The integration of the Sustainable Development Goals in private sector activities: The case of Sweden.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in 2015, aim to engage the planet into general efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change worldwide. It consists in an original attempt to engage all groups and individuals by setting targets to be met over the incoming 15 years. One of the biggest innovations of the SDGs has been the consideration of the private sector as a relevant actor in the process towards sustainable development. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the research about the role of the private sector in international sustainable development, by analysing the early posture of companies regarding the newly adopted goals in a defined geographical scope, which is the country of Sweden. To do so, this thesis will follow three separate steps based on different research methodologies. First, a comprehensive literature review has been realised to consider the theoretical background related to the debates around the evolutions of the Global Goals and the consideration of the private sector as a relevant stakeholder for both sustainability and international development, then interviews were conducted with representatives from Swedish companies which showed their interest in implementing the SDGs, and from organizations engaged in the promotion of the role of the private sector in these goals, in order to identify the main drivers justifying this interest. Eventually the findings were applied to the case study of Nolato AB, a Swedish industrial company considering to contribute to the SDGs. Findings highlight the fact that despite the existence of strong discussions around the motivations of the private sector, it was possible to identify both drivers and strategies for the implementation of the SDGs by companies, as well as numerous potential areas of action. The discussions with relevant actors showed that companies engaged in the application of the SDGs were often characterized by an already developed sustainability policy, and were therefore often motivated by a will to get assistance on how to map out their current policies, to identify potential areas of improvement and business opportunities, but also to benefit from the universality of the goals to better communicate and report on their sustainability activities. Eventually, the application to the case of Nolato AB showed that the implementation of the SDGs could benefit from numerous links with existing sustainability policies, and that, by using a systematic process, companies could participate to all the goals through solutions on their own negative impacts, or via international partnerships. The study then provides a few indications on how companies can consider the implementation of the SDGs, and opens the way for future research analysing the effectiveness of the programmes launched under the SDGs by private companies