| Abstract |
Background: The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) included in the 2030 Agenda represent an urgent call to action for all nations to form a global partnership with a shared language, aligned strategies for improving health, education, reducing inequality, and promoting economic growth while ensuring environmental sustainability and taking effective action to combat climate change. One of the most universal Sustainable Development Goals is SDG3 to "Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages". The primary aims of SDG3 are health and wellbeing, but it also acts as a cross-cutting priority that is connected to all other goals that support people's advancement in a range of social, economic, and productive realms. The definition of "health" goes beyond merely the absence of disease. Health as well as social dynamics of social organization, lifestyles, and consumption patterns are influenced by the biophysical environment. Conventional agriculture relies on chemical intervention to fight pests and weeds and to provide plant nutrition. This means use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. On the other hand, sustainable agriculture relies on natural principles like biodiversity and composting to produce healthy, abundant food. By eliminating the use of synthetic pesticides, we can reduce several health risks to the producers and end-users, related to the long-term exposure to pesticides. The Health in All Policies (HiAP) initiative is about integrated governance to advance health and equitable aims while also achieving mutually beneficial results for partnering sectors. Moreover, WHO started the One Health Initiative to unify efforts on human, animal, and environmental health throughout the Organization, and more recently emphasis has been placed on a restored and safe natural world for all life in the context of wellbeing economy The public and private sectors should also put much more effort into research, product development, product testing and registration, and implementation of pesticide use strategies. They should also support public education regarding pesticides. This includes governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and manufacturers alike. Emphasis on these aspects has also been placed in European policies, and as part of the European Commission’s policies, cascading down to national policies across Member-States, including Greece.
Crete is the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean and represents the southernmost point of Europe. As the southernmost point of Europe, the island enjoys a mild and sunny climate that has helped turn Crete into a major agricultural producer and at the same time a top tourism destination. Indeed, he island has seen a boom in tourism in recent years given its beaches and a rich cultural history.
Businesses have the ability to make decisions that can influence their behaviour and have an impact on society and environment.
The main objective of this thesis is to investigate the extent to which private sector initiatives and partnerships can contribute to broader public health priorities and ultimately to the United Nations SDG 3.
Methods: A two-prong approach was utilised to examine the broader subject. First, a literature review was conducted to inform the choice of case studies and to evaluate the relationship between sustainable agriculture and the reduction of health hazards, particularly in the context of pesticides elimination. Second, a case study was chosen for analysis to determine to what extend the SDG 2030 agenda had influenced its development and the relevance of its implementation in terms of how private sector efforts in sustainable agriculture can contribute to meeting SDGs, and in particular SDG3, in support of public health priorities. The case study's analysis was based on the key themes that emerged from the thematic analysis. Sustainability reports and material available in the organisation’s website was utilised to establish the extent to which the several efforts identified were contributing towards sustainable development. More specifically, the way initiatives and practices were measured and monitored and the extent to which Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were relevant to adequately capture progress and overall impact. From these efforts 3 initiatives were identified as eligible in terms of supporting cross-sectoral collaborations and human health and wellbeing, focused on sustainable agriculture i.e., Phāea farmers, Sustainable landscape management and Plan bee.
Results: Literature review indicated that the key emerging themes were the importance of land use, responsible use of pesticides in agriculture and SDGs, importance of cross-sectoral collaborations, SDG3 and sustainable agriculture Considering pesticides was deemed an extremely relevant topic, as handling and spraying on farms results in many deaths in addition to the short- and long-term ailments brought on by exposure to pesticides. Specifically, exposure to pesticides is linked with diseases like Cancer, Asthma, Diabetes, Parkinson's disease, Leukaemia. The Case study analysis showed that although the initiatives started right before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, they were not only sustained, but regaining momentum grew substantially in 2021 and 2022, showing that have potentials to grow even more, according to the data provided by Phāea Resorts’ Sustainability Committee. The initiatives that were analysed show that sustainable development strategies based on sustainable agriculture and nutrition are inextricably linked with human and planetary health as well as SDG3, and when developed and deployed systematically they can contribute substantially towards promoting health and well-being. Furthermore, they present an upward trend which makes them durable and sustainable not only from the social and environmental aspect but from the economic aspect as well, contributing to a broader wellbeing economy, facilitating both nature restoration and freeing resources that can further be invested to support them, and to continue expanding them.
Conclusion: Despite the extensive research base into the harms of pesticides, i.e., there are numerous health hazards associated with pesticides and a large evidence base for decades, systematic efforts to eliminate them remain fragmented, whereas evidence-informed private sector initiatives remain fragmented representing isolated cases. In terms of SDG3, health risks are completely linked with the use of pesticides in conventional agriculture and wellbeing of people but also with all the aspects of sustainable agriculture like water and soil health. The strong management commitment on sustainable development strategies and the alignment of organization’s sustainability commitments with the strategic tactics adopted, seem to be key success factors for the development and the performance of sustainable development initiatives. SDGs actions can be supported by private sector initiatives, however, the measurement and monitoring of the respective KPIs is mostly inadequate. Most initiatives lack alignment with the SDGs and their impact is not studied systematically in terms of reporting on broadly accepted indicators. Additionally Member-State policies appear to be lacking concrete incentivisation and support for systematic cross-sectoral partnerships to this direction, necessitating an urgent re-examination of policies, incentives and practices.
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