Implementation of Sustainable Development by Cities and Businesses in Poland. Evolution of the Approach

• Authors: Ewa Jastrzębska , Paulina Legutko-Kobus

Title variants

PL

Wdrażanie zrównoważonego rozwoju przez biznes i jednostki samorządu terytorialnego w Polsce – ewolucja podejścia

Abstracts

PL

Przyjęcie w 2015 r. Celów Zrównoważonego Rozwoju ONZ (SDGs) przełożyło teoretyczną koncepcję zrównoważonego rozwoju (SD) na działania bardziej praktyczne. Ogłoszone SDGs wzbudziły duże zainteresowanie firm, przede wszystkim dużych, także w Polsce, które zaczęły je implementować do swoich strategii. Polskie samorządy SD zaczęły wdrażać jednak wcześniej, po II Szczycie Ziemi w Rio de Janeiro w 1992 r. przez Lokalne Agendy 21. Tak jak kamieniem milowym dla rozwoju koncepcji SD było ogłoszenie SDGs w 2015 r., tak zdaniem wielu ekspertów 2020 r. stanowił swoisty test dla SDGs, ponieważ pandemia COVID-19 wpłynęła negatywnie na postępy w osiąganiu SDGs. W opracowaniu podjęto próbę oceny podejścia przedsiębiorstw i miast uznawanych za liderów SD w Polsce do wdrażania tej koncepcji w pierwszym roku trwania pandemii. Tekst powstał w oparciu o krytyczną analizę literatury przedmiotu, web research oraz autorskie badania empiryczne, przeprowadzone wśród przedsiębiorstw i miast w Polsce, uznawanych za liderów wdrażania SD. Przeprowadzone badania pozwoliły stwierdzić, że liderzy wdrażania SD w Polsce (zarówno reprezentujący biznes jak i miasta) w zdecydowanej większości znają zarówno SD jak i SDGs. W analizowanym okresie widać także wyraźny wzrost instytucjonalizacji SD. Zarówno przedstawiciele biznesu jak i miast definiują SD przede wszystkim zgodnie z zapisami Agendy 2030. Większość przedsiębiorstw i miast  uważa, że ogłoszenie SDGs wpłynęło na zmianę ich podejścia do wdrażania SD. Pandemia COVID-19 nie zahamowała wdrażania SDGs, choć w niektórych przypadkach wymusiła modyfikację działań.

EN

Adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in 2015 put the theoretical concept of sustainable development (SD) into practice. The goals kindled a vivid interest among Poland-based companies, too, especially large enterprises, which took them to the next level, and embedded them in their corporate strategies. Truth be told, Polish local governments started to implement SD much earlier, namely through Local Agendas 21 after the Second Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The year 2015 was a pivotal moment for the development of the SD concept. Yet, in the opinion of many experts, 2020 was a major test for SDGs as the COVID-19 pandemic was exerting an adverse impact on the progress in their achievement. The study attempts to assess the approach of SD pioneers in Poland, both cities and companies, to the implementation of the concept in the first year of the pandemic. The text provides a critical analysis of the literature on the subject, web research, and authors’ empirical studies conducted among those cities and businesses in Poland that are considered the leading SD implementers. The conducted research demonstrated that most of these leaders (both cities and businesses) are acquainted with both SD and SDGs. In the period covered by analysis, there was a major growth in SD institutionalization. Both business and city representatives understand SD primarily in accordance with the definition framed in Agenda 2030. A stable majority of the surveyed cities and businesses believe that their approach to SD implementation has changed since the announcement of SDGs in 2015. The COVID-19 pandemic has not halted the implementation of SDGs, although in some cases, it has forced the surveyed implementers to revise their modus operandi.

Keywords

PL

rozwój zrównoważony; Cele Zrównoważonego Rozwoju; biznes; ekomiasta; społeczna odpowiedzialność biznesu; CSR; pandemia

EN

sustainable development; Sustainable Development Goals; SDGs; business; eco-cities; corporate social responsibility; CSR; pandemic

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego w Warszawie
• Journal: Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae
• Year: 2022
• Volume: 20
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 53-66

