Our contributions to the SDGs

In 2015, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set an ambitious target to achieve a sustainable and equitable future for our planet. In recent years, geopolitical tensions, economic challenges and effects of the climate emergency have been visible around the world. Against this backdrop, it is more important than ever to accelerate action that supports the achievement of the SDGs by 2030.

In 2023 the STM Association launched the Sustainability Roadmap to provide a concrete guide for publishers. Elsevier, a scientific publisher and information analytics company and funder of the Elsevier Foundation, is a key contributor to the Roadmap and has long been focused on supporting the SDGs —focusing on making unique contributions to advance inclusion in research and healthcare, as well as climate action. But what does this mean in practice?

For Elsevier, this translates into many intentional, data-led actions including tracking diversity in senior leadership and gender equity across journal editorial boards, embedding a gender dimension in the research, embracing responsible AI, health product innovation, supporting Elsevier Foundation programs and continuing to share with the communities we serve the latest data and insights into gender balance in research.

At the Elsevier Foundation, over the past two decades we have built a portfolio of partnerships that support underrepresented researchers, librarians and health care professionals through role modeling, mentoring, raising their visibility and spotlighting their contributions. We are committed to working with our partners to help drive positive change and make the next decade one of action.  We are doing this in core focus areas:

We found that the words of one of our Board members really embodies the impact we are striving to achieve: “The vision is around the impact that we’re having on individuals as well as the communities that we serve.  One person, one impact has this huge ripple effect like throwing a pebble in a pond, and you start to see ripples, and it goes on for miles and miles and miles”

Additional Resources 

The RELX SDG Resource Centre is a free interactive education platform with content curated from across the organization related to the UN’s 17 SDGs. Features include a news tracker, published research and events. It was developed by our parent company, RELX.