Image from article, with caption: The UN headquarters in New York, lit up with the symbols of the SDGs and the flags of the member states.
Sustainable Development Goals pose a considerable test for governments and EU institutions. Yet in a world in which the corporate sector is likely to enjoy greater agency, there is a concomitant opportunity to use the SDG process as a trial for European diplomacy, argue Jan Melissen and Ries Kamphof.
Excerpt:
CEOs coming to the rescue in a post-fact world
Interestingly, changing political winds, not just in the United States but also in Europe, offer opportunities for a public/private meeting of minds. In the present ‘post-fact’ era, the very idea of SDGs and international co-operation is itself challenged by populist movements.
Corporate narratives can complement EU and member states’ public diplomacy. It helps when companies explain complex sustainability issues to the public. It enhances the legitimacy of experts when leading business people are forthright in speaking out against the politically-motivated dismissal of facts that are presented as inconvenient opinions of the elites.
A recent development is that we see CEOs raising their voice in support of sound arguments and against populist policies which damage business, such as ‘SDG advocates’ Paul Polman (Unilever) in Europe and Jack Ma (Alibaba Group) in Asia. No longer unlikely bedfellows, business people and civil servants are becoming more closely connected.
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