COVID-19 and Beyond: Scaling Up Private Investment for Sustainable Development

The decisions taken by institutional investors, commercial banks, capital market actors and corporations have a strong impact on the magnitude and quality of private investment available for the SDGs. To scale up available private finance and investment for sustainable development, it is necessary to address the incentives of the above actors through a combination of regulatory and institution/industry-specific measures. Further action is needed to better channel investment to countries and SDG-related sectors that are most in need. The development of innovative and scalable global platforms, instruments and funds would be an important first step in this regard. Additionally, to enhance the impact of given investment on sustainable development, and to avoid green or SDG-washing, it is necessary to advance industry-based standards for impact measurement and support the development and implementation of a clear set of SDG related metrics that can be integrated into existing reporting frameworks.