New York, 18 July 2018 – The event “SDG Country Plans: A Roadmap to Private Investment”, organized by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), the United Nations Global Compact, the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Permanent Missions of Ecuador, Egypt and Spain, was held on the sidelines of the High-level Political Forum last week in New York.

The event highlighted the importance of Business and Investors to deliver on the 2030 Agenda at the country-level and was attended by representatives from Government, business, investor groups, the UN and Global Compact Local Networks. They relayed lessons learned and best practices, opening up new dialogues and approaches to advance the SDGs at the national level. In particular, Governments and investors agreed about the need to align private investments with SDG country plans.

It marked the next step in an important and ongoing conversation about breaking down silos and connecting Governments, business, investors and the UN on the increasingly critical topic of financing for the SDGs.

“The 17 SDGS are about people, planet and prosperity. It will be a true global transformation that humankind have never seen before, and we only have 12 years to get the whole thing right” said Lise Kingo, CEO & Executive Director of the UN Global Compact in her opening remarks. She continued: “It all hinges on connecting the SDG country plans with the private sector and investments to redirect finance toward the 2030 Agenda. In this work, the private sector is crucial.”

During the discussion, it became clear that Governments play a crucial role in making the SDGs relevant to all stakeholders, including business, investor groups, civil society and local

The financial sector urges Governments to finalize standards for measuring the impact of investments

The second panel at SDG Country Plans focused on mobilizing private capital for sustainable business, and engaged a high-level panel of Government officials and representatives from the financial sector.

Maria-Aimee Boury, Managing Director, Impact Based Finance at Société Générale Corporate and Investment Banking, talked about the need for a stable policy environment for investors: “The key for us when we make a decision is the predictability. We would like to see the same level of commitment and predictability from the Governments and the municipalities into the project they have chosen as their priority. Governments need to commit to facilitate, which also means fast tracking, giving information and pushing for the projects, and continuing also if the Government changes,” said Boury, who also suggested optimistically that the private investments needed to advance the SDGs are actually within reach.

Read more https://www.unglobalcompact.org/news/4395-07-19-2018