SDGs in Large-Company-Sized Communities: The Example of the Isle of Man Biosphere Reserve

Abstract

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) frame the urgent call for actions by all global stakeholders to provide economic, social, and ecological prosperity (United Nations, 2021). The goal is to create a better world for the greatest number of people. The stakeholders of SDGs are primarily UN member states, regardless of the size of their resources or population (United Nations, 2019). However, autonomous communities are included as well as companies. The Isle of Man (IoM) is located in the Irish Sea and is an autonomous crown dependency (cd) of the British monarchy with almost eight times fewer inhabitants than one of Europe's largest employer, Volkswagen, has employees (Brandtjen, 2019; Volkswagen AG, 2020). In 2016, the whole Isle was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (BR) and is the only entire nation to be a member of this worldwide network. The Biosphere programme focuses on sustainable development, conservation, and education within the framework of the UN's 17 SDGs (Isle of Man Government, 2021; UNESCO, 2019). But how does this programme help the IoM to develop? Did this programme help the IoM to get through the COVID-19 pandemic? Is the IoM a model for other nations to become UNESCO BRs and to create an environment for corporate SDGs to be fulfilled?

Citation

Brandtjen, R. (2022), "SDGs in Large-Company-Sized Communities: The Example of the Isle of Man Biosphere Reserve", Berrones-Flemmig, C.N., Contreras, F. and Dornberger, U. (Ed.) Business in the 21st Century, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 49-61. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-787-220221005