Waving the flag for sustainability on UN SDG Flag Day

Today is SDG Flag Day, which is an opportunity to raise awareness of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), show commitment to the Goals, and ignite more corporate action for achieving Agenda 2030, by waving the SDG flag. In the absence of an actual flagpole, we are choosing to do that virtually at CIOB!

This resonates with us particularly in 2024 because our new President, Professor Mike Kagioglou has chosen the theme of his presidency to be driving greater focus on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals in the built environment.

The SDGs provide a globally recognised pathway to the future we want, but only 16% of SDG targets are currently on track to be achieved by 2030. The remaining 84% show limited or a reversal of progress. The need for action on the Goals is greater than ever. 

Speaking at CIOB’s annual Members’ Forum event held in Cape Town, South Africa, Mike said the sector needs to focus on targets like building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and fostering sustainable innovation:

 “In 2015 – what seems like a lifetime ago – the United Nations adopted the SDGs to guide how, as a global community, we tackle humanity’s biggest challenges. They are about sustainability in the broader sense. They are about the quality of our lives, access to justice, economic growth, and productive employment.” 

Mike added that many of the 17 SDGS are easily relatable to the construction sector as well as CIOB’s corporate plan.

By raising the flag (albeit virtually in our case), organisations not only help mobilise stakeholders for accelerating action on the SDGs but can also display their accomplishments in contributing to combating major global challenges including climate change, gender inequality, and poverty.

This provides us with an opportunity to reflect on how we contribute to the UN SDGs here at the Chartered Institute of Building. We have been mapping the CIOB’s activities across all parts of the organisation against the SDGs to see where we are contributing to the goals, and what has been interesting is finding that we make some contribution against every single UN SDG!

From the work of the EDI Team on equality, diversity and inclusion which contributes to goals 5 and 10, and the work of CIOB Assist which helps CIOB members and their families when life gets tough – contributing to goals 1-3; to the work of Education & Standards and CIOB Academy teams who are directly contributing to goal 4, and the work of the policy team contributing to several of these goals including 8 and 9. There is so much that the CIOB contributes to these goals.

A good example is our work to promote the energy efficient retrofit of existing buildings which supports a number of these goals including Goal 3 Good Health & Wellbeing; 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, and of course 13 Climate Action.

This exercise has shown that we can be a force for good across these broad themes, in line with our Royal Charter and its commitment to public benefit.

We are currently organising a CIOB roundtable for senior construction leaders in October, on the subject of the how we can use the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a framework to help the industry become both more innovative and more sustainable. 

Members and other individuals in senior leadership positions in the construction industry, with a genuine desire to contribute to the discussion, can reach out to Amanda Williams, Head of Environmental Sustainability, if they would like to engage with the roundtable event.

Note: The SDG Flag Day is a campaign carried out by UN Global Compact Country Networks. All organizations are invited to join and show their support for the SDGs.

#TogetherForTheSDGs