June 2021
Survey of Corporate Attitudes Toward the SDGs (2021)
39.7% of companies are positive about the SDGs, a large increase from last year
— On the other hand, companies that are not making efforts account for more than half —
Introduction
SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) are the global goals listed in the 2030 Agenda agreed upon by 193 countries from around the world, with stakeholders from industry, government, academia and the private sector, etc., at the United Nations summit in September 2015. In order to achieve the SDGs by 2030, accelerated efforts by all industry, government, academia and the private sector are anticipated under the name, “Decade of Action,” since January 2020.
Teikoku Databank has conducted a survey on corporate attitudes toward the SDGs. This survey was conducted in conjunction with the June 2021 TDB Trends Research.
*Survey period: June 17 – June 30, 2021, Companies Surveyed: 23,737, Valid Responses: 11,109 (Response Rate: 46.8%).
*Following the survey for the SDGs in June 2020, this is the 2nd such survey.
*Details of this survey can be found on the dedicated Economic Trend Survey website (http://www.tdb-di.com).
Primary points of survey results(summary)
- 1 With respect to the company’s understanding of and efforts toward the SDGs, 14.3% of companies say they “understand their meaning and significance, and are making efforts,” up 6.3 points from the previous survey (in June 2020). 39.7% of companies were positive about the SDGs, up 15.3 points from the previous survey. On the other hand, 50.5%, more than half of the companies, are not making efforts toward the SDGs.
- 2 By size, more than half of large companies are positive about the SDGs at 55.1%, while 36.6% of small and medium-sized companies are positive, 18.5 points lower than that of large companies. There is a difference in the awareness about the SDGs by company size.
- 3 By industry, those companies being positive are “Finance” at 56.0%, the highest percentage, followed by “Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries” at 55.6% also above half. On the other hand, companies that are not making efforts are “Wholesale” at 52.9%, the highest percentage, followed by “Transportation and Warehousing” (51.0%), “Service” (50.8%), and “Construction” (50.4%). Those four industries each exceeded 50%.
- 4 For the items companies are currently working hard to address among the 17 SDGs, “Decent work and economic growth” showed the highest percentage at 32.0% (multiple answers). For the items companies want to address most in the future, “Decent work and economic growth” also ranked top at 15.4% (single answer). In any items, “Affordable and clean energy,” and “Responsible consumption and production” were highly ranked.
- 5 When seeing SDGs’ economic diffusion index (general), which represents the business confidence of companies that are positive about SDGs, the SDGs’ economic DI (general) for June 2021 was 41.1, still at a level exceeding the overall economic DI. In terms of 17 goals, “Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure” and “Reduced Inequalities” were highly ranked.