We all share the Earth. And while we may have different personal goals, we all have a vested interest in balancing conservation and development on a global scale. The United Nations General Assembly recently quantified these interests in the form of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that set the global agenda for equitable, socially inclusive, and environmentally sustainable economic development. (You can read more about them here.) Our core business of delivering energy to the world contributes directly to:
Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
Goal 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all.
Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
Many of our business and community investment activities support the other goals such as those related to clean water, industry, infrastructure and innovation, and life below water and on land. SDG icons throughout our 2016 Sustainability Report indicate examples of our activities that support the goals. We are working with IPIECA, the global oil and gas industry association for environmental and social issues, on the role the oil and gas industry can most effectively play to support the achievement of the globally-endorsed framework of the SDGs. IPIECA recently collaborated with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to launch “Mapping the oil and gas industry to the Sustainable Development Goals: An Atlas,” a publication that explores the links between the oil and gas industry and the SDGs and seeks to facilitate a shared understanding of how the industry can most effectively support goal achievement. We continue to monitor the goals as they move to international and national implementation.