Dates

published

2022

Contributors

author

Ewa Jastrzębska

• Warsaw School of Economics, Poland

• https://orcid.org/0000000200296943

author

Paulina Legutko-Kobus

• Warsaw School of Economics, Poland

• https://orcid.org/0000000303808913

References

• Accenture & UN Global Compact. 2013. “The UN Global Compact-Accenture CEO Study on Sustainability 2013. Architects of a Better World.” Accessed March 17, 2022. https://d306pr3pise04h.cloudfront.net/docs/news_events%2F8.1%2FUNGC_Accenture_CEO_Study_2013.pdf.
• Alsayegh, Maha F., Rashidah Abdul Rahman, and Saeid Homayoun. 2020. “Corporate Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability Performance Transformation through ESG Disclosure.” Sustainability 12(9): 3910. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093910.
• Berrone, Pascual, Joan E. Ricart, Ana I. Duch, Valeria Bernardo, Jordi Salvador, Juan Piedra Peña, and Miquel Rodríguez Planas. 2019. “EASIER: An Evaluation Model for Public–Private Partnerships Contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.” Sustainability 11(8): 2339. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11082339.
• Bibri, Simon E. 2020. “The eco-city and its core environmental dimension of sustainability: green energy technologies and their integration with data-driven smart solutions.” Energy Informatics 3:4. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42162-020-00107-7.
• Bonsu, Nana O., Jennifer TyreeHageman, and Juliet Kele. 2020. “Beyond Agenda 2030: Future-Oriented Mechanisms in Localising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” Sustainability 12(23): 9797. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12239797.
• Bosselman, Klaus. 2008. The Principle of Sustain-ability: Transforming Law and Governance. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing.
• BSR & GlobeScan. 2019. “The State of Sustainable Business 2019. Results of the 11th Annual Survey of Sustainable Business Leaders.” Accessed March 17, 2022. https://globescan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/BSR-GlobeScan-State-of-Sustainable-BusinessSurvey-FinalReport-12Nov2019.pdf.
• Czachorowski, Stanisław. 1997. Lokalna Agenda 21 – Globalny Program Działań – Inicjatywy Lokalne. [Local Agenda 21 – Global Action Programme – Local Initiatives]. Gdańsk: Fundacja ECOBALTIC.
• Du Pisani, Jacobus A. 2006. “Sustainable development – historical roots of the concept.” Environmental Science 3(2): 83-96. https://doi.org/10.1080/15693430600688831.
• EcoMiasto. 2022. “Poznaj laureatów konkursu Eco-Miasto.” [Meet the winners of the Eco-City competition]. Accessed March 17, 2022. https://www.eco-miasto.pl/konkurs/laureaci/.
• Elf, Patrick, Amy Isham, and Birgitta Gatersleben. 2021. “Above and beyond? How businesses can drive sustainable development by promoting lasting pro-environmental behaviour change: An examination of the IKEA Live Lagom project.” Business Strategy and the Environment 30(2): 1037-1050. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2668.
• Fiut, Ignacy S. 2006. „Zrównoważony rozwój: aspekt filozoficzny i medialny.” [Sustainable development: philosophical and medialistic aspect]. Problemy Ekorozwoju 1(2): 33-45.
• FOB. 2015. “Menedżerowie CSR. Wyniki badania.” [CSR Managers. Survey results]. Accessed March 17, 2022. http://odpowiedzialnybiznes.pl/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Menedzerowie-CSR_raport_podglad.pdf.
• FOB. 2020. “Managerowie CSR 2020.” [CSR Managers 2020]. Accessed March 17, 2022. http://odpowiedzialnybiznes.pl/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/FOB_MenedzerowieCSR-2020.pdf.
• Fraser, Evan D.G., Andrew J. Dougill, Warren E. Mabee, Mark Reed, and Patrick McAlpine. 2006. “Bottom up and top down: Analysis of participatory processes for sustainability indicator identification as a pathway to community empowerment and sustainable environmental management.” Journal of Environmental Management 78(2): 114-127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2005.04.009.
• García-Sánchez, Isabel-María, Lázaro Rodríguez-Ariza, Beatriz Aibar-Guzmán, and Cristina Aibar-Guzmán. 2020. “Do institutional investors drive corporate transparency regarding business contribution to the sustainable development goals?” Business Strategy and the Environment 29(5): 2019-2036. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2485.
• Giordano, Klaudia. 2005. Planowanie zrównoważonego rozwoju gminy w praktyce. [Planning for sustainable municipal development in practice]. Lublin: Wydawnictwo KUL.
• Global Compact. 2019. “Progress Report 2019.” Accessed March 17, 2022. https://d306pr3pise04h.cloudfront.net/docs/publications%2F2019-UNGC-Progress-Report.pdf.
• Global Opportunity Explorer. “Search sustainable solutions.” Accessed March 17, 2022. Available online: https://goexplorer.org/.
• GlobeScan & SustainAbility. 2019. “The 2019 Sustainability Leaders, The GlobeScan-SustainAbility Survey.” Accessed March 17, 2022. https://globescan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/GlobeScan-SustainAbility-Leaders-Survey-2019-Report.pdf.
