OpEd: The World’s Leading Producers of Beer, Wine and Spirits on SDG3: Good Health and Well-Being

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were a central focus for the United Nations General Assembly this week. The SDGs are a global call to arms to all sectors to make a meaningful contribution to our communities. As UN Members have emphasized, the private sector must play a role if we are to realize the ambitions of the SDGs, and harnessing the will and capacity of the business community will certainly help to garner the political momentum needed. This past week, the world's leading producers of beer, wine and spirits have highlighted how they are making positive progress in reducing the harmful use of alcohol; a key goal for SDG3: Good Health and Well-Being. Through their collective efforts and consumer reach, these companies are demonstrating that the private sector does, and must, make a positive impact on health and well-being. There are some SDGs where the link between a business’s social responsibility objectives are clear and direct. The world’s leading alcohol producers are recognized for their campaigns to reduce drinking and driving, and have re-doubled their efforts in support of the SDG 3.6 target to halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2020. In 2016 alone, leading alcohol producers, working with range of partners including health and transport ministries, conducted drink driving projects in 80% of markets where they are commercially active—a total of 331 programs. Perhaps most encouragingly, projects in developing nations began to produce positive results. In Namibia, producers helped to implement national training for traffic police in conducting breath testing, and directly reached over 7,000 people through a public dialogue program about the danger of drinking and driving.  The campaign has a strong social media presence and is now the biggest online community and fastest-growing online page in Namibia. Similarly, in Cambodia, awareness raising campaigns supported by non-governmental organizations, the government, and the private sector reached over 23,000 road users. But in other areas, businesses need to think more innovatively about how they can support SDG objectives. Advertising and marketing is one such space, where the expertise and resources of global companies can help lead positive change.  The leading global producers recognize that alcohol must be promoted responsibly, and never to children. Marketing via digital media is a more complex issue, and an area that will be significant across many SDG Goals. Technological innovation is moving fast and digital platforms cross international borders and regulatory remits. It is a space that has already proven difficult for governments to grapple with, but provides a key opportunity for global companies to voluntarily lead the way. That is why, in the last week, leading alcohol producers announced a commitment to develop, in collaboration with other sectors, new responsible marketing standards for digital channels that represent best-practice in this rapidly-changing world and ensure that their advertising will only reach adults who can lawfully buy their products. They recognize, as others do, there is a lot still to do in this new and developing media, but this bold commitment sets the tone for the work ahead. Progress has already been made: in 2016 over 90% of their contracts with advertising agencies included clauses ensuring compliance with responsible alcohol advertising codes.  However, this new commitment takes it to the next level, perhaps faster and farther than other sectors, including government, may be able. Alongside setting standards for online advertising, businesses can also utilize their consumer reach through these channels. To support Goal 3, the companies behind some of the most popular beer, wine and spirits brands have used their social media know-how to run innovative campaigns and open public dialogues about responsible drinking and the potential harms of alcohol misuse. These businesses are using pioneering approaches to stimulate, promote and support positive cultural changes. In Australia, the internationally acclaimed ‘How to drink properly’ campaign, which directly targeted extreme drinking among youth and challenged them to moderate their consumption, reached two million 18 to-24-year-olds through a combination of social media, digital video, and geo-targeted marketing. Expert evaluation concluded that 81% of youth now consider the benefits of moderation, 54% said the campaign gave them a platform to talk to friends about drinking, and 71% now reflect on their behavior when they go out. In Brazil, the Sem Excesso (“No Excess”) program drew in 159,460 unique website visitors, gained more than 400,000 YouTube views, more than 808,000 Facebook likes, and more than 50,000 twitter followers. We are making progress towards the Global Goals. All sectors are playing their part, and the world’s leading alcohol producers are working alongside hundreds of other organizations from the public, private and NGO communities to make a difference and achieve real, positive and sustainable change. But there is a lot more to do and, in particular, the challenges of some developing regions are multi-faceted and complex, often hindering progress on all sides. We have already seen some of what the private sector is capable of when it comes to supporting the SDGs; now we must take new, bold steps and ensure that momentum reaches all communities. About the author: Henry Ashworth is President of the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking.