To what extend are the Sustainable Development Goals implemented in South Korean companies considered as Sustainability Leaders in 2023? An analysis from 2018 to 2021.

Details

Supervisors

Cerrada Cristia, Karine

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

Sustainable Development has become a real challenge for companies around the world in recent years. That is why the United Nations created the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 and extended them to businesses to help them improve their social and environmental impact. The scientific world has been quick to take an interest in this subject and has analyzed the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. However, the assessment of this implementation remains little studied. This thesis therefore focuses on this subject, and more specifically on South Korean companies considered to be leaders in terms of sustainability. To do this, exploratory research and qualitative analysis was carried out on a sample of 11 companies set up in South Korea. During this process, we attempted to assess the implementation of the SDGs in these companies and also to determine whether there is a link between the SDGs and the GRI Index as well as the SDGs and ESG. We concluded that the UN SDGs are relatively well integrated into core business, with a preference for SDG 4 (quality education), SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth), and SDG 13 (climate action). We also noted an increase in the number of SDGs mentioned over the years. Concerning the GRI Index, only a few companies included the SDGs in the latter. Finally, companies tend to link the SDGs to their ESG strategies.