16 October 2014: The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the UN Global Compact, and the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) have announced plans to develop a toolkit for institutional investors, companies and foundations to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with their investments.

The three partners note that the initiative aims to complement and support the intergovernmental negotiations on: the SDGs, a universal agreement on climate change, and a renewed framework to finance sustainable development within the context of UN’s post-2015 development agenda.

The toolkit will address the relatively low participation of the private sector – particularly in developing countries – in financing sustainability. According to the partners, responsible investment that deliberately seeks to create positive social or environmental impact, in addition to financial returns, is still modest.

The investment toolkit will help operationalize the UN Global Compact Post-2015 Business Engagement Architecture and UNCTAD’s Action Plan for Private Investment in the SDGs, with practical guidance and a set of tools that can help investment stakeholders manage the complexity of global investment chains and maximize their organization’s support for the SDGs.

The UN PRI Initiative is an international network of investors working together to put the six principles into practice, whose signatories contribute to the development of a more sustainable global financial system. UN PRI’s goal is to understand the implications of Environmental, Social and Governance issues (ESG) for investors, and support signatories to incorporate these issues into their investment decision-making and ownership practices. [UNCTAD Press Release] [Publication: Architects of a Better World: Building the Post-2015 Business Engagement Architecture] [Publication: World Investment Report 2014: Investing in the SDGs: An Action Plan for Private Investment in the SDGs]