UN Sustainable Development Goals
We translate goals to action
Denmark is among the best UN countries in terms of realising the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a second place in 2017 and 2018, which underlines that the goals are high on the agenda among Danish company’s strategy and in Danish politics – and for good reason.
The 17 SDGs are in place to promote sustainable development on our planet, which is why companies in Denmark take them seriously. Many Danish companies are already front runners in green energy, water use and circular economy. They are present globally, establishing good jobs for people.
However, even though Denmark is among the best UN-countries, a large amount of Danish company’s have not realised the advantages connected with working towards these goals. According to “Dansk Erhverv” (The Danish Chamber of Commerce), it is especially the Danish companies in the SME-category that are yet to integrate the UN SDGs.
We mainly see larger Danish companies of 250 employees or more that contribute towards the SDGs to some degree.
For Rieks Construction, SDGs are not simple words on paper, we engage in living up to SDGs for two reasons: partly because they involve in solving some of the most pressing issues globally, and also to ensure our company’s future success.
We therefore measure our success in terms of how we contribute to securing a sustainable planet, which makes working towards the UN SDGs a natural part of our business.
We engage with three global challenges, and help solve them:
SDG #4: Quality education
SDG #8: Decent work and economic growth
SDG #12: Responsible consumption and production
SDG #4: Quality education
Education is one of the most efficient factors leading towards sustainable growth. Rieks Construction contributes by:
- Taking in appretices in our production.
- Offer graduates jobs.
- Taking in engineers or production technologist for internships.
- Collaborating with engineers and production technologists on projects.
- Investing in education for our employees.
SDG #8: Decent work and economic growth
In our part of the world we are lucky in many ways, for instance, our water taps produce clean hot and cold water. However, it is far from everywhere in the public and private sphere that people with disabilities can access proper sanitary facilities. Rieks Construction contributes by:
- Ensuring proper sanitation, changing and bathing facilities for people with disabilities.
- Aiding the increase of disability friendly toilets and changing rooms in public spaces.
- Offering water-saving alternatives when relevant.
- Decreasing the use of raw materials, water, and energy to minimise environmental impact.
SDG #12: Responsible consumption and production
If we are to establish economic growth as well as sustainable growth, we must produce and consume resources and wares in a way that leaves as few traces in our environment as possible. For instance, we must manage our waste, also the polluting and toxic kind, efficiently and sensibly. We must also reuse as much material as possible and help others to think about sustainability. Rieks Construction contributes by:
- Minimising the component usage and reuse as many components as possible.
- Sorting our waste and handling chemicals in the environmentally responsible way.
- Informing customers and sellers about how to dispose of Rieks Construction’s products properly.
- Investing in new technology that can reduce waste and optimise our use of resources.
- Constructing machines using the newest technology and using the “Poke Yoke” principle to create simpler machines to reduce production time, increase quality and decrease the environmental production cost.