Finance

The financial sector plays a pivotal role in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Introduced by the United Nations in 2015, the SDGs represent a blueprint for achieving a better and more sustainable future for all by addressing critical global challenges, including poverty, inequality, climate change, and environmental degradation. But the accomplishment of these goals requires substantial resources. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates that achieving the SDGs could require investments of $5-7 trillion per year. As such, the financial industry's role is indispensable.

One of the main ways in which finance connects to the SDGs is through the provision of the necessary funding to achieve these goals. This can take several forms, including direct funding from banks and financial institutions, impact investment, which aims at generating social and environmental impact alongside a financial return, and innovative financial mechanisms such as green or sustainable bonds.

Moreover, SDG 17 explicitly recognises the role of finance, calling for strengthening the means of implementation and revitalising the global partnership for sustainable development. It seeks to mobilise additional financial resources for developing countries from multiple sources and promote a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory, and equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization.

Furthermore, financial institutions can adopt sustainable practices in their operations, contributing to several SDGs. For example, by offering financial services to unbanked or underbanked populations, financial institutions can contribute to SDG 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). Similarly, by adopting sustainable investment criteria, financial institutions can foster sustainable industries, thereby contributing to SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production).

Finally, finance plays a role in managing the economic risks associated with sustainability challenges. For instance, by taking into account environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria in their risk assessments, financial institutions can help mitigate the financial risks associated with climate change and other environmental and social threats.

However, integrating sustainable development into the financial sector also entails challenges. These include the need for a better understanding of the financial risks and opportunities associated with sustainable development, the need for enhanced disclosure and transparency around sustainable finance activities, and the need for more consistent and standardised sustainable finance taxonomies and metrics.

The UNGC's latest report on “Accelerating Innovation in Sustainable Finance” offers models for businesses on how to deliver financial returns and positive global impact – together.

Elsevier,

The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, Volume 37, September 2024

This viewpoint highlights the threat of gambling as an emerging public health issue in the American continent.
This paper supports SDG 3 with evidence of disparate effects of phased COVID-19 vaccine rollout on mental health across US populations, underlining the need for careful planning in future strategies for phased disease prevention and interventions.
This article advances SDG # 13 by arguing that flaws with carbon offsets, such as exaggerated climate benefits, emission avoidance rather than carbon removal, non-durable carbon storage, greenwashing, and double-counting, ultimately make the current system incompatible with the Paris Agreement.
In this episode of the "World We Want" podcast, Márcia Balisciano speaks to Dr. Christian Leitz, Managing Director, Secretary of Corporate Culture and Responsibility Committee, and Group Historian and Lead for Long-Term Archives at UBS. During the course of their conversation they cover the challenges to achieving sustainability from all aspects—from historical lessons to providing financial impetus to invest in sustainability.
Not all humans have the same carbon footprint: luxury lifestyles are significantly worse for the planet. This One Earth Research Article explores how a 'luxury tax' with revenue recycled to address climate inequality (SDG 10) could accelerate decarbonization (SDG 13).
This article supports SDG # 13 by calculating the share of climate damages that fossil fuel companies owe the world.
Elsevier,

One Earth, Volume 5, 20 May 2022

This article proposes a feasible framework to operate a global market of blue carbon, which helps to mitigate climate change.
Major infrastructure financiers will have to significantly decarbonize their investments to meet mounting promises to cut carbon emissions to “net-zero” by mid-century. We provide new details about those needed shifts. Using two World Bank databases of infrastructure projects throughout the developing world, and applying a methodology for imputing the projects' likely future carbon output, we assess the emissions profile of power-plant projects executed from 2018 through 2020 — the three years immediately preceding the spate of net-zero pledges.

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