Testimonial for the UNDP SDG Impact Standards by Rating and Investment Information, Inc. (R&I)

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Testimonial for the UNDP SDG Impact Standards by Rating and Investment Information, Inc. (R&I)

We are pleased to share a testimonial for our SDG Impact Standards issued by the Rating and Investment Information, Inc. (R&I), which is Japan’s largest rating agency established in 1998. Please learn more about R&I on its website.

The SDG Impact Standards for Enterprises are available on our homepage.

 

English (Translated)

Enterprises, investors, and public entities in Japan welcome the birth of these innovative standards. “How can an entity demonstrate the contributions it is making to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their entirety?”. A solution lies in the SDG Impact Standards for Enterprises by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Based on the concepts set forth in the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the draft SDG Impact Standards for Enterprise by UNDP, Rating and Investment Information, Inc. (R&I) announced a third-party opinion evaluating the “Kobe 2025 Vision” of the city of Kobe towards its contributions to the SDGs.

R&I sees a great promise in UNDP’s SDG Impact Standards. Through the case of the city of Kobe, R&I learned that the SDG Impact Standards can be the global language required for entities to demonstrate their philosophy and vision. The SDG Impact Standards incorporate universal concepts such as stakeholder engagement and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. They further provide external evaluators a dynamic measure focusing on an enterprise’s or investor’s internal processes and decision-making practices towards the SDGs, beyond a simplistic assessment based on just check boxes.

 

Japanese (Original)

日本の企業、自治体、投資家はこのイノベーティブな基準の誕生を歓迎しています。「組織全体がSDGsに資するということを何とか表現できないものか?」彼らが捜していた答えがここにあります。R&Iは神戸市の「神戸2025ビジョン」に対して、国連の「持続可能な開発のための2030アジェンダ」とUNDPの「SDGインパクト基準(事業向け)」の草案で示された基本的な考え方をもとに、SDGsに資するとの第三者意見を発表しました。

R&IはSDGインパクト基準に大きな将来性を感じています。R&Iが神戸市の事例を通じて学んだのは、この基準は組織の精神や理念を語るグローバルな共通言語となりうることです。この基準はステークホルダーとの協働や国連のビジネスと人権に関する指導原則といった幾つかのユニバーサルな考え方を組み込んでいます。さらに外部評価者に対して、チェック項目への充足を判定するのではなく、組織の内部プロセスと意思決定の実践にフォーカスした動的な手法を提供しています。

Rating and Investment Information, Inc. (R&I) / UNDP, FSH, SDG Impact