In 2015, the United Nations Member States made a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. These 17 integrated global goals are known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They recognize that action in one area will affect outcomes in others and that development must balance social, economic, and environmental sustainability.
The US Coalition on Sustainability (USCS), a non-profit that operates like a tech start-up, has a mission to accelerate progress on achieving these goals by 2030 in the decade of action. Their hypothesis: by leveraging the power of technology to unify cross-industry knowledge and open source insights, we can streamline our problem-solving capabilities and collectively leapfrog ahead.
USCS partnered with ThoughtWorks to bring their idea for a digital platform, SustainChain™, to life. Together, we set out to prove a systems-based approach to collaboration, enabling:
- Sustainability practitioners to benchmark progress and learn from peers,
- Solutions innovators to find customers and investors to pilot and scale, and
- Impact investors to find the best solutions with proven customer traction to fund.