Should for-profit companies implement United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into their accounting and reporting? Case Nokia.

Abstract

The aim of this study is to answer if for-profit companies should implement United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into their accounting and reporting. This is assessed through answering how SDGs can be utilized in accounting and reporting, if SDGs are meaningful for for-profit companies, and if SDGs have been created in a way that society benefits at the expense of private companies or if companies benefit as well. The motivation for conducting sustainability accounting and reporting, tools for implementation of sustainability goals, and challenges for for-profit companies are discussed. The empirical evidence suggests that the role of SDGs for for-profit companies is to communicate already existing sustainability goals and gain brand-image-related benefits, rather than being the main framework for their sustainability accounting and reporting. Additionally, it is found that sustainability goals become more economically attractive in the long-term, and therefore the short-term vision discourages their implementation. The biggest challenges coming out of this study are the combining of economic with environmental and social goals and not having a unified way to manage and analyze sustainability data. The chosen case study company, Nokia, is considered a best-case scenario example of successful implementation of SDGs in its field, based on national and international awards, and any issues it faces are likely to create problems for other companies as well. The empirical evidence supports the implementation of SDGs into a for-profit company’s accounting and reporting.