SDG 2 – Nachhaltigkeitsziel für Private Lieferketten

Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2) formally requires state action. Yet, many of the objectives encompassed by SDG 2 can be more effectively achieved by private enterprises that »regulate« the food value chain through contractual arrangements. As this article demonstrates, SDG 2 itself implicitly acknowledges this reality, insofar as a significant number of its targets are directed at private actors operating along the food value chain. SDG 2, therefore, occupies a distinctive position within international law: while states are the primary addressees of the Goal, the substantive content of many of its targets can, in practice, be implemented predominantly by private actors within food value chains. This contribution examines how this apparent tension can be reconciled.
The article first introduces the inherent tension within SDG 2 between its state-centered addressees, its neo-liberal substantive orientation, and the role of contractual regulation in food value chains. It argues that the effective implementation of SDG 2 requires a supply-chain approach that focuses primarily on private actors within those chains. However, concluding that corporations should simply assume obligations traditionally borne by Western states would be counterproductive. Accordingly, established approaches such as the Business and Human Rights paradigm are unlikely, on their own, to deliver the desired outcomes.
Instead, the article contends that regulatory strategies must be grounded in the realities of global markets in order to design meaningful, context-sensitive policy mixes capable of effectively advancing the objectives of SDG 2. Against this background, it introduces the concept of »sustainable commoditization« (SC), developed through an analysis of seafood value chains as a means of transforming food value chains towards greater sustainability. The subsequent section explores how SDG 2 could be more effectively implemented through the application of SC approaches, drawing on insights from contractual governance that can be productively leveraged to operationalize SC and, in turn, to advance the objectives of SDG 2. The conclusion summarizes the findings and underscores the urgent need for further empirical research to unlock the regulatory potential of contractual governance in realizing SDG 2.