Sustainable development: Put purpose before profit (Part 2)

Last week I wrote about the fact that in recent years, a growing number of companies around the world have voluntarily adopted and implemented a broad range of sustainability practices.

I added that in the Philippines, the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has just issued the sustainability reporting guidelines for publicly-listed companies (PLCs). The guidelines are intended to help PLCs access and manage non-financial performance across economic, environmental and social aspects of their organizations and enable PLCs to measure and monitor their contributions toward achieving universal targets of sustainability such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as well as national policies and programs.

For today’s column, I have selected 6 of the 17 UNDP goals. I chose those that affect people directly:

Goal 1: No poverty

Extreme poverty has been cut by more than half since 1990. Still, more than 1 in 5 people live on less than the target figure of US$1.25 per day. Poverty is more than the lack of income or resources. People live in poverty if they lack basic services such as healthcare, security, and education. They also experience hunger, social discrimination, and exclusion from decision-making processes. Children make up the majority – more than half – of those living in extreme poverty.

Question: How many families live in Metro Manila in the streets and under bridges?

Goal 2: Zero hunger

Goal 2 states that by 2030 we should end hunger and all forms of malnutrition. This would be accomplished by doubling agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers (especially women and indigenous peoples), by ensuring sustainable food production systems, and by progressively improving land and soil quality. Agriculture is the single largest employer in the world, providing livelihoods for 40% of the global population. It is the largest source of income for poor rural households.

Chronic malnutrition, which affects an estimated 155 million children worldwide, also stunts children's brain and physical development and puts them at further risk of death, disease, and lack of success as adults.

Question: Why are the children of farmers in the Philippines leaving the rural areas and flock to urban areas?

Goal 3: Good health and well-being for people

Goal 3 aims to achieve universal health coverage, including access to essential medicines and vaccines. It proposes to end the preventable death of newborns and children under 5 and to end epidemics such as AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and water-borne diseases, for example.  Attention to health and well-being also includes targets related to the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, deaths and injuries from traffic accidents and from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination.

Question: Why are essential medicines and vaccines substantially more expensive in the Philippines compared to other countries in ASEAN?

Goal 4: Quality education

Major progress has been made in access to education, specifically at the primary school level, for both boys and girls. Still, at least 22 million children in 43 countries will miss out on pre-primary education unless the rate of progress doubles.

Question: What can the Philippine government and the private sector do to ensure access to education and the development of higher skills needed in today’s work environment?

Goal 5: Decent work and economic growth

For the least developed countries, the economic target is to attain at least a 7 percent annual growth in gross domestic product (GDP). Achieving higher productivity will require diversification and upgraded technology along with innovation, entrepreneurship, and the growth of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Some targets are for 2030; others are for 2020. The target for 2020 is to reduce youth unemployment and operationalize a global strategy for youth employment. By 2030, the target is to establish policies for sustainable industries.

Question: What percentage of unemployment / underemployment in the Philippines pertains to the youth?

Goal 6: Reducing inequalities

The target for the cost that international migrant workers would pay to send money home (known as remittances) was established at 3%. However, post offices and money transfer companies currently charge 6 percent of the amount remitted. Worse, commercial banks charge 11 percent. Prepaid cards and mobile money companies charge 2 to 4 percent, but those services were not widely available as of 2017 in typical "remittance corridors.”

Question: Are the Philippine OFWs enjoying the maximum 3%?

Feedback is invited; let me know whether you know the answers - email me at [email protected]