Corporate Social Responsibility and Public Private Partnership

Abstract

Since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs), public-private partnerships have become even more prominent. In simple terms, the Agenda is a plan of action for prosperity that seeks to strengthen universal peace and freedom by eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions. Further, the Agenda requests all stakeholders to act collaboratively in partnership for sustainable development. UN agenda is a plan of action for ‘people, planet, and prosperity.' The 17 Goals cover all crucial policy areas to secure a sustainable future, including education, health, economic development, social protection, environmental protection, and natural resources governance. The 17 goals are operational in 169 targets which need to be reached by 2030 or earlier. The SDGs build on the Millennium Development Goals and aim to complete what these Millennium Development Goals did not achieve. The main difference between the Millennium Development Goals implemented from 2000 till 2015 and the Sustainable Development Goals launched in 2015 is that the former were mainly targeted to governments while the latter attempts to target many different stakeholders including the private sector. Therefore, a shift in approach between the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals is the recognition that policy objectives are best achieved by involving and integrating private actors in the policy process. It must be recognized that Various actors have used Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) for sustainable development as a mechanism of operation during the last three decades. It is viewed as a shift in the public management way of doing business. Even if there are many types of PPP as depicted in the below figure 1, the above move is explained by the shift from ‘public management’ to ‘public governance,' signaling that governments are no longer the only providers of public policy but increasingly engage private actors. (Rosenau, 1995:13)