DNV GL offers a digital service to help companies assess their work with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), compare with other businesses in the sector and share best practices, helping to unlock the value embedded in the goals.

The SDG Lens is a tool developed to assist companies to unlock the value associated with working with the Sustainable Development Goals. Companies ranging in size can register to use the self-assessment tool, which enables them to prioritise the most relevant SDGs and set strategic goals. The tool, developed by the world’s largest quality assurance business, adds credibility and robustness to corporate sustainability reporting, which has struggled to adequately navigate the world of the SDGs. It also provides insights that can be fed straight into a corporate strategy or challenge the current approach towards sustainability.

In the three years since the Goals were agreed, businesses are still grappling to work with them in order to realise their value and make progress towards the targets that define them. By providing a self assessment tool for businesses, DNV GL are making the goals more understandable and easier to work with. The SDG lens also aims to build a community of business users that share common SDG targets and indicators. This is enabled by the independently developed, standardised, best practice assessment methodology on which SDG Lens is built. SDG Lens analysis reports will be shared with participating businesses, allowing you to check, compare and deeper consider your position on the SDGs; and connect and collaborate with partners on prioritised goals if you so choose.

Businesses have a crucial role to play in achieving the goals set out in the SDGs, and stakeholders including investors and civil society believe that businesses must step up in their ambitions with the goals. The lens allows businesses with no prior experience of working with the goals to understand them quickly and get the most out of them in their particular industry.