Lesson 2 - Environmental Sustainability
In this lesson we will discuss key ways to understand and improve the sustainability of brewery operations. This will include understanding the global context for sustainability, the key environmental sustainability impacts of producing beer and opportunities for improving the sustainability of beer and brewing operations.
UN Sustainable Development Goals
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a useful framework to understand what the key sustainability issues are and what the global community is aiming to achieve by 2030.
The 17 goals, shown below, were launched in 2015 and have been adopted by all UN member states. The goals were created by the UN in collaboration with governments and businesses, and act as an urgent call to action on the significant challenges we face. Even though our focus is the environment, it is useful to consider all 17 goals and to recognise that improving outcomes for people, such as ending poverty and improving health and education, must go hand-in-hand with tackling environmental challenges such as climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.
Many businesses and industries have adopted the goals as a way to guide their sustainability and wider business strategies as well as providing a useful road map for future opportunities. While not all the goals may be directly applicable to our own company or role, they will affect the world in which we brew and sell beer. If all these goals are achieved, it will be a much better world in which to enjoy a beer!
Figure: The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals
While all 17 goals are essential, some are more directly related to the environmental sustainability of brewing and packaging beer. The goals that are important to beer, and that we have influence over directly as brewers are:
Figure: The four UN SDGs most related to the impact we have on the environment as brewers, and those that we can influence most directly
Next, we consider the climate action goal in-depth as many of the other environmental challenges we face are linked to climate change. The other global goals highlighted in the image above shape the later sections of this lesson – revealing how we can lower environmental impact in the brewery.
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