Sustainable Development Goals

Adopted by the United Nations in 2015, the 2030 Agenda serves as a global roadmap for long-term peace and environmental health. Central to this mission are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are built on outcomes of major conferences and summits: Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992; Millenium Summit in 2000; World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa in 2002; United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, etc.

In parallel, the Financing for Development process centered around supporting the follow-up to the agreements and commitments reached during the three major international conferences on Financing  for Development: in Monterrey, Mexico in 2002; in Doha, Qatar in 2008; and in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2015. The process also follows up on the financing for development-related aspects of the outcomes of major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic and social fields, including the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In the Sevilla Commitment, the outcome document of the 4^th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4), member states pledge:

34. To support efforts of private business and finance to contribute to sustainable development […]
35. c) We recognize the potential of private entities, especially large companies and institutional investors, to contribute to the national implementation of relevant intergovernmental agreements. To facilitate their effective engagement and clarify their responsibilities, as appropriate, we aim to provide clear and practical guidance.

Several resources have been developed to help interpret the SDGs from a banking perspective and leverage PRB implementation and the UNEP FI holistic impact methodology for SDG alignment and contribution.