by Simon Zadek
Finance for sustainable development involves big numbers. Financing shortfalls in developing countries for advancing the sustainable development goals are US$2.5 trillion annually according to UNCTAD. Most estimates suggest the need for US$6 trillion a year in infrastructure investment, much of which needs to be greened. More broadly, there is a need to align the projected US$20-25 trillion annually in global investment going forward with sustainable development.
by Ellen Quigley Raj Thamotheram
The United Nations Environment Programme recently launched a report on its 2-year inquiry into sustainable finance. Its authors and contributors should be commended for the scope and breadth of the project, which included specific recommendations for actors at every node of the global financial system. Furthermore, as IISD Executive Director Mark Halle pointed out in a recent interview, the Inquiry did a particularly good job of crafting an analysis that benefited from both insider and outsider perspectives, avoiding the pitfalls of both. This is precisely the sort of work we need in order to undertake the task of shifting to a low-carbon economy.
A very audacious change initiative reached a milestone October 8 by issuing a report: The Financial System We Need. It is the product of the two-year UNEP Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System that was established “…to advance policy options (emphasis added) to improve the financial system’s effectiveness in mobilizing capital for sustainable development.” Its co-directors are Simon Zadek who I’ve worked with and have immense respect for, and Nick Robins whom I haven’t had the opportunity to meet.
by Mark Halle
In the run-up to the Novethic annual event on 24 November, Mark Halle, IISD Executive Director and senior advisor to the UNEP Inquiry, talks innovation for the financial market, green finance and how to push financial actors to shift to a green and inclusive economy.
The G20 meeting in Turkey comes just weeks before the world meets in Paris to ink a new universal climate agreement. Crucial to that success and to fostering the current and future ambitions of countries will be finance – and, more specifically, support from developed countries to the aspirations of developing ones.
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