• Herremans, Irene M., Jamal A. Nazari, and Fereshteh Mahmoudian. 2016. “Stakeholder Relationships, Engagement, and Sustainability Reporting.” Journal of Business Ethics 138: 417-435. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2634-0.
• Höjer, Mattias, and Josefin Wangel. 2014. “Smart Sustainable Cities. Definition and Challenges.” Accessed March 17, 2022. Available online: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265594929_Smart_Sustainable_Cities_Definition_and_Challenges.
• Hopwood, Bill, Mary Mellor, and Geoff O’Brien. 2005. “Sustainable Development: Mapping Different Approaches.” Sustainable Development 13: 38-52.
• Jordan, Andrew. 2008. “The governance of sustainable development: taking stock and looking forwards.” Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 26(1): 17-33. https://doi.org/10.1068/cav6.
• Kozłowski, Stefan. 1994. Droga do ekorozwoju. [The way to sustainability]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
• KPMG & FOB. 2014. “Społeczna odpowiedzialność biznesu: fakty a opinie. CSR oczami dużych i średnich firm w Polsce.” [Corporate Social Responsibility: facts vs. opinions. CSR through the eyes of large and medium-sized companies in Poland]. Accessed March 17, 2022. https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2016/03/Raport-Spoleczna-odpowiedzialnosc-biznesu-fakty-a-opinie-KPMG-FOB-2014.pdf.
• Kumar, Sanjiv, Neeta Kumar, and Saxena Vivekadhish. 2016. “Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Addressing Unfinished Agenda and Strengthening Sustainable Development and Partnership.” Indian Journal of Community Medicine 41(1): 1-4. https://doi.org/10.4103/0970-0218.170955.
• Kumi, Emmanuel, Thomas Yeboah, and Yaa Ankomaa Kumi. 2020. “Private sector participation in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Ghana: Experiences from the mining and telecommunications sectors.” The Extractive Industries and Society 7(1): 181-190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2019.12.008.
• Lafferty, William M. (ed.). 1999. Implementing LA21 in Europe. New initiatives for sustainable communities. Oslo: ProSus.
• Legutko-Kobus, Paulina. 2007. Rozwój zrównoważony w strategiach regionalnych i lokalnych na przykładzie województwa lubelskiego. [Sustainable development in regional and local strategies on the example of Lubelskie voivodeship]. Manuscript.
• Lele, Sharachchandra M. 1991. “Sustainable development: A critical review.” World Development 19(6): 607-621.
• Manes-Rossi, Francesca, Adriana Tiron-Tudor, Giuseppe Nicolò, and Gianluca Zanellato. 2018. “Ensuring More Sustainable Reporting in Europe Using Non-Financial Disclosure – De Facto and De Jure Evidence.” Sustainability 10(4): 1162. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10041162.
• McCarney, Patricia. 2015. “The evolution of global city indicators and ISO 37120: The first international standard on city indicators.” Statistical Journal of the IAOS 31(1): 103-110. https://doi.org/10.3233/SJI-150874.
• Mhlanga, Ruth, Uwe Gneiting, and Namit Agarwal. 2018. “Walking the talk. Assessing companies’ progress from SDG rhetoric to action.” Accessed March 17, 2022. https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/620550/dp-walking-the-talk-business-sdgs-240918-en.pdf.
• Mio, Chiara, Silvia Panfilo, and Benedatta Blundo. 2020. “Sustainable development goals and the strategic role of business: A systematic literature review.” Business Strategy and the Environment 29(8): 3320-3245. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2568.
• Morhardt, Emil J. 2009. “Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting on the Internet.” Business Strategy and the Environment 19(7): 436-452. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.657.
• Mori, Renzo Jr., Peter J. Best, and Julie Cotter. 2014. “Sustainability Reporting and Assurance: A Historical Analysis on a World-Wide Phenomenon.” Journal of Business Ethics 120(1): 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1637-y.
• PARP. 2020. “Raport o stanie sektora małych i średnich przedsiębiorstw w Polsce.” [Report on the State of the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Sector in Poland]. Accessed March 17, 2022. www.parp.gov.pl/storage/publications/pdf/ROSS-2020_30_06.pdf.
• Pedersen, Claus Stig. 2018. “The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a great gift to business!” Procedia CIRP 69: 21-24.
• Perrott, Bruce E. 2015. “Building the sustainable organization: an integrated approach.” Journal of Business Strategy 36(1): 41-51. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBS-06-2013-0047.
• PKN. 2012. Norma PN-ISO26000. Wytyczne dotyczące społecznej odpowiedzialności. [PN-ISO26000 standard. Guidance on social responsibility]. Warszawa: PKN.
• Polish Ranking of Responsible Companies. 2022. “O ranking.” Accessed March 17, 2022. http://rankingodpowiedzialnychfirm.pl/o-nas/.
• PwC. 2019. “Creating a strategy for a better world. How the Sustainable Development Goals can provide the framework for business to deliver progress on our global challenges.” Accessed March 17, 2022. www.pwc.com/gx/en/sustainability/SDG/sdg-2019.pdf.
• Rosati, Francesco, and Lourenço G. D. Faria. 2019a. “Addressing the SDGs in sustainability reports: The relationship with institutional factors.” Journal of Cleaner Production 215: 1312-1326.
• Rosati, Francesco, and Lourenço G. D. Faria. 2019b. “Business contribution to the Sustainable Development Agenda: Organizational factors related to early adoption of SDG reporting.” Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 26(3): 588-597. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1705.
• Ruggerio, Carlos Alberto. 2021. “Sustainability and sustainable development: A review of principles and definitions.” Science of The Total Environment 786: 147481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147481.
• Sachs, Jeffrey D., Guido Schmidt-Traub, Christian Kroll, Guillaume Lafortune, Grayson Fuller, and Finn Woelm. 2020. Sustainable Development Report 2020. The Sustainable Development Goals and COVID-19. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Satterthwaite, David. 2017. “Successful, safe and sustainable cities: towards a New Urban Agenda.” Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance 0019: 3-18. https://doi.org/10.5130/cjlg.v0i19.5446.
• Scheyvens, Regina, Glenn Banks and Emma Hughes. 2016. “The Private Sector and the SDGs: The Need to Move Beyond ‘Business as Usual’.” Sustainable Development 24(6): 371-382.
• Schönherr, Norma, Florian Findler, and André Martinuzzi. 2017. “Exploring the Interface of CSR and the Sustainable Development Goals.” Transnational Corporations 24(3): 33-47. https://doi.org/10.18356/cfb5b8b6-en.
• Sharma, Piyush, T.Y. Leung, Russel P.J. Kingshott, Nebojsa S. Davcik, and Silvio Cardinali. 2020. “Managing uncertainty during a global pandemic: An international business perspective.” Journal of Business Research 116: 188-192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.026.
• Shi, Longyu, Linwei Han, Fengmei Yang, and Lijie Gao. 2019. “The Evolution of Sustainable Development Theory: Types, Goals, and Research Prospects.” Sustainability 11(24): 7158. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11247158.
• Siekierska-Rosiak, Izabela. 2016. “Miasta w polityce regionalnej Polski w latach 2007-2013.” [Cities in the Polish Regional Policy in the Period 2007-2013]. Warszawa: Komitet Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania Kraju PAN.
• Sullivan, Kieran, Sebastian Thomas, and Michele Rosano. 2018. “Using industrial ecology and strategic management concepts to pursue the Sustainable Development Goals.” Journal of Cleaner Production 174: 237-246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.10.201.
• Survey Results. 2019. “The key contribution of regions and cities to sustainable development, ANNEX.” Accessed March 17, 2022. https://cor.europa.eu/en/news/Pages/SDGs_survey.aspx.
• UN. 1973. Report of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. New York.
• UN. 2015. “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015”. Accessed March 17, 2022. https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E.
• UNDESA. 2020. “World Economic Situation and Prospects: April 2020 Briefing. No. 136.” Accessed March 17, 2022. www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/publication/world-economic-situation-and-prospects-april-2020-briefing-no-136/.
• UNDP. 2020. “Brief #2: Putting the UN Framework for Socio-Economic Response to COVID-19 into Action: Insights. June 2020.” Accessed March 17, 2022. www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/covid19/Brief2-COVID-19-final-June2020.pdf.
• UNICEF. 2011. “How Business Affects Us Children and young people share their perspectives on how business impacts their lives and communities.” Accessed March 17, 2022. www.unicef.org/csr/css/How_Business_Affects_Us_report_on_children_s_consultation.pdf.
• UNIDO. 2020. “Coronavirus: the economic impact. 26 May 2020.” Accessed March 17, 2022. www.unido.org/stories/coronavirus-economic-impact-26-may-2020.
• UNSDG. 2020. “Shared responsibility, global solidarity: responding to the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19. March 2020.” Accessed March 17, 2022. https://unsdg.un.org/sites/default/files/2020-03/SG-Report-Socio-Economic-Impact-of-Covid19.pdf.
• Van Zanten, Jan Anton, and Rob van Tulder. 2021. “Improving companies’ impacts on sustainable development: A nexus approach to the SDGS.” Business Strategy and the Environment 30(8): 3703-3720. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2835.
• World Commission on Environment and Development. 1987. Our Common Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Identifiers

DOI

10.21697/seb.2022.04

Biblioteka Nauki

55457193