Colombia launches SDG Corporate Tracker to measure private sector contribution to the SDGs

SDG Corporate Tracker, a pioneering initiative that invites the private sector to measure its contribution to the SDGs, launched in Colombia

Bogota, Colombia, 3 April 2019 - The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Corporate Tracker, a consolidated national platform where companies in Colombia can report their contributions to the SDGs, was launched today. The initiative is led by the Technical Secretariat of the ODS Commission in Colombia, headed by the National Planning Department (DNP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), its Business Call to Action (BCtA), and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The platform will be available on the website www.ods.gov.co.

For Pablo Ruiz, UNDP Colombia Country Director, sustainability reports are important for three reasons. First, because they increase understanding that the private sector is a fundamental actor in any development process; secondly, because when reporting, areas where improvements can be made within the management of companies are visible; and thirdly, because such reporting enables private sector contribution to be linked with public policies and, thus, ensure that its contribution to the improvements of the country is measured and included in overall SDG reporting.

In its first year, the SDG Corporate Tracker will focus on analyzing the contribution of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), joint ventures and the infrastructure sector and the impact of their businesses on the advancement of the 2030 Agenda.

During today's event, Leonor Esguerra, Director of Sustainability and Shared Value of the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá, reiterated the support of the Chamber of Commersto this initiative. "We are interested in being part of this national and governmental effort and we invite more companies to join the initiative," he said.

Lucas Gómez, Technical Secretary of the ODS Commission and Director of Monitoring and Evaluation of Public Policies of the DNP, reiterated the value of the SDG Corporate Tracker as a tool that materializes the multi-actor approach in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Colombia. "Thanks to our partners GRI and UNDP because we are jointly achieving these objectives to report what the private sector is doing in terms of sustainability. So we are making it possible for all of us to have a better country by 2030, "he said.

The SDG Corporate Tracker has a bold, cooperative and dynamic approach that involves in equal parts - the private sector, civil society, academia and governments around a very important and powerful message: that collective action is the only way to achieve sustainability, and that the collection of information directly from companies is the most efficient way for their strategy and operations to be reflected in the fulfillment and implementation of the SDGs.

At the meeting, which served as a space to share experiences and good practices, some of the companies that participated in a first pilot project measuring the contribution of the private sector in five priority SDGs (SDG 6, 7, 11, 12 and 15) shared their own experiences. These results were published in the document The Private Sector and its Contribution to the SDGs: A Journey to Data Gathering Through Corporate Sustainability Reporting in Colombia and were included in the second National Voluntary Report presented by the Colombian Government within the framework of the Political Forum High Level of 2018.