Business leaders present solutions for financing SDGs in developing countries

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Business leaders from around the world on Wednesday presented innovative solutions for bridging the 4.3 trillion U.S. dollar financing gap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing countries, during a hybrid meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

According to a press release issued by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, more than a dozen top business executives met with the top UN official at the fourth annual meeting of the Global Investors for Sustainable Development (GISD) Alliance.

The meeting was co-chaired by Leila Fourie, chief executive officer of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and Jose Vinals, group chairman of Standard Chartered.

"The large and persistent SDG financing gap must spur our collective effort to scale up private finance and investment for the SDGs. There is no time to waste. We cannot afford for the SDGs to fall out of reach," said the secretary-general.

"In the past year, building on pivotal work done in the preceding years, the GISD Alliance has focused on setting conditions for the scaling up of long-term private finance for sustainable development investment (SDI)," said Fourie.

This was accomplished through the development of a credible definition for SDI, SDG-aligned metrics, a model mandate to assist in developing SDI strategies, making input into the development of a set of global sustainability reporting standards, and a roadmap for necessary MDB (multilateral development bank) reforms, she added.

Vinals said that over the next 12 months, the GISD Alliance will continue to scale up these efforts and embark on new initiatives, launching a transformational blended finance platform that will allow for co-investment in sustainable infrastructure projects. "We will also continue our engagement with global stakeholders to advance the reforms necessary to unlock finance and investment for sustainable development in support of the SDGs."

To facilitate the flow of investments to developing countries, according to the release, the alliance is advocating for more effective private capital mobilization by multilateral development banks and the international development system. GISD members have made recommendations on changes to governance and business models of development banks and enhanced blended finance structures.

Most recently, in collaboration with the International Corporate Governance Network, the alliance launched the Model Mandate, which provides guidance on the contractual relationships between asset owners and asset managers, with a focus on encouraging long-term investments that are aligned with the SDGs.

The GISD Alliance has also submitted a collective response to the public consultation of the International Sustainability Standards Board, which was established at COP26 (the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow), to develop a comprehensive global baseline of sustainability disclosures for capital markets.

In addition, the GISD Alliance is moving towards launching the Sustainable Infrastructure Investment Platform which will allow multiple multilateral development banks and institutional investors to co-invest in SDG-aligned infrastructure and scale investments in emerging markets.

Looking ahead, GISD is compiling best practices among investors and corporates for integrating sustainability considerations into performance incentives and is developing actionable guidance for scaling and strengthening the sustainable bond market, the release said.

The meeting took place amid "a worsening global economic outlook," the release said. "Concurrent global crises including the war in Ukraine, climate change and the continuous impact of COVID-19 have resulted in an increasingly challenging investment ecosystem. The multiple crises also threaten to derail the progress of the SDGs, the world's best response to creating healthier and more equal societies."

In October 2019, the UN chief established the GISD Alliance as part of the implementation of his Strategy for Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.