The concepts of value and quality have undergone a rapid change. The change is still ongoing. 

The number of companies adopting the motto of creating not only value but shared value is increasing day by day.

Nestle and Diageo say “creating shared value”, while Danone uses the words “creating shared sustainable value”. In fact, it is not only food and beverage companies, Philips and Amazon also talk about sustainable value. While Philips says “creating value through sustainability”, Amazon says “creating value through sustainable manufacturing”. 

We are in a period where the circular economy has peaked. The concepts of “sustainable”, “shared”, “creating value” form the basis of “creating sustainable value”. “Creating sustainable value” means adding economic, environmental, and social value simultaneously to all elements within a company's main field of activity.

Sustainability is a state of balance. Of course, the goal of companies is to ensure economic sustainability. This issue is so important that environmental and social factors can be overlooked. However, the basis of the issue is formed by environmental and social elements. While engaging in economic activities and growing, it is necessary to grow without creating environmental pressure and without harming the environment. It is very important for sustainable growth to grow without forgetting that one is in an ecosystem, without forgetting the employee, supply chain, the geography of operation, and society.

The concepts are actually not new. Through various international organizations, events, and protocols, efforts are being made to reach a sustainable world with economic, social, and environmental dimensions. To briefly look at these efforts, we first encounter the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).

The OECD prepared a guideline for multinational companies for the first time in 1976. Since then, the guideline has been revised five times. This guideline is the most comprehensive document of responsible business conduct supported by governments. The emphasis in this guideline is to ensure that multinational companies act in accordance with these rules even when operating in geographies without legal regulations on certain issues such as environment or occupational health and safety.

Another formation is the WEF (World Economic Forum), founded in 1971. The WEF is a non-profit international organization established for public-private sector cooperation. It works with the aim of creating an environment of collaboration and partnership for positive change.

In 1976, the “United Nations Conference on Human Settlements – HABITAT I” was held in Vancouver, Canada. This conference aimed to contribute to solving the urbanization and housing problems faced especially by developing countries and to ensure international cooperation and coordination on settlement/housing issues.

Work began on a protocol to control the use and production of substances that deplete the ozone layer. In September 1987, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was adopted.

In 1992, at the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the “Rio Declaration on Environment and Development” was published. In this declaration, known as the “Rio Declaration”, the fundamental principles that the world's states must fulfill in the face of environmental pollution were explained.

Agenda 21 is an action plan that expresses at the highest level the global consensus and political commitments towards implementing the concept of “sustainable development”, which aims to establish a balance between development and the environment.

The second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements was held in Istanbul in 1996. The topic was again urbanization, housing, and people.

At the UN Millennium Summit held in September 2000, 147 countries signed the United Nations Millennium Declaration on the most urgent issues of human sustainability today.

With the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement, it was aimed to reach a global consensus to prevent the negative effects of climate change from reaching an irreversible level. In addition to combating climate change, the issue of adapting to climate change was also expected to be addressed equally within the scope of the new agreement.

In the negotiations at COP 24 in Katowice, Poland in 2018, rules were adopted to implement the articles of the Climate Agreement, which foresees limiting global warming to a maximum of 1.5 to 2 degrees compared to the 19th-century level.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), announced by the UN in January 2016, also known as the global goals, were built on the Millennium Development Goals. The SDGs provide us with a common plan and agenda to solve some of the major challenges our world faces, such as poverty, climate change, and conflicts. 

When we examine the 17 sustainable development goals, we see that goals from 1 to 6 are human goals. The goals between 7 and 11 are related to human welfare, while the goals between 12 and 15 show the goals related to our planet.

I would like to draw attention to the 12th goal, responsible consumption and production. In general usage, production always comes before consumption. But here consumption is used first. Because in the goals concerning our planet, the responsibility of the consumer comes to the fore. For this reason, Carlo Petrini, the founder of Slow Food, gave a new name to the consumer, combining it with producer, and called it prosumer. The prosumer is aware of the stages that the food he consumes has gone through and even supports this production process. Responsible consumption preferences will also force the producer to produce responsibly.

The 16th goal is the peace goal. The 17th goal is the cooperation goal. To achieve the goals, the public sector, private sector, academia, producers, consumers, NGOs, and international organizations must all work together.

As the business world, how can we end poverty? How can we end hunger? Many are probably thinking about this. You can think this way as companies or individuals. But the NGOs you are a member of do not think like this. They do not think like this, which is why “Business for Goals Platform” was established under the leadership of Turkonfed, Tusiad, and UNDP. Because these goals also contain very important opportunities for the business world.

To walk in line with the world, companies need to align towards the future and take the right position. The first steps to be taken for sustainability are to understand the SDGs and to determine the priority SDG issues for the company. For this, corporate business goals need to be aligned with the SDGs. Implementing the strategy created within this framework and communicating success loudly is necessary. Because there is a great need for good practice examples to be heard and their impact to spread.

As a matter of fact, the business world thinks that it can contribute to the 8th goal, “Decent Work and Economic Growth”, at a rate of 49 percent. This is followed by the 12th goal, “Responsible Consumption and Production”, at 40 percent. “Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure”, “Reducing Inequalities” and “Sustainable Cities and Communities” are other areas where the business world can contribute to sustainability.

According to the “Better Business, Better World” report, with the investments to be made for the goals, by 2030 a market opportunity worth 12 trillion dollars will be created. The sectors where these opportunities are concentrated are agriculture, food, energy, and health. To fully benefit from these opportunities, companies must consider social and environmental sustainability at least as much as they consider market share and shareholder value.

In the agriculture and food sector, 14 areas that will create market opportunities are summarized in the table below.

Just as the way of creating value has changed, the understanding of quality has also changed. In addition to quality management systems, which are a part of our lives;

• Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
• Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)
• Ecolabel
• Food Defence
• Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
• Basel Criteria for Sustainable Soy Production
• FAIRTRADE
• Rainforest Alliance
• Food Loss and Waste Protocol
• High Conservation Values (HCV) Network
• Natural Capital Protocol
• Guidelines on Cellulose, Paper and Packaging can be summarized as new standards that try to delve into the details of the story behind production, sales, and marketing activities. In other words, the concept of quality is redefined by analyzing the impacts of all processes, called the product life cycle, from raw material procurement to the production of the final product, then its distribution to the market, and finally its disposal, on the environment and social life.

As emphasized in the “Better Business Better World” report; “If social and environmental indicators do not improve in the next 5 to 15 years, it is very likely that we will see an increasingly strong public backlash against companies and increasingly stricter regulations from governments. Companies and company executives who are first movers in applying resource use and labor management according to the Global Goals will have a 5 to 15 year advantage in the sustainable playing field."