The Nexus Challenge: Creating net positive effects
Companies engage in activities that are critical for sustainable development. But their activities may also cause harm to SDGs. A key question therefore centers around impact: how do individual companies’ impact each of the SDGs, and how might they improve their positive and reduce their negative impacts? This is the Nexus challenge. Creating a nexus of interrelated positive effects is key to the overall SDG Agenda, but it proves difficult to translate this mechanism to the micro-level of individual firms. How can companies adopt a portfolio of interrelated SDG targets that optimize positive effects and minimize negative effects on sustainable development? What do we know, what insights should we develop further?
Read the conference paper ‘Enhancing Corporate Contributions to Sustainable Development: A Nexus approach to the SDGs’

Moderator:
• dr. Guenola Nonet (Jonkoping University, Sweden)

Presentations:
• Keynote: dr. Måns Nilsson (Stockholm Environmental Institute): “SDG Synergies – leverage of interactions in business practice”
• Co-presentation: Jan Anton van Zanten (Robeco, SDG Strategist and PhD researcher): “Scientific advancements in corporate nexus strategies”

Comments:
• Maurits Groen (Serial Social Entrepreneur)
• Piet Klop (Head Responsible Investment PGGM)
• Mathias Lund Larsen (Senior Research Consultant, International Institute of Green Finance, Central University of Finance and Economics)
• Dr. Lisa Sachs (Director Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment)