A campaign to be launched in 2020 has issued a call to action to “make our money matter.” The Sustainable Finance Revolution Declaration outlines what the UN, private sector, public sector and others can do to transform pensions and other investment in order to end extreme poverty, tackle inequality and injustice, and “defeat climate change” by 2030.

The Make My Money Matter campaign intends to: help people understand where their money, especially pension money, is invested; help people take action to demand their money builds a better world; and work with the finance industry to use investments in the best interests of poeple and the planet. In line with these aims, the campaign launched the declaration as an official call to action.

The Declaration, issued in October 2019, calls on:

• everyone to ask whether their finances are sustainably invested and to demand clear, transparent investment of their money “in a way that is aligned with their values, limits harm and…creates positive impact towards achieving the SDGs”; 
• the private sector to support sustainable finance and give people information, tools and products to ensure that their money is invested in line with the SDGs and their values, including ethical, social or environmental concerns; 
• businesses and investors to give people a “greater voice in the governance of the companies’ managing their money” and to report their SDG-related impacts according to an agreed global standard;
• the public sector to take action through policy, regulations and laws to “reform business activity and investment”;
• regional, national and local governments to support the right of citizens to ensure their money supports the SDGs; and
• the UN to commission a multi-stakeholder expert group to develop global standards for measuring and reporting on the impact of business and investment activity on the SDGs.

The Declaration says it is crucial for the UN to serve as a champion of sustainable finance both globally and at national levels, in order to achieve the SDGs.

The Make My Money Matter campaign was announced during the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) high-level dialogue on financing for development (FfD) in September 2019, by Richard Curtis, UN Advocate for the SDGs. [Make My Money Matter website] [Press release from Blended Finance Taskforce]