Deakin University - MMH733: Business Ethics and SDG Analysis Report

This report examines the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector, focusing on ethical considerations and strategic responses. It identifies SDG 2 (End hunger, achieve food security), SDG 12 (Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns), and SDG 13 (Take urgent action to combat climate change) as the most relevant to the FMCG industry. The report discusses strategies for compliance, such as PepsiCo's packaging initiatives, Cargill's Nourishing India program, and Ajinomoto's work on feed-use amino acids. It evaluates these strategies, emphasizing the importance of a combined effort by the industrial and government sectors. The report also includes a discussion of compliance evaluating tools, like the principles of strategic evaluation, and concludes that the organizations are also making long term profit by their objectives and strategies with the SDGs.

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Abstract
This paper provides for the most relevant SDGs to the Fast- moving Consumer Goods sector in
terms of positive and negative impact on the environment and the society. The paper also
discusses strategies which can be implemented to contribute meaningfully towards the three
SDGs. The appropriate targets and indicators for the purpose of evaluating the strategies are also
discussed in the report. The members of the United Nations in September 2015 had a meeting in
New York where they had adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the purpose of
ensuring prosperity, inclusiveness, resilience and sustainability within the world. The companies
are aligning their objectives and strategies with the SDGs to ensure compliance and also to get a
competitive example. These strategic contributions are not significant at individual level but a
combined effort of the industrial and government sector will sure the success of the sustainable
development mission around the world.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
The three relevant SDGs............................................................................................................3
SDG 2.........................................................................................................................................4
SDG 12.......................................................................................................................................4
SDG 13.......................................................................................................................................5
Strategies for complying with the SDGs and compliance evaluating tools...............................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The members of the United Nations in September 2015 had a meeting in New York
where they had adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the purpose of ensuring
prosperity, inclusiveness, resilience and sustainability within the world. The SDGs are has been
defined by the UN as an ambitious plan for the planet, its people and prosperity. These principles
are universal which are applicable to all people and nation seeking to address the problem of
inequality and ensure that no one is left behind. These goals are wide ranging and seek to end
hunger, poverty, sustainable consumption and production while promoting an inclusive and
peaceful society. These goals can only be achieved if the private sectors work with the
government and the involvement is maximum (Charter and Tischner 2017).
This paper provides for the most relevant SDGs to the Fast- moving Consumer Goods
sector in terms of positive and negative impact on the environment and the society. The paper
also discusses strategies which can be implemented to contribute meaningfully towards the three
SDGs. The appropriate targets and indicators for the purpose of evaluating the strategies are also
discussed in the report.
The three relevant SDGs
The most revenant SDGs which have been identified by the report to the Fast- moving Consumer
Goods sector in terms of positive and negative impact on the environment and the society are as
follows:
1. SDG 2 End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote
sustainable agriculture

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2. SDG 12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
3. SDG 13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
SDG 2
Through this goal various opportunities for shared values are created. It provides for
collaboration with the farmers, traders and food processors for the purpose of enhancing
productivity, Logistics, market efficiency and storage, and thus provide power to them to remain
or enter in the value chain of the company through the production if safe, nutritious and high
quality food (Tukker and Tischner 2017). The goal also provides for giving agricultural
communities, traders and food processers access to capital so that their capabilities in relation to
farming platform and markets in enhanced. Developing local variations of forfeited foods for the
purpose of addressing the needs relating to nutrition of developing communities is also a part of
this goal. The FMCG are those products which include daily consumer goods which are low in
cost but are sold in large volumes. These also include food products. Thus as this SDG deals
with ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition and promoting sustainable
agriculture it is directly related to the FMCG sector. One of the most prominent examples where
the company has used a strategy to gain a competitive advantage and to address the goal is that
of Cargill. The Nourishing India program had been started by the company in relation to
vitamins in edible oil which is abundantly used in India to meet nutrition needs as well as have a
competitive advantage (Fuchs and Boll 2018).
SDG 12
This goal is in relation to ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns and also
provides for opportunities for shared values. The goal provides for striving for sustainably

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sourced key products which include soy, paper, pulp, beef and palm oil. Natural refrigerants are
to be used instead of Hydro-fluoro-carbons for ensuring environmental sustainability (Ali 2017).
Internal Carbon Price has to be used for the purpose of making decisions related to capital
projects as well as consideration in relation to emission of green house gases. Energy efficiency
has to ensured across value change which includes manufacturing, packaging, logistics and
sourcing. Proportion of irregular sized fruits and vegetables being sold as fresh food for the
purpose of consumption by humans have to be increased rather than using them for stock feed or
processing. The food and solid waste has to be reduced with respect to supply and production
chains by collaborating with other stakeholders which include consumers, suppliers and retailers.
Increasing recycling and reducing packaging of by products and end products of the production
process is also a requirement of the goal. The goal also strives towards the designing of products
which lower the use of consumer energy such as cleaning products and hygiene helping in the
reduction of water consumption. Raising consumer awareness with respect to the significance of
sustainable consumption and practical steps to enhance sustainability is also provided for by the
goal. There are various companies which are leading by examples with respect to the goals. For
instance significant investment amounting to DDK 1 billon has been made with respect to
development, research, and use of sustainable raw materials. Another example is related to
PepsiCo who have identified ways to deliver and package products for the purpose of reducing
impact on environment and cost. Through, using such initiatives the organization have been able
to reduce 110 million pounds of packing material from 2013 and also able to reduce their
packaging cost by $55 million (Crane and Matten 2016).

