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Add to Preferred SourcesA cooperation between Swedish investors has led to a large bond with a focus on sustainable cities and communities. This has inspired the UN system to look into how investors can contribute to a more sustainable world.
In October, the Swedish investors Skandia, SEB Life & Investment Management, Handelsbanken Fonder, and Church of Sweden invested in World Bank Bonds, with a special focus on Sustainable Cities. The transaction totaled SEK 2.5 billion.
The four investors have thereby created an investment opportunity that can contribute to addressing some of the challenges linked to the strong urbanisation trend across the world, such as access to clean water and renewable energy for the growing number of urban citizens.
The transaction that led to the large bond is the result of a unique cooperation within the Sida-facilitated network Swedish Investors for Sustainable Development (SISD).
“It is a good example of what partnership with different actors can lead to and the important role that Sida plays in creating platforms for these stakeholders to meet, catalysing more funds for the implementation of 2030 Agenda. It is ground-breaking that asset owners and asset managers within the SISD network cooperate in this way to finance sustainable development in the world”, says Director-General Carin Jämtin.
Sida organizes and facilitates Swedish Investors for Sustainable Development, which is a partnership for Sweden’s largest institutional investors, pension funds, investment companies, and asset managers. They have been working on the investors’ role and possibilities in the 2030 Agenda since 2016.
The network has inspired the UN system, through UN Department of economic and social affairs (UN-DESA), to initiate work and discover possibilities of creating a global network for “investors”. The new network would consider experiences and results from SISD and take inspiration from the Swedish context on to the international scene.
During 2018 and next year, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has a special focus on the financing of the Global Goals. New flows of large finances are found and a new UN strategy for financing was launched during the UN General Assembly in September 2018.
Original source: Sida
Published on 2 November 2018