Cost to Achieve U.N. Sustainability Targets Jumps to US$176 Trillion – FFGI
(13 September 2022 – Global) The cost of meeting the United Nation’s (UN) global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) combating climate change increased 25 percent to US$176 trillion in the last year as performance on key measures in fact retreated, the Force for Good Initiative (FFGI) reports.
Rising economic pressures through 2022 resulted in progress on several SDGs worsen, with 100 million more people in extreme poverty and 210 million more facing food insecurity. Driven in part by historic under-funding and the ever-shorter timeframe, the higher hurdle cost was also driven by rampant inflation and the rising costs associated with reaching net-zero carbon emissions.
While the world now had up to US$450 trillion in further liquid wealth to address issues such as hunger, poverty and climate change, the lion share was held in superannuation and other investments with a need to focus on returns that many institutions did not associate with the SDGs.
"Our challenge is the SDGs are seen as a worthy cause but not really as a business case that can give a real return to the clients of those institutions. It can be profitable to serve those customers, and we should do so" commented FFGI Founder Ketan Patel.
“While it is important for clients to push institutions and the companies they invest in to focus on the SDGs, the institutions also need to see the opportunities” Patel added.
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