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SDG 13
The goal provides for addressing greenhouse gas emissions which arise out of agricultural issues
together with the governments. This also importantly includes re-evaluating the proportion of
diets which comes from animal sources with respect to the high level methane production via
ruminant animals. The farmers needs to be supported with respect to developing more climate
resilient agriculture. The requirement under this goal is also to implement after designing
preparedness, recovery, and response and disaster risk mitigation plan across the value chain in
locations of high risk. Steps are to be taken for reducing, measuring and reporting climate
exposure and process on action to address climate change and continuously enhance the degree
of consistency and transparency for industrial sector reporting. Finally the goal provides for
providing support to high level industry and partnership association advocating for public polices
related to the climate. There are various industries which are leading by an example with respect
to this goal. For instance Ajinomoto Animal Nutrition Group, Inc, which is a major manufacturer
of amino acids promotes the advantages of feed-use amino acids via developing a new
environment friendly products as well and domestic and international organization collaboration.
Nitrogen excretion has been substantially reduced through the use of feed-use amino acids with
respect to animals thus saving natural protein sources and ensuring water and soil quality
preservation and reducing green house gas emission (Spangenberg 2017).
Strategies for complying with the SDGs and compliance evaluating tools
There are various strategies which have been discussed above contributing towards three SDGs
selected for this paper. For instance PepsiCo have identified ways to deliver and package
products for the purpose of reducing impact on environment and cost. Through, using such
initiatives the organization have been able to reduce 110 million pounds of packing material

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from 2013 and also able to reduce their packaging cost by $55 million. This strategy seeks to
contribute towards SDG 12. Cargill has initiated the Nourishing India program in relation to
vitamins in edible oil which is abundantly used in India to meet nutrition needs as well as have a
competitive advantage. This strategy contributes towards achieving SDG 2 (Sauvé, Bernard and
Sloan 2016). Ajinomoto Animal Nutrition Group, Inc, which is a major manufacturer of amino
acids promotes the advantages of feed-use amino acids via developing a new environment
friendly products as well and domestic and international organization collaboration. Nitrogen
excretion has been substantially reduced through the use of feed-use amino acids with respect to
animals thus saving natural protein sources and ensuring water and soil quality preservation and
reducing green house gas emission. This strategy is contributing towards SDG 13. These
strategies can be evaluated through analyzing the benefits they are causing to the society. For
instance the Nourishing India program in relation to vitamins in edible oil has provided good
results to both the company and the population of India. Although the impact is significant it is
still a contribution towards the SDG. The principles of strategic evaluation can also be deployed
for the purpose of evaluating the contributions. These include elements of consistency,
consonance, feasibility and advantage (Armstrong et al. 2015).
Conclusion
The most revenant SDGs which have been identified by the report to the Fast- moving Consumer
Goods sector in terms of positive and negative impact on the environment and the society are
SDG 2 End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable
agriculture SDG 12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns and SDG 13 Take
urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Various strategies which have been
contributing towards three SDGs selected for this paper. The companies are aligning their

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objectives and strategies with the SDGs to ensure compliance and also to get a competitive
example. These strategic contributions are not significant at individual level but a combined
effort of the industrial and government sector will sure the success of the sustainable
development mission around the world. The organizations are also making long term profit by
their objectives and strategies with the SDGs.

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References
Ali, S.H., Giurco, D., Arndt, N., Nickless, E., Brown, G., Demetriades, A., Durrheim, R.,
Enriquez, M.A., Kinnaird, J., Littleboy, A. and Meinert, L.D., 2017. Mineral supply for
sustainable development requires resource governance. Nature, 543(7645), p.367.
Armstrong, C.M., Niinimäki, K., Kujala, S., Karell, E. and Lang, C., 2015. Sustainable product-
service systems for clothing: exploring consumer perceptions of consumption alternatives in
Finland. Journal of Cleaner production, 97, pp.30-39.
Charter, M. and Tischner, U. eds., 2017. Sustainable solutions: developing products and services
for the future. Routledge.
Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Fuchs, D. and Boll, F., 2018. Sustainable consumption. In Global Environmental Politics (pp.
93-112). Routledge.
Sauvé, S., Bernard, S. and Sloan, P., 2016. Environmental sciences, sustainable development and
circular economy: Alternative concepts for trans-disciplinary research. Environmental
Development, 17, pp.48-56.
Spangenberg, J.H., 2017. Sustainable development: From catchwords to benchmarks and
operational concepts. In Sustainable solutions (pp. 24-47). Routledge.
Tukker, A. and Tischner, U. eds., 2017. New business for old Europe: product-service
development, competitiveness and sustainability. Routledge.

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