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Environmental sustainability is one of humanity's most daunting issues and continues to garner attention from researchers and policymakers. The substantial corpus of work on sustainability has focused on broader sustainable development goals (SDGs), with occasional discourse on the progress of environmental issues within the SDGs. In this issue, we draw precise attention to environmental SDGs and their implementation progress at country and company level, underscoring the actions required to accomplish Agenda 2030. The contributions to this special issue provide incremental knowledge of the state of progress made towards accomplishing Agenda 2030, as well as advance our understanding of corporate environmental research particularly in developing countries. We report a concise viewpoint of the chapters featured in this special issue of Advances in Environmental Accounting and Management on the progress and prospects of environmental sustainability and Agenda 2030. Our review and summary highlights crucial findings from each contribution, the implications of such findings for policymakers, and areas for immediate and future actions pertinent for the accomplishment of the Agenda. The overarching outcome from the chapters featured in the special issue suggests a positive change in the appetite for sustainable practices at both country and company level. Yet, the practicality and approach to attain the goals set by United Nations Agenda 2030 is still a distance away. We believe insights from chapters in this issue would provide pragmatic support to managers and governments in developing and implementing strategic actions to confront the growing yet emerging state of environmental SDGs accomplishment at country and company levels.

The transformational prospects of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are doubtless. Nonetheless, finding the appropriate implementation mechanisms to accomplish these goals and their targets and deliver on the promise of Agenda 2030 is proving challenging. Using publicly available documentary evidence from Voluntary National Reviews and Sustainable Development Reports, we analysed the progress of environmental SDG implementation in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey) countries. The findings reveal an overall implementation progress level of 64% and 62% in BRICS and MINT, respectively. Relatively, countries in BRICS outperformed their MINT counterparts in five of the six environmental SDGs analysed. Our assessment broadly notes a promising engagement with environmental SDGs in these blocs, albeit with limited progress, and the presence of impressionistic practices in reportage of successes compared with challenges. We highlight the critical environmental goals and areas for practical actions to accomplish Agenda 2030 moving forward. The study specifically draws the attention of policymakers to issues of climate action (SDG13) and affordable and clean energy (SDG7), where immediate actions are needed to ramp up environmental actions. Given the limited time left to accomplish Agenda 2030, the findings of this study provide timely insight into the environmental SDGs that are at risk of failure in these developing countries. The study significantly implicates developing countries' ability to achieve Agenda 2030 and provides practical and actionable policy measures that are urgently needed to address the situation.

The Whole Institution Approach is part of UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development program. This chapter explores what a “Whole Institution Approach” is and what it translates to in different higher education institutions around the world. This chapter provides background information to understand the complexity of sustainable development in higher education and how universities engage with the United Nations Agenda 2030. This chapter is based on an autumn 2018 International Association of Universities qualitative study, which looked at how the sustainable development goals (SDGs) are changing the dynamics of universities. To illustrate the findings, this chapter presents five case studies highlighting different approaches to integrating sustainable development into the whole institution. This chapter shows that there is no one-size-fits-all approach; each university engages with sustainable development and the SDGs in its own way. Finally, this chapter explains what the 2030 Agenda can mean for higher education institutions and more specifically Whole Institution Approaches.

This chapter examines the theoretical contributions of Marx and Engels as a framework for analysing the historical evolution of the idea of inequality within the domestic and international legal frameworks in capitalist societies. It discusses what can be referred to as a triple inequality in the legal frameworks that emerged at the end of the eighteenth century in a historical context dominated by bourgeois revolutions. The new ruling class relied on a legal-philosophical discourse to promote a drastic legal transformation: the equal treatment for all citizens under the law. This marked the beginning of a period of ‘idyllic justice’ grounded in consensual social values that gave the appearance, at least formally, of non-selectivity. Despite these promises, the emergent formal treatment under the law contrasted with the inequality of the law in practice. The continuity of the vulnerable sectors' dispossession – an inherent element of the development of capitalism – was then masked behind three modes of inequality: the denial of unequal material conditions through the imposition of an ahistorical and abstract characterisation of the law; inequality of the formal law; and inequality in the application of the law. Today, in an age of global governance, this chapter proposes that a similar process of global triple inequality is taking place through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Reflections on possible paths to overcome this trend can be found at the end of the chapter.

Canada is a member state in the United Nations. In 2015, Canada adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is a global initiative that envisions a world where member states will improve economically, socially, and environmentally by attaining 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations. This chapter focuses on Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education. A review of Canada's national strategy for mechanizing realization of Goal 4, a snapshot of Canada's midpoint progress, and recommendations for next steps and future considerations are presented.

Many students drop out of primary school, and those who finish are less prepared to live independently because of limited education outcomes and little academic preparation to help them succeed in life in Lesotho. The adjunct of COVID-19 added to these challenges but also showed possibilities for future inclusion in Lesotho. This chapter refers to the Kingdom of Lesotho Voluntary National Review on implementing the 2030 Agenda Report to discuss progress made on inclusive education in Lesotho. The chapter also explores barriers to inclusion, disparities affecting inclusion and equity, and future considerations to address challenges and enhance inclusion practices.

To perform a detailed analysis of the inherent complexities in achieving the 9th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), it is necessary to understand the procedures used by member states delegations to follow-up and review the progress made in implementing the SDGs and targets as mandated in the A/RES/70/1 Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on September 25, 2015 (U.N. General Assembly, 2015); best known worldwide as ‘Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’. Hence, this chapter aims at providing an overview of sustainability reporting practices to the U.N. High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). It starts by reflecting on the U.N. landmark events from which the 2030 Agenda emerged and the political and cultural context prevailing at that time. Afterward, it argues on the guidance documents issued by HLPF for following up and reviewing individual countries’ progress. The most controversial issue covered in this chapter undoubtedly concerns information gathering. This issue is because stakeholders consistently question the accuracy of data being provided, not only on Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) but also on corporate sustainability reports. Therefore, the chapter also covers the guidelines of independent external organisations such as the Global Compact Initiative (GCI) and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) used by firms to legitimate sustainability reporting content and increase reliability. Finally, this chapter concludes with a brief description of required procedures to submit and present VNRs.