Aligning finance with the Sustainable Development Goals
Progress towards achieving the 2030 Agenda remains slow and uneven: we are now at high risk of missing the mark on several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A major obstacle to advancing SDGs in emerging and developing economies is that most private finance and business activities are neither aligned with SDGs nor compatible with low-emission, climate-resilient development pathways.
The 2020 edition of the Conference will focus on the theme Aligning finance with the SDGs. Every decision we make, every dollar we spend, every product and service we provide can be better aligned with sustainable development outcomes (SDGs). The need for a common framework around alignment will be discussed at two levels:
- directing development and commercial finance towards socially and environmentally sustainable projects;
- ensuring business operations contribute to the Goals, through their employment, sourcing, supply chain, labelling and other policies.
High-level speakers from the private and public sector include Elliot Harris (Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development and Chief Economist, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA)), Travis Spence (Managing Director, J.P. Morgan Asset Management), Sonia Gibbs (MD and Head of Sustainable Finance, Institute of International Finance), Nancy Lee (Senior Policy Fellow, Centre for Global Development), Liz Lloyd (Chief Impact Officer, CDC Group), Philippe Valahu (Chief Executive Officer, Private Infrastructure and Development Group), Sony Kapoor (Managing Director, Re-Define) and Judith Karl (Executive Secretary, United Nations Capital Development Fund).
A cross-section of over 600 policy makers from emerging, developing and OECD countries, investors and representatives of corporations, development finance institutions, research centres, foundations, and civil society will join speakers in sharing examples and new insights to identify and scale solutions.
The 2020 Private Finance for Sustainable Development Conference will be held on Wednesday 29th January 2020, with back-to-back workshops and seminars taking place on Tuesday 28th January and Thursday 30th January 2020.