Many may have missed it, but the world reached the halfway point late last year since adopting the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
By Kevin O’Brien, Spar Group sustainability executive
Despite this long period to embed change, the SDG Report 2024 highlighted that the world is significantly off track – out of the 169 targets, only 17% of the assessable targets are on target for 2030, with the rest showing moderate to severe deviations, stagnation or regression. Africa faces similar challenges, compounded by multiple crises.
According to the Sustainable Development Goals: Country Report 2023, prepared by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), South Africa’s progress is mixed. Significant challenges remain. Despite social assistance programmes, a considerable portion of the population remains in poverty, and despite a strong legal framework, violence against women remains widespread.
Efforts to reduce inequality are ongoing, but systemic disparities are still prevalent. South Africa is grappling with climate resilience and needs more decisive climate action, while governance challenges, including corruption, undermine efforts to build trust and justice.
The UN has aptly defined sustainability as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Based on the evidence, neither present nor future needs are dealt with very well. Society – from corporations to individuals and the government – has to do more to meet the targets and save the planet for present and future generations.
The extent of inequality, unemployment, and poverty runs very deep. The World Bank recently noted that South Africa has struggled to expand its economy over the past decade, growing by only 0.7% per year, four times slower than other middle-income countries. As a result, real GDP per capita is now around the same level as in 2007.
Research on the climate shows that rising temperatures are expected to continue for the region and South Africa. Under a high-emission scenario, mean monthly temperatures are projected to rise 2°C by the 2050s and 4,2°C by the 2090s.
Spar South Africa, headquartered in South Africa but with operations in other countries, has taken an extremely proactive approach, even though SA does not yet have mandatory sustainability reporting requirements. Our approach throughout has been to stand up and tackle these very real challenges head-on.
Our experience via our Irish business in the EU means we are already mandated to report, which means we are ahead of the curve. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) sets the standard by which nearly 50 000 EU companies must report on their climate strategies. Companies will be required to start reporting between 2025 and 2029. The main goal of the CSRD is to increase the economic flow towards more sustainable business models throughout the European Union.
Our proactive approach is reflected in the double materiality assessment SPAR South Africa commissioned in 2024. With crucial input from stakeholders across our value chain, this was a ground-breaking step towards alignment with the EU’s new CSRD. The double materiality assessment also provided Spar with a focussed set of data points to use for the collection of relevant and impactful data directly related to the business operations.
Aligning our sustainability strategy with the CSRD’s requirements fosters a group-wide sustainability reporting culture more closely aligned with SPAR’s purpose and business strategy. We are thus strengthening our transparent, responsible, and sustainable business practices so we can take meaningful action.
There is little doubt that mandatory reporting is coming in South Africa, so we are exceptionally well prepared. We adopted the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures scenario planning three years ago and have moved to an exciting phase now of collecting trusted and valuable data to ensure we understand the full impact of sustainability throughout our business. Some of these results are already amazing – saving as much as 46% on our electricity bill will be possible if the data is appropriately harnessed to drive efficiency and savings.
So we are currently building this critical data resource – we will also build it using AI and automation – to interrogate much of what we do. I expect to see a significant impact on water usage as well.
This “double materiality” approach provides a critical edge in understanding the financial impact of sustainability. This is where a significant gap lies in these initiatives around the world, and our progress in this area is ensuring we can drive change very broadly across society, the environment, and governance, as we can reliably assess the actual impact.
Ultimately, the key to success is understanding that sustainability is not about product or price – sustainability must be in your DNA. Our approach to sustainability must be focused on finding impactful ways of dealing with the complexity of the task at hand, the courage to collaborate when tackling this complexity and with the authenticity needed to build sustainable trust in our brand.
This approach must be purposed on creating value through the way we do business in a sustainable way. In this way, businesses can ensure stability and profitability in the long term while continuing to develop local economies, communities.
For Spar, we are deeply aware of our role in ensuring a robust and sustainable food supply chain by coordinating deliveries, minimizing food waste, and working with suppliers to ensure the right products are delivered on time, in the right quantities.
Among others, the SPAR Supplier Development Food Safety Programme is aimed at actively helping introduce more micro and small food suppliers into the large and growing food supply chain. Our targeted and data-driven sustainability plan ensures we can enrich, develop and strengthen these initiatives, ensuring SA’s food security is protected for current and future generations.