Deputy Secretary-General Urges Better Integration of Sustainability into Business Models, at Global Investors Alliance Event

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed’s remarks at the Global Investors for Sustainable Development (GISD) Alliance discussion with Member States, held today:

Thank you for joining this virtual meeting.  I appreciate your continued engagement with the United Nations as the world faces unprecedented upheaval and change as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The GISD meeting held this morning and preceding this event was very constructive and forward‑leaning.  The Secretary-General was very impressed at the ambition that matches the needs that we have in the world today.  I would like to thank both Leila and Oliver for their leadership of the group.  In times like these, we all need to join forces and work together, to respond to the pandemic and build a strong recovery that will set us on course to end poverty and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

When the Secretary-General officially launched the Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance a year ago, the world looked very different.  The need for financing to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was already critical, and levels of investment were insufficient.  There was growing recognition of the need for the private sector to address the shortfall in investments in areas including infrastructure, climate action, food and agriculture, health systems and services, and technology.

The GISD Alliance was established for exactly this purpose — to facilitate solutions that would increase the supply of long-term investment for sustainable development; realize SDG investment opportunities in developing countries; and enhance the impact of private investment on sustainable development.  A year later, the need to mobilize greater resources for sustainable development is even more pressing.  The COVID-19 pandemic threatens existing development gains, including decades of progress on poverty, hunger, health care and education.

The GISD Alliance has responded to the new challenges and the changing global environment.  In its first year, GISD laid the foundations.  Its achievements include reaching agreement on a definition of sustainable development investing; issuing a call to action for COVID-19 bonds; and producing a report for the European Commission’s Sustainable Finance Initiative.  While the report was submitted to the European Commission, its proposals are relevant for Governments worldwide.  The thinking behind this report is ambitious and global, and I encourage all Member States to take these recommendations under serious consideration.

The Secretary-General, together with the Governments of Canada and Jamaica, has spearheaded a United Nations initiative on financing for development that includes Governments, regional organizations and international financial institutions.  After an open, consultative process lasting several months, this has resulted in a strong menu of options for Governments to foster financing for sustainable development throughout the pandemic and beyond.

Many of the GISD recommendations will find resonance in these options, which include mainstreaming the SDGs into national and international investment policy frameworks; re-orienting investment promotion and facilitation; and establishing regional SDG Investment Compacts.  Other policy options arising from this process include fostering new forms of partnerships and sustainability-themed financial instruments; and providing incentives for environmental, social and corporate governance investors.

The GISD voice heard this morning urged us to use the platforms of the G20 and the G7, as well as the COP26 process to engage in a strategy that does access, for climate for instance, the $1 trillion needed from a pool of a $170 trillion.  We need a plan for that.

The foundations have been laid; we now have a rich set of options on the table for Governments and private investors.  Now it is time to get to work.  I see four specific areas for urgent action by the private sector.

First, better integrate sustainability into business models; second, significantly scale up investments in the poorest countries and the sectors most critical for achieving the SDGs, some of which I have already mentioned;  third, commit to climate risk disclosures; and fourth, scale up environmental, social and corporate governance investments and green bonds.

I also urge the private sector to capitalize on low prices to phase out fossil fuel investments in favour of renewable energy sources, green infrastructure, green jobs, and a green economy and the call to the public sector and Governments to end the fossil fuel subsidies which are completely at odds with the science.  These steps will enable the private sector to benefit from the opportunities of clean, green growth — but they depend on a constructive relationship between business and Governments.

Cooperation between the public and private sectors is critical to align resources and efforts towards common goals, guided by the SDGs and the Paris Agreement.  The dialogue we are hosting today is just one way of establishing and encouraging partnership between Governments and the member companies of the GISD Alliance.

I urge the members of the GISD Alliance and the United Nations Member States to continue your strong joint engagement to act on the recommendations of this group, benefit from their expertise, implement policy and regulatory change with the urgency we need, and at the scale necessary for real change.

Together, we must keep the promise of the 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement.  It is in our enlightened interest and it about our future generations.