Social Sustainability | UN Global Compact (2024)

FAQs

What is social sustainability in the United Nations Global Compact? ›

Social sustainability is about identifying and managing business impacts, both positive and negative, on people. The quality of a company's relationships and engagement with its stakeholders is critical.

Social sustainability involves a focus on the well-being of people and communities. It's about promoting equity, human rights, access to education and health care, and decent work.

The 5 principles of social sustainability are (1) Social equity and justice, (2) Diversity and inclusion, (3) Democratic participation and empowerment, (4) Livelihood security, and (5) Social well-being and quality of life.

The UN Global Compact is a call to companies to align their strategies and operations with ten universal principles related to human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and take actions that advance societal goals and the implementation of the SDGs.

The term sustainability is broadly used to indicate programs, initiatives and actions aimed at the preservation of a particular resource. However, it actually refers to four distinct areas: human, social, economic and environmental – known as the four pillars of sustainability.

Social sustainability is a process for creating sustainable successful places that promote wellbeing, by understanding what people need from the places they live and work.

For companies, social sustainability issues include problems such as health, safety, diversity, wellness, human rights, equitable labor practices, empowerment, philanthropy, and more. Social sustainability significantly impacts the quality of a company's relationship with its stakeholders.

The Ps refer to People, Planet, and Profit, also often referred to as the triple bottom line. Sustainability has the role of protecting and maximising the benefit of the 3Ps. Green programs take care of people.

Four dimensions and Principles of Social Sustainability

Quality of life. Equality. Diversity. Social Cohesion.

the 5Cs. Wolwedans' 5Cs of Sustainability are Consciousness | Conservation | Community | Commerce | Culture. They are deeply interconnected – one cannot have optimal impact when out of balance with another – and they frame the holistic and harmonious approach to all that we do.

How to measure social sustainability? ›

Studying social sustainability

In some cases, researchers can quantify the distribution of an outcome or phenomenon across a population. For example, one can assess the impact of a training program by surveying participants both before and after the experience about their knowledge and intentions.

This commits your organization to meet fundamental responsibilities in four areas: human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.

Explicitly, it fails to address the expansion of corporate rights and economic liberalisation externalities. Second, it permits corporate “blue-washing” – ideological masking around corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Finally, it is a meek communicative, rather than legally-binding, framework.

Principle 1: Support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights. Principle 2: Ensure that business practices are not complicit in human rights abuses. Principle 3: Uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining.

The ESF forms an integral part of the three main pillars of social sustainability: inclusion, empowerment, and resilience.

In 1987, the United Nations Brundtland Commission defined sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Today, there are almost 140 developing countries in the world seeking ways of meeting their development needs, but with the ...

For businesses and organizations committed to operating in a socially responsible way, there's ISO 26000. It provides guidance to those who recognize that respect for society and environment is a critical success factor.

ECOSOC operates at the centre of the UN system's work on all three pillars of sustainable development—economic, social and environmental.