Publishing that drives Sustainable Development Goals

As signatories to both the UN’s Global Compact and the SDGs for publishers, we are committed to working with our partners and clients to ensure that their SDG progress reporting needs are met. This allows international and local partners to ensure that their published content is in line with the UN SDG Goals and that the information they publish not only champions these goals but also works to accelerate progress in the pursuit of meeting the UN’s 2030 objectives.

What are SDGs?

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals initiative describes a collection of 17 global objectives, created as a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. The UN has set 2030 as a target by which these Goals should be achieved. As signatories to the UN‘s Global Compact (UNGC) since its inception, we have committed to aligning our business practices in tandem with the United Nations’ drive to promote business practices that foster sustainability.

SDG Publishers Compact

We are also signatories to the UN Publishers Compact. As publishers, it is our responsibility to ensure that our influence and reach are used for the good of humankind. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Publishers Compact represents a unified commitment to working towards building a better future for all across the publishing industry. The compact aims to inspire publishers to subscribe to a set of values by taking action in the pursuit of realising these Sustainable Development Goals during the course of the decade of action (2020-2030).

SDGs for all

How SDGs for publishers aim to make a difference

The UN SDGs for Publishers lays out a set of Goals for those entrusted with creating content that aligns their own Goals with those of the UN. The compact strives to ensure that signatories work to take the action that contributes to the pursuit of adopting these SDGs, shaping an industry that subscribes to the basic tenants of developing a better world. The Compact fosters a commitment among Publishers towards publishing content that promotes equality, and Sustainability, adopting practices that have a minimal impact on the environment, and collaborating and educating all stakeholders within the industry.

The impact that publishers have on people’s lives

The importance and role that publishers play in the global community cannot be ignored. As the originators and disseminators of written information, publishing organisations hold the power to direct the global narrative and inform the world and the international community at large. It is their responsibility to ensure that content is published in a sustainable, ethical manner. This holds even more weight in developing countries, where many people still rely more on published content than they do on digital media. From books and journals to brochures and leaflets, information drives our reasoning and informs our thinking.

The core SDGs that we focus on

In our context, SDG 4 means working with our clients to ensure that their written work is communicated in a succinct manner, that can be easily consumed by the audiences for which it is intended.

SDG 17, which provides for partnerships in achieving the SDG goals, means for us working with organisations and institutions whose work drives wider societal impact.

Communication on Progress

  • This is an annual report that reaffirms our commitment to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). Through it, we are able to communicate our progress in implementing the UNGC principles as part of our corporate sustainability and responsibility to our stakeholders.

  • These principles revolve around the sphere of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption and guide our operations, policies and strategies throughout our financial year.

  • The United Nations Global Compact outlines ten principles that encourage signatories to adopt sustainable policies that work to eradicate corruption, promote human rights, pursue best labour practices, and protect the environment within the business sphere.

  • However, these Goals cannot be realised without accurate, actionable reporting. This reporting allows the UN to monitor and evaluate organisations’ progress in working to achieve these Goals by 2030 while adapting the framework to manage their implementation or hold non-compliant signatories to account.

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