CFO Taskforce commits to SDG-aligned investing

June 18, 2021

This week at the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Leaders Summit, the UNGC CFO Taskforce for the SDGs announced that a total of 58 companies are now signatories to their CFO Principles on Integrated SDG Investment and Finance (CFO Principles), launched a year ago as the first UN-backed principles for integrated SDG finance.

Companies with a market capitalisation of over US$1.6 trillion have committed to key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure their progress towards implementing the CFO Principles.

The announcement was made at the plenary session "Financing the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement”, in which speakers from Enel, PIMCO, LIVE Africa, and Moody's discussed the importance of meaningful ESG corporate action. Corporate engagement was highlighted as a key tool for the benefit of investors wanting to align themselves with the Paris Agreement.

The new KPIs provide a benchmark for the integration of the SDGs into corporate finance. They are intended to become an essential component of the UNGC's Ten Principles and further the push for the integration of sustainability in company practices.

These developments add further weight to the industry-wide movement toward sustainable investing. CFOs themselves have a large role to play, with over US$14 Trillion per year in corporate investment to manage. Members of the UNGC CFO Taskforce are stepping up their commitments to the SDGs and will continue to be closely watched by ESG investors, who are looking for better integration of the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures guidelines.

The CFO Taskforce was launched in 2019 to bring together a multi-sector group of corporate finance leaders to develop innovative strategies to mobilize finance towards sustainable development. Chaired by Alberto De Paoli, CFO, Enel and Scott A. Mather, CIO U.S. Core Strategies, PIMCO, the two-year task force is due to deliver its final guidelines this year.