United Nations – Sustainable Development Goals in practice
Sustainability in Finnish Boat Industry
Sustainable development is one of the key issues that all companies must invest in today. Customers appreciate and assume that the company’s operations and products have been produced in accordance with the principles of sustainable development. A company’s reputation, especially if it is subject to negative attention as a polluter, can take a very big hit if the company does not take sustainable development measures into account in its operations.
Study is supported by Finnish Marine Industries Federation Finnboat.
Research of sustainability actions
In the spring of 2025, a survey was carried out as a master’s thesis for manufacturing companies in the boat industry. The survey was received positively and the responses were good. The study covered all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN) (United Nations, 2023). Study also covers National Agenda 2030 (Prime Minister’s Office, 2020) and its implementation. The scope of the survey is unique internationally, and according to the author’s understanding, nothing similar has been carried out anywhere else in the world.
The objectives of the study were
1) To increase knowledge of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the national Agenda 2030,
2) To find out how well the Sustainable Development Goals and the national 2030 Agenda are known and how much action is being taken to achieve them, and
3) To analyze the research results and compare the Finnish boat industry.
These goals were achieved through well-conducted research. Based on the results, it can be stated that Finnish boat industry operators implement at least the measures required by law and in most cases exceed them. The actors are also very aware, and almost half of the respondents were already familiar with the Sustainable Development Goals. Enterprises reported the most active measures targeting goals 2, 3, 4, 7, 12, 14 and 16. Similarly, Objectives 1, 8, 11, 15 and 17 were the least affected.
The promotion of sustainable development was promoted both in terms of collective action and individual initiative in energy consumption, education and the recycling of waste materials. In the area of embracing the complexity of sustainability, the respondents felt that their own influence was limited (70.9%, 1-2 on a scale of 1-5). In the area of envisioning a sustainable future, the respondents said that they will develop new products for a more sustainable future based on customer interest.
Benchmarking to International industries
On international level study made research of how worldwide different industries apply Sustainability in their operations. Research covered 14 international research on field of sustainability. Results were compared to findings of this study and benchmark chart was created of actions. In benchmarking was used categories (P areas) People, Planet, Prosperity Peace and Partnership (Fei et al., 2021). Finnish boat industry companies have more impact to SDG 1, 2 13, 15 and 16 compares to other studies. Less impact was found in SDG 5 and 10, rest of SDGs being neutral. To SDG 14 there was no direct benchmark to other industries.
Benchmark chart comparing Finnish boat industry actions compared to other industries.
Conclusion
This study created an staring point and baseline for future studies. Sustainability is and will become even more important factor in future. It’s important to follow development and benchmark progress to other industries. This will give larger overview of results and guide to future development and targets.
References
Fei, W., Opoku, A., Agyekum, K., Oppon, J. A., Ahmed, V., Chen, C., & Lok, K. L. (2021). The Critical Role of the Construction Industry in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Delivering Projects for the Common Good. Sustainability, 13(16). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169112
Prime Minister’s Office. (2020). Government Report on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Helsinki: Prime Minister’s Office. Retrieved 6 9, 2024, from http://urn.f/URN:ISBN:978-952-383-085-1
United Nations. (2023, 11 11). The 17 Goals. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. https://sdgs.un.org/goals