Meeting the UN SDGs: How cultivating interconnected ecosystems can help us get back on track

The United Nations (UN) launched the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, in 2016 as a blueprint to achieve a better world by 2030. The SDGs address challenges including poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation. However, despite their significance, progress towards meeting these SDGs has been slow.

Only 16% of the goals are on track to be achieved by 2030, according to the SDG Transformation Center, a UN task force created to drive SDG progress.

In Southeast Asia, headway has been made in some areas but there have also been serious regional setbacks, according to 2022 data from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Statistics Division. The region’s poverty figure – directly related to SDG1: No Poverty – increased by 27.8% in 2022 compared to 2016’s figure. Its unemployment rate, which comes under SDG8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, went up by 5.4% during this period.

The world is grappling with a complex web of interconnected issues and blurring lines between economic, social and environmental challenges. Southeast Asia, in particular, has a wide wealth gap in many countries and infrastructural challenges around road coverage, network penetration and educational reach, to name a few issues, which only make these problems worse. Navigating this complexity to meet the SDGs on schedule will require a rethink of the rules, roles and relationships that govern how our society operates. This will help to create new kinds of ecosystems of public and private sector organizations to help drive SDG progress for us all.

In an earlier article, I discussed how the current global economic system – with isolated markets focused solely on generating returns – is inadequate for tackling complex challenges. A more promising approach lies in cultivating interconnected ecosystems in which stakeholders such as governments, businesses and NGOs work together toward a shared vision.

These ecosystems prioritize long-term value creation and positive impact on society and the environment, alongside economic prosperity. There are many examples of this already, but in Southeast Asia specifically, circular economy models come to mind. Widely practised in countries including Thailand, this closed-loop system transforms one entity’s waste into another’s resources. In another example of this ecosystem, regional impact investments allow investors to fund ventures generating positive social or environmental outcomes. The average portfolio size for such funds in 2020-2022 was 67% larger than in 2007-2016.

These are clearly successful cases, but much remains to be done to create systemic change in Southeast Asia – and the world. BRANDi’s “Above the Ocean” strategy has already had some success with creating such ecosystems by rethinking the rules, roles and relationships of the organizations involved.

In this context, rules are clear guidelines for acceptable behaviour and practices within an entity. Consider platform businesses such as Grab (an Uber-like service popular in Southeast Asia) or Shopee (Southeast Asia’s Amazon), whose current rule is to maximize returns. Under an “Above the Ocean” approach, such businesses could redefine this rule to prioritize supporting local businesses – for example, by offering them more favourable terms and conditions to do business. This would foster economic growth and job creation.

For roles – outlines of an entity’s activities that align with its values and priorities within its ecosystem – debt collection agencies provide a useful means for illustration. In Southeast Asia, these organizations collect repayments in countries with "severely complex" debt and payment practices, according to research. But, by rethinking this role, they could become a provider of support services to debtors – helping them to find jobs and financial stability, for example. This would result in a healthier regional economy and would benefit the debt collectors by ensuring people can repay their loans on time.

Lastly, when it comes to relationships – sets of norms that govern how an entity interacts with its stakeholders – it’s helpful to think about agribusiness, which is a major contributor to the Southeast Asian economy. Instead of treating farmers as suppliers, agribusiness firms could partner with them to apply best practices that would increase yields. This could benefit both the agribusinesses and the farmers, as well as contributing to food security and rural development.

By redefining these three elements, societal stakeholders in the SEA region can create more sustainable, equitable and resilient ecosystems that drive progress towards meeting the UN SDGs.

Governments also have a key role in these new ecosystems. They can create enabling environments for sustainable ecosystems. Rather than simply being regulators, authorities can incentivize sustainable practices through policies (rules), create platforms that let stakeholders collaborate (roles), and engage with businesses and NGOs to hear their needs (relationships).

When governments, businesses and other stakeholders adopt such an approach, experts believe it can create shared value and empower individuals and communities. Such a shift would not only enhance worldwide cooperation and accelerate progress towards the SDGs, but also increase resilience and improve quality of life for all.

The UN SDGs were designed to be our roadmap toward a more sustainable and equitable future. But we must get back on track. This should begin with a collective effort to redefine the rules, roles and relationships that govern our societal systems.

And fostering collaboration, innovation and shared values can be contagious: the first steps in Southeast Asia could create a ripple effect across the world. With the courage to make changes and redesign what we have now into a better version of itself, we can build a future where the SDGs are achieved on time.