Around the world the ability of countries to deliver for their citizens is failing on multiple fronts. The United Nations 17 SDGs are a globally agreed framework for all countries to achieve by 2030 that sets out the building blocks of a new type of inclusive prosperity creation.

Across the 17 SDGs - and the 169 targets of which they are composed - are a range of interconnected economic, social and environmental issues. Taken together, they provide government, business and civil society with a roadmap to tackle urgent challenges, engage with emerging risks and discover new opportunities for creating value.

One of the most important aspects of the SDGs is that it recognises the critical role that business and finance will play, alongside national governments, in mobilising collaborative action to take on these critical socio-economic impediments to creating prosperity.

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Professional accountants have a core role to play in delivery of the SDGs

From the growing use of data and more effective measurement and reporting approaches that take social and environmental matters into account, to crafting new business models that take advantage of opportunities and tap into investment flows that the SDGs present, professional accountants around the world are set to be strongly engaged in delivery of the SDGs.

This report sets out how the SDGS agenda has become the new game in town for governments, business and society to pursue. It examines:

  • an overview of the current state of the global economy and its pressing challenges that the SDGs set out to remedy
  • the ways that professional accountants can engage in the delivery of the SDGs
  • the business case for the SDGs and ongoing mainstreaming in finance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.
  • the role of reporting frameworks in delivery of the SDGs.
  • experiences of professional accountants around the word engaging with SDGs.
Further reading