27 September 2019: The UN Global Compact (UNGC) held a CEO roundtable to consider ways for corporations, investors and financial institutions to shape and support the SDG financing agenda. The event took place during UNGC Leaders Week 2019, which convened alongside the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) high-level week.

The roundtable meeting brought business leaders together to discuss priorities, explore partnership opportunities and reach consensus on the path forward to finance and support the SDGs, including through capital market activities and corporate strategies. Participants discussed the role of the private sector in mainstreaming sustainable investments, and the role of governments in providing investors and corporations their strategic plans for development models in emerging markets.

During the meeting, UNGC announced the launch of a network for Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) focused on advancing the SDGs through corporate strategy and investments. The CFO network builds on reports from the Global Compact on integrating the SDGs into corporate finance strategy and recent developments on SDG Bonds. The network will build on growing momentum among the private sector to develop innovative financial instruments to bridge the annual SDG financing gap of USD2 to USD3 trillion.

Companies don’t want to have 20 systems of reporting and 20 ways of thinking.

UN Global Compact CEO Lise Kingo highlighted the role of CFOs as investors in emerging and frontier markets, such as through foreign direct investment. She said the CFO network “will offer companies and other stakeholders a forum to collaborate and create a more sustainable financial market.” Schneider Electric CEO Jean-Pascal Tricoire welcomed the initiative’s common frame to analyze sustainability, explaining that companies “don’t want to have 20 systems of reporting and 20 ways of thinking.”

Enel CEO Francesco Starace described his company’s issuance of the first general purpose SDG-linked bond as a step towards financing sustainable development. He said there is “already evidence that a lot of companies are looking at this example and trying to replicate it,” and predicted there will be a “flurry of additional SDG-linked bonds on different subjects.”

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told CEOs that at the current rate of investment, it “will be impossible to achieve the SDGs by 2030,” which would be bad for people, society, the environment and business. She welcomed progress made by many CEOs to align their company’s investment strategies with the SDGs. She highlighted other signs of progress, including:

• 130 banks with assets of over USD47 trillion signing the Principles of Responsible Banking, committing to align their business strategies with the SDGs;
• the first SDG-linked bond valued at USD1.5 billion, which was oversubscribed by almost three times;
• commitments at the Climate Action Summit, including company pledges to be carbon-neutral by 2050;
• the launch of the “Getting to Zero” coalition to achieve zero carbon emissions for ships and marine fuels on the high seas by 2030;
• 19 companies with annual revenues of over US$500 billion launching the “One Planet Business for Biodiversity” initiative to shift away from deforestation and towards biodiversity protection and regenerative farming; and
• the upcoming launch of a CEO-led initiative, ‘the Global Investors for Sustainable Development alliance,’ which aims to scale up private investments for the SDGs and encourage coordinated action on structural roadblocks that restrict long-term investment towards the Goals.

As next steps, Mohammed called for tackling the hardest-to-reach sectors, such as oil and gas, steel, cement and aluminum, and identifying successful means to transition out of high-emitting sectors. She further urged transforming energy and transport infrastructures, addressing misaligned incentives, investing in sustainable technologies and innovative financing mechanisms, and improving measuring and reporting on sustainable investments.

Mohammed called on CEOs to use their supply chains and foreign direct investments to “reach those that are most in need to improve the ecosystems and livelihoods of billions.” [UNGC Press Release] [UN Deputy Secretary-General Statement] [UNGC Leaders Week Webpage] [UNGC Leaders Week Detailed Schedule] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance]