This research is important for several reasons. First, companies are being pressured by different interest groups to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs; second, a very high percentage of companies are not even sensitive to the fact that the SDGs are important for their sustainability; thirdly, researchers, especially those in the social sciences, have not generated knowledge about the state of the SDGs in companies; and fourth, the tourism sector is important for the achievement of the SDGs. The data collection method focuses on the material object “hotel companies” and uses secondary data available in different sources. Among the most relevant results of the research, the authors highlight the following: first, the companies in the sample, although they do not seem to have a formal plan, implement one or more SDGs; in second place, the SDG implemented in the largest number of companies is gender equality; thirdly, the least implemented SDGs are quality education, clean water and sanitation, affordable and non-polluting energy, and reduction of inequalities.
TopIntroduction
In the words of Bowen et al. (2017) an unprecedented international policy window to address issues of sustainability and human development at the global level through the United Nations 2030 agenda and its central element, the “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDG), which were signed in 2015, has been opened.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), agreed on by the Heads of 193 countries, represent an important multilateral effort to move the world towards more sustainable and resilient pathways (Caiado et al., 2018).
According to Fleming et al. (2017), this allows for a much broader vision of sustainability, never before achieved, focused on environmental and human development achievements until 2030 (Salvia et al., 2019).
The SDGs have been acknowledged in many different ways, among which we highlight the following: the largest consultation in the history of the UN (Reyers et al., 2017); the means to reduce global and long-term existential and catastrophic risks to humanity (Cernev & Fenner, 2020); the opportunity for systemic (Costanza et al., 2016) and transformative change on a global scale (Bowen et al., 2017); the key global (Hák et al., 2016), broad, complex (Salvia et al., 2019) and ambitious challenges of humanity (Biermann et al., 2017); the new approach to global governance (Biermann et al., 2017); the shared goals of all humanity (Costanza et al., 2016); or an important step to build global consensus on what kind of world is desirable (Costanza et al., 2016).
Achieving the SDGs is a gigantic task that requires all stakeholders on Earth to work together (Fleming et al., 2017); since none, separate from the others has sufficient resources or capabilities to provide all the solutions necessary to achieve them (Sullivan et al., 2018).
Companies are being pressured by organizations such as the United Nations Global Reporting Initiative to report on their contribution to the SDGs (Moldavska & Welo, 2019).
According to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (2020), 71% of companies say they are already planning how they will interact with the SDGs; 41% say they will integrate the SDGs into their strategy and the way they do business within 5 years and 13% have identified the tools they need to assess their impact against the SDGs. By 2020, only 30% expect to have identified the tools they need to assess their impact and 40% think they have not even identified which SDGs are relevant to their business; And reassuringly, only 9% say they will do nothing.
Jones et al. (2015) suggested that business commitment to the SDGs generates unknown demands and will effectively improve the license to operate.
Companies are also subject to increasing pressure from global markets to support and align with the SDGs (Fleming et al., 2017) and from institutional investors to drive corporate transparency regarding the company's contribution to the SDGs (Cernev & Fenner, 2020).
Multinational companies can use the SDGs as a guideline to invest in sustainable development while pursuing their own business interests (Grover et al. (2019).
On the other hand, the academy has intensified its interest in the SDGs (Moldavska & Welo, 2019) and plays a key role in the achievement of the SDGs (Salvia et al., 2019) regarding the measurement of genuine progress and the alignment of the SDGs with existing governance arrangements (Biermann et al., 2017).