Just 18% of UK SMEs appear to be aware of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, according to research published this week by the British Standards Institution.

Over half of large businesses in the UK are also unaware of the SDGs, the organisation says, with awareness at its lowest in the hospitality and leisure, education and media and communications sectors.

Commenting on the findings of the research, Murray Sayce, global head of sustainability solutions for BSI’s Assurance business said: “It is imperative that businesses of every nature and size understand the importance of sustainability in their operating model if they are going to survive into the future. This data, which also shows that almost 40% of organisations have no established sustainability goals, indicates a massive knowledge and implementation gap that needs to be filled.

“We know that most businesses want to do the right thing, indeed 72% consider it important to work with sustainable supply chains and 47% actively work with independently verified sustainable suppliers. But they need more guidance on how to set sustainability related targets and how to achieve them.”

The BSI’s findings are based on research conducted by YouGov.

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