SDG Sustainability Roadmap

• Make a punchy CEO Video for the IPA SDG Dashboard and post to your social media channels about why you have signed up  
• Publish your commitment on your website with a Statement of Intent from your CEO/C-Suite 

• Get your operational and procurement team on board to help evaluate your supplier code of conduct and understand what data is needed from your suppliers 
• Guidelines on developing a sustainability focused supplier code of conduct from ecovadis  
• For climate data explore an example survey to use with your suppliers from the Green Book Alliance  
• Publish your supplier code of conduct. See examples from Springer Nature and Wiley  

• Introduce a “Publish with Purpose” statement to acknowledge the role of publishing in advancing the SDGs. See example from Oxford University Press, Elsevier and Emerald  
• Review keywords used in the author submission process and check applicability for SDGs.  
• Evaluate aims and scope of journals and establish a link between the journal and the SDGs, or specific goals, including adding new content areas that cover relevant sustainability topics. See a Cell Press example  

• Talk to your editors about SDGs and climate. Explore the European Association of Science Editors (EASE) Environmental Manifesto and HESI top SDG tips for editors  
• Develop onboarding and training materials. Create a video to explain the SDGs to editors, or explain how they can be advocates in these examples from Wiley and Emerald.   
• Encourage editors to write editorials on SDG related themes relevant for their community. Example COP27 Climate Change Conference: urgent action needed for Africa and the world or more specifically for key communities “Gas Science and Engineering”

• TIP: Host internal townhalls or webinars to explain what SDGs and sustainable development means to your organization. Highlight your new ERG and encourage colleagues to get involved in SDG activities.  
• Get inspiration from others’ ERG Examples and talk about your own!   
• The Springer Nature SDG Impact Festival  
• RELX Climate Race  
• Blog from Wiley’s Green Group ERG on World Clean Up Month  
• Set up Lunch & Learn sessions: invite internal editors or external speakers on topics of colleague interest/relevance to business; IPA Academy: SDGs and publishing  

• Define your high-level strategy. It is helpful to think about how your SDG activities fit together and to articulate this in a simple way. Some examples include IOP progress on DEI in Peer Review     
• Save time and resources and align your data collection and indicators with already established reporting. E.g., reporting on progress towards net zero progress (i.e. TCFD or science-based target reporting) or on the Gender pay gap. See IOP Publishing example  
• Think about aligned also with industry reporting. E.g., The Publishers Association (UK) annual Inclusion and Diversity survey.   
• Get organized: You need set up ways to track and record progress. A simple excel sheet get you started, but further integration into your organization’s KPIs and strategy will help embed SDGs within your organization in a meaningful ways.  

The SDG Publishers Compact conducts a voluntary annual survey of signatory’s progress against the 10 commitments. By now you should be ready to share your progress with the industry. Read the 2022 progress report here.