Page 45 - Read Online

Watts et al. Carbon Footprints 2025, 4, 27 https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/cf.2025.20 Page 3 of 16

[12]
Die” . Given the 22 year gap between these reports and that the calls for collaboration remain the same, it
appears, perhaps pessimistically, that such calls may be going unanswered.

The industry also faces a wealth of often competing demands. These include the traditional, arguably client
driven focus, upon time, cost, and quality, of the projects themselves. Although these success factors have
arguably evolved over recent years to now encompass all manner of “contemporary” factors such as social
[13]
value and sustainability based criteria . The importance placed upon such criteria by differing stakeholders
has also been explored. One robust study examined project success through intensive stakeholder interviews
pertaining to three Nigerian mega projects and concluded that “success” in a construction project means
different things to different stakeholders . Through an extensive systematic review of 124 international
[14]
bidding related articles published over the last 40 years another study found that increasingly diverse
procurement criterion has evolved in tandem with an increasingly competitive global construction bidding
environment .
[15]

Due to the global significance of the industry, its high impact on both the built and natural environments,
and the increasing stakeholder and societal expectations for positive change, the construction industry is
now viewed in how it responds to the contemporary global sustainability challenges. Procurement is often
the vehicle through which client sustainable agendas are achieved and so the links between the construction
industry and the achievement of the SDGs cannot be ignored. Sustainability now often features as a
procurement criterion and can result in the difference between procurement success and failure for those
tendering. However, despite the increasing sustainable movement in the UK construction industry, the in
dustry has been described as one of the least sustainable . In an effort to refocus the global agenda and
[16]
encourage collaboration in achieving specific sustainable goals the UN drafted the SDGs.

THE UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The SDGs were formally adopted in 2015 by all UN member states and set clear targets across a range of
[13]
seventeen different goals deemed to be internationally significant . The seventeen SDGs cover diverse
areas [Figure 1], yet each have tangible performance driven metrics by which progress against each goal can
[2]
be held to account .
The SDGs call for collaboration between developing and developed countries and recognise the interlinked
[18]
and interdependent nature involved in achieving each of the goals . As part of their sustainability focus,
and in line with several SDGs, the UK Government launched a Net Zero target for carbon of 2050 . One
[19]
Ghanian study that conducted interviews with key energy industry stakeholders concluded that SDG
success depended upon the collaboration and cooperation of both private sector and public sector
partners . However, there is often a siloed approach taken in attempting to work towards achieving the
[20]
SDGs, with stakeholders focusing on individual SDGs that they feel more able to contribute to. In a review
of 101 research papers published between 2015 and 2020, one study found that environmental themed goals
were focused on more than others, and that there exists a disconnect between planned SDG strategies and
the actions required to achieve such strategies . Another study utilised intensive practitioner workshops
[21]
and found that many SDG strategies neglected biodiversity initiatives despite the them being crucial to SDG
achievement . In a recent review of construction industry contractors, one study conducted a Qualitative
[16]
Content Analysis of the published sustainability reports from leading main contractors and compared the
findings to extensive industry interviews. The study found inconsistent SDG organisational knowledge and
that contractors focused on the same select few SDGs . This echoed warnings from previous studies that
[13]
argued the SDGs were not on track to be achieved and that further collaboration and support from
governments and industry was required . Research has shown that whilst awareness of the SDGs is key to
[16]