Stakeholder perceptions of the role of standards for addressing the sustainable development goals

Abstract

Not only governmental regulation but also voluntary standards developed within co- or self-regulatory processes can contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this paper, we analyze this contribution with a focus on formal standard-setting in the European Union. First, we review the limited literature on standards and sustainability and point out examples of specific SDG-related standards along the value chain. We then present results from a survey among >1000 stakeholders involved in standardization, who ranked the relevance of the SDGs and assessed how much different types of standards contribute to these goals. The results show that particularly formal standards are perceived to positively contribute to achieving the SDGs. This positive perception is most strongly pronounced for standards linked to laws, such as harmonized European standards. In light of the stakeholders' positive assessments, we argue that formal standardization could be a tool that further involves economic actors in implementing concrete measures for achieving the SDGs and that formal standards have the potential to complement already existing dedicated sustainability standards.