In its largest analysis of published reporting on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to date, PwC explored over 1,000 company reports to find out how businesses are engaging with the SDGs. The results suggest that, while there is a general acknowledgement of the importance of the goals, there is room for more concrete action to take place in support of the SDGs if the SDGs are to be achieved by 2030. Looking at what emerged from this analysis 72% of companies mentioned the SDGs in their reporting; 25% of them included the SDGs in their published business strategy; 21% of CEO or Chair statements include reference to the SDGs and 14% of the companies mentioned specific SDG targets. 
«From our point of view – PwC experts write in the report – how companies are focusing on the 169 targets that underpin the 17 goals is a good indication of whether they’re integrating the goals into business strategy. This year’s findings indicate that only 14% (157 companies) mentioned specific SDG targets. Of those, 39% are setting qualitative ambitions and 20% are setting quantitative ambitions. Only 8% are reporting quantitative measures to show their progress towards targets (which is only 1% of all the companies we analysed).»
Among the business leaders’ tips for have success in following Sustainable Development Goals the first is to embed priority SDGs in the way they think about, plan and conduct business, including making them part of decision-making processes and embedding them into the organisation – its culture, values, relationships and employee engagement. «Companies – PwC specifies – can link their purpose to the value they create across the people, planet and economic dimensions and articulate how this is contributing to specific SDG targets.»
