Let's talk about the SDGs and corruption.
The sustainable development goals aim to transform our world by 2030. The 17 goals
were adopted at the UN global assembly by 193 member
states in 2015. The objective - produce a set of goals that meet the urgent social
economic and environmental challenges facing the world. Anti-corruption is an
integral part of the 2030 agenda not only because it is specifically
highlighted in SDG 16, but also because it underpins the efforts to achieve all
the other SDGs and associated targets. Let me illustrate this point by sharing
a few real-life examples where corruption and bribery are linked with
other key issues. In one example a mining company was able to obtain a mineral
license without going through all the necessary environmental impact
assessment requirements. Instead they just paid a fee to help fast-track their
application and have the local officials simply look the other way. However when a
severe storm subsequently hit the area, it caused the tailings dam to break
which polluted the local drinking water downstream - causing both environmental
and health problems for the local community. These problems could have been
prevented if the proper safeguards would have been in place. In another example we
learned that public officials were paid a fee by a company a bribe to overlook
the need for them to have a building permit in order for them to build an
extension on to their bustling manufacturing facility (in a building by
the way that was never zoned for manufacturing in the first place and
lacked the proper safety and engineering checks).
The building eventually collapsed and 1134 people lost their lives that day in
what is now known as the Rana Plaza disaster. These cases and others
demonstrate that because of incidences of corruption local ecosystems can be
damaged, poor households can be left without safe drinking water, and workers
can be denied basic human rights and access to safe working conditions. If we
want to address these important social and environmental issues we also need to
tackle important issues of governance in both the public and private spheres. The
linkage between anti-corruption and SDGs is clear. Corruption cost hundreds of
billions of dollars a year, Indeed the World Economic Forum
estimates that the cost of corruption is equal to about 5% of global GDP or two
point six trillion dollars with over 1 trillion dollars paid in bribes each
year according to the World Bank. So it's not only a question of ethics. We simply
cannot afford such waste - especially when the needs are so great elsewhere. That's
why fighting corruption is everyone's business. It's our common task. Corruption
is a systemic phenomena and therefore piecemeal measures have been shown not
to work. We have to combat corruption on all fronts and that means on both the demand
side and the supply side. Businesses need to show leadership and implement
effective anti bribery mechanisms that systematically serve to prevent, detect,
and respond to bribery risks in their operations in order to effectively
combat corruption. Businesses can do this by implementing proven anti-bribery
management systems like ISO 37001 or equivalent frameworks that
demonstrate their commitment to both the SDGs and combating corruption
It's clear we need commitment at all levels, but if we work together and
engage in the fight against corruption on all fronts
we can help to address the problem and by addressing corruption
we'll also be better positioned to achieve all the other sustainable
development goals by 2030. It's not that far away...