently 821 million people experience hunger daily, with 100+ million enduring chronic hunger due to many different factors.

The global food supply system has been particularly under pressure due to a cascading combination of growing conflict, climate-related shocks and widening inequalities. As many as 828 million people may have suffered from hunger in 2021. With the outbreak of the war in...

In 2015, leaders from 193 different countries agreed 17 global goals they felt the world needed to achieve by 2030. The first of these goals is about ending poverty in all its forms everywhere.

Poverty is a state in which a person lacks the financial resources and essentials for a certain standard of living. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects.

When I think about poverty it evokes images of malnourished children, entire families without shelter, food, water or sanitation. This is known as absolute poverty. One out of five children live in extreme poverty, and the negative effects of poverty and deprivation in the early years have ramifications that can last a lifetime. Often, people living in extreme poverty are not recognised as equals in society and experience discrimination, stigmatisation and exclusion.

But there is another type of poverty, relative poverty, which measures when a person cannot meet a minimum level of living...