Publications

A Review of International Financial Standards as They Relate to Sustainable Development

The report, a companion to the second edition of “The Financial System We Need”, examines how the international financial standards currently relate to the goals of sustainable development and explores opportunities for better alignment as a way to promote greater stability, resilience and fairness to the financial system.

The key messages are:

• Financial standards have a significant impact on achieving sustainable development.
• Financial standards currently relate to sustainable development issues in a fragmented way.
• Unrealized synergies between financial standards and sustainable development could be built upon.
• Climate change is only recently gaining traction within the standard-setting community.
• Intergrating financial inclusion into financial standards could be built upon for the broader consideration of social and environmental factors.
• Financial standards can be used to transform the culture and values of the financial sector.