The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development covers 17 goals, the 17th of which is “Partnerships for the goals,” namely: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.

Under this major goal, there are 19 targets, the 17.9 of which is “Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the Sustainable Development Goals, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation.”

●Current Situation

The World

International aid needs increase and the traditional model shifts

More financial assistance is needed to support international technical assistance for fossil fuel subsidy reform. Currently, the world allocates less than 0.01% of all international aid to try to solve the problem of fossil fuel subsidies (based on the budget for technical assistance in MDBs, inter-governmental organizations and non-government organizations).

South-South cooperation in support of the development of ICT infrastructure in LLDCs goes beyond traditional aid models, emphasizing a collaborative approach where countries with similar development challenges share their experiences, innovations, and resources

Source: OECD Development Co-operation Report 2024, UN Office for South-South Cooperation

China supports South-South and triangular cooperation

In June 2024, China announced a renewed US$10 million contribution to the China-IFAD South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) Facility. This funding demonstrates China’s ongoing commitment to supporting SSTC within the UN system, with a particular focus on agricultural development in the Global South.

Photo: International Fund for Agricultural Development

China shares governance experience with Africa to help alleviate its poverty, as well as enhance its scientific and technological innovation capabilities and industrial vocational skills. China has sent a total of more than 300,000 foreign aid experts, engineering and technical and management personnel have been dispatched to African countries, trained more than 25,000 people for African countries, and collaborated and exchanged views with 45 hospitals in 40 African countries, providing guidance and sharing experiences. At the China-Africa Leaders’ Dialogue in 2023, China offered to invite 20,000 government officials and technical talents from African countries to participate in training and seminars.

Source: United Nations in China, China International Development Cooperation Agency

●Cases

The World

Best Buy invests in new energy and offers sustainability courses

Best Buy partners with product vendors and manufacturing suppliers to innovate and bring additional business value. The company strengthens its manufacturing suppliers’ social and environmental performance through coaching, focused training and capacity building. Best Buy has invested in five solar fields, helping to accelerate progress toward carbon reduction goals. Through these investments, the company acquires Green-e certified Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), which encourage the production of new renewable energy systems. In addition, they became a Green Power Partner (GPP), an EPA-led program that seeks to develop new renewable generation capacity nationwide while also helping to protect the environment.

Photo: Best Buy

In FY24, they hosted a course on greenhouse gas emission data collection for their suppliers to raise awareness and build capacity on carbon reduction management. Also, they organized an on-site supplier workshop in Hanoi, Vietnam to enhance suppliers’ awareness of code compliance, and build capacity of their social and environmental management systems to mitigate risk and build a more resilient supply chain.

Source: Best Buy

Texas Instruments’ cross-border operation and management practices

Texas Instrument (TI) establishes manufacturing and design operation sites in the United States, Mexico, the Philippines, India, Malaysia and other countries. TI strives to pack and ship products efficiently to assure timely distribution to customers, comply with international shipping regulations, and reduce environmental impact. They also routinely engage and collaborate with industry groups such as the RBA, the Semiconductor Industry Association, and Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International to discuss and create supply-chain standards and share best management practices.

Photo: Texas Instrument

The ESH (Environment, Health, and Safety) management system facilitates the planning, execution, evaluation and management oversight of TI’s activities and strategies. It meets certification requirements set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 (environmental management system criteria) and ISO 45001 (occupational health and safety management system criteria). The management system also contains programs, policies, controls, processes and measurement tools based on industry best practices and international standards. It helps TI mitigate risks, improve its performance, fulfill compliance obligations, and achieve the company’s objectives.

Programs include extensive chemical and material screening, material sourcing, waste profiling, emissions management, and responsible recycling and disposal. They require 100% of the employees and supplemental contractors at all manufacturing and assembly and test sites to adhere to management system requirements. Other personnel not managed by TI are responsible for following their companies’ ESH management procedures and applicable regulatory requirements.

Source: Texas Instrument

China

Luxshare fosters employees’ abilities

Luxshare Industry Co., Ltd. has more than 100 subsidiaries, mainly located in China, as well as Vietnam, India, Mexico and other countries. The company respects and protects employees’ rights to equal consultation, collective bargaining and free association, and has built smooth communication channels for employees. It has a variety of online and offline communication platforms and methods at the company and factory levels to listen to employees from multiple angles.

Luxshare provides a variety of general knowledge courses for all employees. In addition to offline courses, they have launched the online learning platform “i School” so that employees can freely choose their learning time. In order to solve the cross-cultural communication and integration difficulties encountered by employees in overseas operations, they have launched a series of onboarding training courses for new employees in Vietnam and India.

Photo: Luxshare’s WeChat official account

In order to help the fresh-graduate employees quickly integrate into Luxshare, the company holds the “Star Training Camp” onboarding training to promote the rapid learning and growth of reserve cadres. In the centralized training sessions, the training team introduces the company’s main business, corporate culture, rules and regulations to the employees in detail, helping the employees to comprehensively and systematically understand the company’s basic information, laying the foundation for their subsequent work and career development.

In order to improve the comprehensive skills and leadership of the company’s management cadres, the company carries out a series of reserve tour training and management promotion training projects for reserve talents at various management levels to comprehensively develop the reserve cadres’ thinking, decision-making, influence and other leadership abilities. At the same time, this promotes the integration of cultural values and cadre concepts among existing cadres.

Source: Luxshare

Sunwoda actively joins international sustainable development organizations and invests in overseas markets

Sunwoda has established production bases in India, Vietnam, Hungary, Morocco and other countries, and joined external professional organizations and initiatives such as the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the Global Battery Alliance (GBA), the ISSB International Sustainable Disclosure Standards Advanced Learning Partner, and the China ESG Alliance to jointly promote the innovative practice of ESG.

Liang Rui (second from left), vice president of Sunwoda, attends the COP28 Shenzhen Special Roundtable Dialogue. Photo: Binhai Bao’an WeChat official account

In 2023, Sunwoda set up a subsidiary in Vietnam. In July 2024, Sunwoda announced that it would invest in the construction of a production base in Vietnam.

Source: Sunwoda

●Background

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiated by the United Nations

On January 1, 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including 169 targets, of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit — officially came into force. Countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change while ensuring that no one is left behind.