Geneva, 4 November 2021
The PDF version is available here.
GENEVA—SDG Lab, a founding partner of Building Bridges Week, will host three events as part of its participation in the 2021 conference in Geneva on sustainable finance.
Taking place from November 29-December 2, the second edition of Building Bridges will focus on three cross-cutting themes: impact and transparency; supply-demand mismatch; and fintech for sustainable development. Participation, broad-based by design, includes the financial industry, the United Nations and other international organizations, governments, academia, NGOs and more.
The conference comes at a crucial time. While investment strategies aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals are attracting more interest than ever, the pace and scale are insufficient to achieve the goals by the 2030 deadline, with the gap growing during the coronavirus pandemic. The SDG Lab, a multi-stakeholder initiative led by UN Geneva, is working to accelerate results by fostering collaboration in Switzerland and beyond. In keeping with that role, the Lab will lead three events during Building Bridges Week to strengthen engagement on challenges to scaling up sustainable finance:
Connecting the Dots Between Investors and National SDG Plans: Activating Multi-stakeholder Collaborations to Source SME Investments at Scale | 1 December, 08:00 – 09:30 a.m., Forum Genève:
As more countries link their national development planning to the SDGs, the United Nations is working with governments and investors to build strong SDG investment pipelines. This session will look at some of those efforts and what in the way of research, investment and leadership stills needs to happen. This event will be livestreamed
Data workshops: Measuring the Social Dimension of Sustainable Finance | 30 November & 1 December, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m., Campus Biotech Innovation Park:
The coronavirus pandemic hit the world’s most vulnerable people hardest, drawing attention to an oft-neglected side of sustainable development. These two workshops will address the challenge of measuring the social dimension of sustainable finance and propose ways to improve data.
From the climate crisis and gender inequality to ocean pollution and decent work for all, the 17 SDGs of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development were developed to provide countries a clear roadmap for a better future—an inclusive and prosperous world for people and the planet. At the SDG Lab, we believe shifting mindsets toward greater integration and collaboration is required to accomplish the monumental task that the 2030 Agenda demands. Bringing together the finance and development communities, Building Bridges Week makes an important contribution to the process.
Note to journalists – Registration is required to attend the above events and must be done via the Building Bridges website https://registration2021.buildingbridges.org/. Seating is limited due to ongoing COVID-19 regulations.
CONTACT: sdg-lab@un.org