Launching a Global Destination Championing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Following years of programmatic and financial investments towards the SDGs, we’re launching a global destination that will serve as a resource hub to showcase research, tools and best practices toward the SDGs in order to raise awareness of the goals and foster industry partnerships.

“Facebook has been committed to the UN SDGs from day one, and we are proud to advocate for them across our platform,” said Arielle Gross Samuels, Head of Global Business Strategy and Engagement, Facebook. “We hope this destination serves as a global resource to equip businesses in accelerating progress towards the goals and inspires communities to create a brighter future."

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, progress towards achieving the UN SDGs has slowed significantly, and is needed more urgently than ever. The upside to achieving the SDGs is enormous — the UN has projected that reaching the SDGs by 2030 would unlock 380 million new jobs and $12 trillion in annual market opportunity — and Facebook has a meaningful role to play in accelerating progress toward the SDGs through our platform that serves over 3.5 billion people¹ and 200 million businesses around the world.² Here are some highlights of the progress Facebook is making across the SDGs:

• Good Health + Well Being (SDG 3): Facebook has connected 2 billion people³ to authoritative information about COVID-19 through partnerships with governments, nonprofits and researchers. Our platforms have enabled communities to raise more than $100 million for COVID-related fundraisers.⁴
• Gender Equality (SDG 5): Facebook helps women build entrepreneurial and digital skills through programs like #SheMeansBusiness. We also provide researchers with critical insights through surveys taken across the globe such as Gender Equality at Home in order to inform gender-related policy.
• Decent Work + Economic Growth (SDG 8): We enable individuals and businesses who use our platform to create jobs and breakthrough opportunities. By investing in access to educational resources, like Elevate and Blueprint, and committing over $100 million to support Black-owned businesses,⁵ we hope to improve lives for generations to come. This commitment is part of a broader $1.1 billion investment in diverse suppliers and communities in the US.
• Climate Action (SDG 13): In addition to launching a dedicated space to provide authoritative, factual resources from the world’s leading climate organizations, we achieved net zero emissions for our operations and reached a 94% greenhouse gas emissions reduction in 2020.⁶ Looking forward, we have set an aggressive goal to reach net zero emissions for our value chain in 2030. As a company, we have recently announced a new goal to be water positive by 2030 — to return more water to the environment than we consumed for our global operations through water restoration projects that will replenish more than 850 million gallons of water per year and projects that may have a catalytic effect in watersheds around the world.⁷

Achieving the SDGs will require meaningful engagement from private and public sector entities. In creating this new SDG destination, we hope to demonstrate how Facebook aligns our business and investments to contribute to progress. Facebook strives to close global socioeconomic gaps through accelerating progress towards the SDGs, drive systemic awareness for global communities and inspire businesses at large to make the SDGs a priority.

To learn more about the SDGs and importance of holding businesses accountable to them, join our Facebook at UNGA event.