The world to leave behind is one of unsustainable,
high-emissions practices.
The world to seek is one of global-minded, sustainable
development. And the UN, through its Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) and the Paris Agreement, has put this very large goal into
words, actions, and a tangible framework.
Certainly, it is the goal of a generation—but it is also
expensive. The SDGs alone require an annual investment of seven
trillion US dollars.1
So how can the banking industry help finance this? Indeed, the
world's banks have a huge role to play in funding the
sustainability agenda—and bankers are already on board. Since
spring 2018, the world's major banks have been working with the
United National Environment Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) on the
alignment of business practices with global sustainability
objectives.
