On August 2nd the United Nations’ 193 Member States agreed to an ambitious agenda comprised of 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), or Global Goals, that will mark the development agenda through the year 2030.  The SDGs replace the Millennium Development Goals first established in 2000, which drove meaningful progress in the areas of poverty, improved access to water, increased primary school enrollment and decreased child mortality rates. Yet, as 2015 comes to a close, the world’s leaders agreed that the job of the MDGs was largely left unfinished for millions of people. The new SDGs introduce novel dimensions to the development agenda; they are more ambitious and are accompanied by 169 specific targets meant to advance the goals in concrete ways. 

The SDGs present an interesting opportunity for business to drive innovation by analyzing social problems and applying strategic business solutions that build markets, strengthen supply chains and even uncover new sources of profitability. At Tropicalia we’ve had this mindset from the start; sustainability goals have driven business decisions since 2008, when we established Fundación Tropicalia to strategically drive value for both our business and the local community via education, economic, cultural and environmental programs. 

As members of the UN Global Compact since 2010, we understand the importance of moving sustainability from the periphery to the heart of the business. Indeed, the new development agenda presents an exciting opportunity to innovate and grow alongside the Miches community.