Communications for Impact. UN Update
May 8, 2019
UN System Outlines Common Narrative.
May 9, 2019
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the creation of an alliance of chief executives to support funding for the SDGs, telling private sector leaders that investing in sustainable development “is not about goodwill “but the foundation of long-term global prosperity. The alliance was developed by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) in close collaboration with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), based on the Swedish Investors for Sustainable Development program.
Following a discussion convened by SIDA and DESA in September 2018, the announcement of Global Investors for Sustainable Development (GISD) was announced on April 15, 2019. This announcement was made in the context of the SDG Investment Fair. New York, United States.
At the ceremony, Guterres reminded business leaders that the additional US $ 2.6 trillion per year would be needed to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, according to estimates by the United Nations Conference on Human Rights. Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and that the resources available were insufficient. He added that substantial and long-term private sector investment is needed.
Scott Mather, PIMCO, observed that the financing gap of the SDGs is small compared to “the size of the investable universe”, which contains about $ 200 trillion in tradable stocks and bonds, and “hundreds of billions of dollars in private sector”. the funding gap for the SDGs “is quite achievable”, he said, provided everyone joins forces to direct available investments to produce more sustainable results. Nicky Newton-King, CEO of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, added that there is no SDG “an exchange cannot help to reach”.
According to the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, one of the challenges in scaling up investments for sustainable development is that policies do not take into account risks or price externalities. Some institutional investors hope to change the definition of fiduciary responsibility to take these factors into account. The CEO of Sweden’s largest mutual fund company said companies needed to work together on regulations to “manage performance as a whole, without sacrificing the planet, the climate, or the man,” while that the head of a Swedish pension fund has stressed the need for more products for SDG investments. and more prospective data.
The GISD will be composed of 25 to 30 CEOs of large companies around the world. They are expected to leverage their knowledge to drive more long-term investment for sustainable development. The initiative should belong to a CEO, with members forming working groups and networks as needed.
The inaugural meeting of the GISD alliance will take place on 23 September 2019 in the margins of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week and the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit. The alliance will then implement an action plan until June 2021 and report its results in September 2021.
A group coordinated by DESA and UNCTAD will assist the alliance in implementing its plan of action. The group will also include other components of the United Nations system such as the United Nations Global Compact, the United Nations Development Fund, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP-FI) and the United Nations Regional Economic Commissions. , as well as the World Bank Group and others.
Source: SDG Knowledge Hub.
