The Business for Goals Platform was established to build a bridge between the business community and Sustainable Development Goals and strengthen the role of businesses in sustainable development.

In 2015, 193 member states of the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which offered a roadmap to eliminate poverty, protect our plant, ensure that human beings live in peace and prosperity, and build a framework for global and local sustainable development by 2030. The Business for Goals Platform leads and guides all stakeholders along this roadmap.

In this context, the founding purpose of the Business for Goals Platform is to build a bridge between the business community and Sustainable Development Goals and strengthen the role of businesses in sustainable development.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) conceived in the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (a.k.a. Rio+20) of 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The purpose is to form a cluster of universal goals which addresses urgent environmental, political and economic problems of our planet.

SDGs replaced the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that launched a global mobilisation in 2000 to eliminate degrading poverty. SDGs represent a bold commitment to achieve what started with MDGs to solve the most serious problems facing our planet today.

SDGs are unique by their coverage of all problems of concern to us. SDGs emphasise our global commitment to eradicate poverty everywhere, signifying our resolve to leave no one behind. More importantly, SDGs engage all in creating a more sustainable, safer and more prosperous planet for humanity.

SDGs represent a full set of 17 interconnected goals, and 169 targets. For detailed information, visit here.

The Platform focuses on,

• Climate change and disaster resilience,
• Future-Fit,
• Inclusive growth.

The Business for Goals Platform was Established by TURKONFED, TUSIAD and UNDP to serve, in line with the principle of inclusion, as a platform open to all large-, medium- and small-sized enterprises willing to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals into their corporate policies and strategies, all public agencies keen on public-private partnership, local governments, academia, international organizations and non-governmental sector.

The stakeholders of the Platform are all large-, medium- and small-sized enterprises willing to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals into their corporate policies and strategies, all public agencies keen on public-private partnership, local governments, academia and non-governmental sector.

• The Platform has a governance structure of two main bodies. The Executive Board, as the decision-making body, consists of three representatives from each of the founding partners TURKONFED, TUSIAD, and a president.
• The Coordination Team executes the work of the Platform. It consists of one representative from each of the founding partners, a platform director and an assistant director.
• The Platform’s meetings and partnerships are open to the participation of all defined stakeholders.

The Business for Goals Platform is not a member-based platform. The Platform conducts all its work transparently and open to its stakeholders in line with the principle of inclusion.

Participation in the Platform work is totally free of charge. For collaborative work under the Platform, efforts are made to develop resources jointly.

Yes. Participation in the Platform work is open to all who wish to take active responsibility in the private sector’s efforts to advance the Sustainable Development Goals. Please follow the events calendar on our website.

• You can participate in the meetings of the Platform on “Climate Change and Disaster Resilience, Future-Fit and Inclusive Growth”. Please follow the events calendar on our website.
• In addition to the Platform meetings, if you are willing to develop partnership in line with the priority axes and principles of the Platform, you can initiate a business development process by one-on-one meetings. To that end, please contact us here.

The operationalization process of the Business for Goals Platform is supported by a funding received from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and in-kind contributions from TURKONFED and TUSIAD.

The Business for Goals Platform is a collaboration platform with a separate governance body represented by the partner organizations, and it does not have a separate legal entity. The platform does not engage in any act contrary to the laws of the Turkish Republic. It expects all stakeholders to act so.

The Business for Goals Platform is an initiative that advances the concept of corporate social responsibility. The Platform has a structure that promotes corporate social responsibility policies for companies, analyses the link between Sustainable Development Goals and the private sector, develops policy recommendations and implements multi-stakeholder/multi-partner programmes in line with Turkeys development priorities.

The UN Global Compact supports companies around the world in aligning their strategies and operations with the ten principles on human rights, labour standards, anti-environment and anti-corruption. In this context, it plays guiding role for the companies to sign for such commitments and enable them to set goals for the fulfilment of such commitments. The UN Global Compact differs from the Business for Goals Platform in that the former features paid membership and requires member companies to submit a progress report on 10 principles. The Business for Goals Platform on the other hand is a non-membership, non-commitment action platform that brings together its stakeholders such as the private sector, public sector, local governments, academia and NGOs around SDGs to forge partnerships. The Business for Goals Platform and the UN Global Compact Initiative work in cooperation.

The Business for Goals Platform carries out its activities in coordination with the public sector and works closely with the relevant public authorities in order to strengthen the role of private sector in SDGs.

SDGs efforts in Turkey are coordinated by the Strategy and Budget Office of the Presidency. The Business for Goals Platform was mentioned on page 20 of the Second Voluntary National Review Report of Turkey 2019 prepared under the coordination of the said Office.

Please contact us at: info@business4goals.org