The world will fail to fund the SDGs and finance the transition to a sustainable, resilient and inclusive future without immediate and fundamental changes to the flow of capital. With the funding shortfall to meet the SDGs, based on the latest estimate now reaching approximately 10% of annual global GDP for the next decade, the amounts required, estimated at USD100 trillion, are not something either governments or the private sector can deploy on their own. The finance industry, which owns or manages over 85% of the world’s gross liquid assets of an estimated USD400 trillion, alongside other stakeholders, has a critical role to play in the strategic allocation of capital to fund the development and execution of solutions.
The Force for Good (F4G) Initiative, in support of the United Nations Secretary General’s strategy and roadmap for sustainable development to 2030 and the transition to the future, is managing a series of high impact sessions at the World Investment Forum to explore the challenges facing the world, the initiatives of finance industry leaders to address these, and the big multi-stakeholder ideas that can change the game for the world’s transition to a more sustainable and inclusive future.
In this session, leaders of some of the world’s biggest investing institutions will discuss current and emerging capital allocation strategies seeking to address the world’s challenges. The world’s largest asset managers are increasingly embracing environmental, social and corporate governance, and sustainable and even impact-investing strategies as part of their core offering or as core to their missions, transforming their own organizations in the process and developing the blueprint for successful financial services businesses in the twenty-first century.
Issues to be addressed
- Which major issues have been prioritized by finance industry leaders from the many that the world faces?
- What are some of the solutions deployed, and the challenges faced, in making a successful transition from a traditional model of capital allocation to one that funds sustainable development?
- What is required to allow capital to flow to solutions in a step change manner that can meet the needs of investors and the world at large?
