The following blog was written by Charlotte Österman (Social Value UK & Pax Tecum Global Consultancy) and Rebecca Harvey (Social Value International).

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report that was released in August, has been noted as “code red” for humanity. The findings of the report showed that it is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land; that widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have occur and that human-induced climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe. Yet the IPCC report is not the first warning highlighting the risks that climate change poses and global action to address climate change has been promised for many years, from the Rio Declaration in 1992 to the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015, leaders across the world have come together with promises to tackle the climate crisis. Climate change is also central to the achievement of the SDGs, as without protecting the environment it is impossible to ever achieve sustainable development.  

As we covered in another recently published SDG progress blog, the SDG’s agenda is to create peace and prosperity for all, stop climate change and end poverty and there’s a clear overlap to social value as we know it and to our mission to reduce inequality, degree environmental degradation and increase our aggregated wellbeing. That’s why we’ve chosen to use these areas of our mission as a basis for the blogs of this mini-series. We hope these will provide a few snapshot insights for you to know where we are at and what’s happening in Social Value International network relating to this agenda. 

When discussing climate change and environmental degradation, what do we mean? 

The natural environment or natural world encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally, and is vital for the survival of humans. It provides us with food, shelter, air, and fulfils all humans’ basic needs whether big or small. 

Yet despite human reliance on the natural world around us, there is significant evidence to show that human behaviour is causing irreversible damage to the natural world. When discussing this damage, we often find ourselves discussing climate change or environmental degradation and to explain what we mean by this simply, climate is the average weather in a place over many years and climate change is a shift in those average conditions. Environmental degradation is the process in which our natural environment is being compromised, which reduces the biological diversity and the general health of the environment. 

It is now clear, the earth is now in a period of rapid climate change, with global temperatures rising because of environmental degradation linked to human activities, such as rapid deforestation and the burning of coal, oil and gas which in itself, is having major impacts on people, the environment and natural habitats.  

How is the environment and climate covered in the SDGs? 

Sustainability, climate change and the environment are so interlinked that is no surprise that the environment, and protection of it, is clearly named as a key priority of the SDGs through SDG 13: Climate Action, which urges us all to take urgent action to tackle climate change. 

But this goal is only one part of the multi-faceted picture. The environment is not one simple thing and can’t be reduced only to climate change, as the environment is everything around us, from the air we breathe to the deep-sea habitat for fishes and creators that humans are still to discover. 

There are many ways that our human activities are affecting the environment, which is why the impact can and should be assessed through various lenses. The SDGs recognise this and in addition to the SDG 13 that has been given increased attention lately (see e.g. IPCC report mentioned in introduction & current COP26 conversations). The importance of tackling this environmental segregation holistically is directly recognised within several SDGs: 

• SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation to ensure availability and sustainable management for all 

• SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all 

• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation  

• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable 

• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns 

• SDG 14: Life Below Water to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development 

• SDG 15: Life Above Water to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss 

And we’re seeing action in various areas. In particular last month, we saw a lot of activity at the annual UN General Assembly, where amongst the events was the launch of the Insurance & Risk Finance Facility. Under this initiative the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) targets work towards directly combating insurance supply and demand challenges and working side-by-side with the insurance industry to seize opportunities to scale protection and build long-term resilience. Resilience that provides a clear link to many of the SDGs listed above. 

What is the SDG progress on climate change? 

Despite photos of happy dolphins in our harbours, wild animals re-entering the streets and air travel basically coming to a standstill in the eye of the pandemic last year, contrary to what some believe, COVID-19 did little to stop climate change as the SDG progress report of the Secretary-General points out: 

“The slowdown associated with COVID-19 has done little to slow the climate crisis. Preliminary data show global greenhouse gas emissions increased in 2020 while the global average temperature in 2020 was about 1.2°C above pre-industrial level, dangerously close to the 1.5°C limit called for in the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, the world fell short on 2020 targets to halt biodiversity loss and 10 million hectares of forest being lost per year between 2015-2020.” 

The report also points out interesting findings to specific SDGs of which below is only a few: 

• Over the last century, global water use has increased at more than twice the rate of population growth. This cause water stress and countries are facing growing challenges linked to water pollution, degraded water-related ecosystems, water scarcity caused by climate change and cooperation over transboundary waters.  

• There’s been significant progress on improving access to electricity, increasing the use of renewable energy in the electricity sectors, and improving energy efficiency, but there’s still a long way to go to achieving affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. 

• Cities are experiencing rising slum dweller populations, worsening air pollution, minimal open public spaces and limited convenient access to public transport.  

• We are consuming more, and data indicates a rise in global material footprint per capita by almost 40%, from 8.8 metric tons in 2000 to 12.2 metric tons in 2017. But on a semi-positive note, in December 2020, 40 countries had reported on Sustainable Public Procurement policies and action plans (or equivalent legal dispositions), to encourage the procurement of environmentally sound, energy-efficient products, and to promote more socially-responsible purchasing practices and sustainable supply chains. 

• On another semi-positive, the rate of deforestation has slowed down in the last decade in tropical regions. But we need vigilant targeted efforts to maintain this trend and the proportion of forest area still fell from 31.9% of total land area in 2000 to 31.2% in 2020, representing a net loss of almost 100 million hectares of the world’s forests. 

In short and also when analysed from an SDG perspective, there’s still a lot of work to be done to stop climate change and environmental degradation. 

What is Social Value International doing to tackle environmental degradation and climate change? 

At Social Value International our mission is to change the way society accounts for value because we believe that using a broader definition of value will lead to reduced environmental degradation, improved wellbeing and equality for all. All too often key decisions about resources and policies are made using a limited economic concept of value, which fails to consider important effects on people and the environment. As the gap between rich and poor increases and the effects of climate change become more apparent, our work has never been more urgent. 

We know that in order to achieve the SDGs, the impact that we all create needs to be measured and managed effectively so that the resources invested into tackling inequality can make the biggest difference possible. We know that this needs to happen across the spectrum, by governments, investors and businesses and needs to be done in a way that is consistent and measurable. That is why SVI is proud to support the SDG Impact Standards and why, earlier this year, we were so pleased to announce our strategic partnership with SDG Impact in the development of the assurance model and in training materials for UNDP country offices.  

We know that achievement of the SDGs is vital for the sustainability of this planet. We are passionate about ensuring that globally we make decisions based on a broader sense of value, where the planet and natural capital is taken into account; and this is one of the themes we hope to discuss in the upcoming Social Value Matters Conference. 

This year’s Social Value Matters Conference will be focused around the theme “leading our transition to a sustainable world” and will explore how changing the way we account for value can transform the world around us and help us achieve the SDGs by 2030. Like the SDGs themselves, the themes of climate change, inequality and wellbeing will be discussed across all of the keynotes, panel discussions and workshops as we explore innovative ways to tackle these global challenges – but we know just how important protecting the environment is and so to hear more about this, and how changing the way we account for value can make a difference to climate change, join us at: 

• Transforming decision making to achieve sustainable development on 20th October 

• The incentives - the business case for being sustainable on 20th October 

• Linking climate change to social inequality on 21st October  

To find out more about Social Value Matters 2021, please head to the dedicated conference website.