Opportunity Knocks: The U.N Says It Need's $74 Trillion Between 2018 and 2030 For the Sustainable Development Goals

The SDG folks are pretty open about what they want but for some reason the generalist media doesn't cover the subject. Because of that you end up with two polar-opposite views of what's up. On the one hand you have the true believers who talk in their NGO/civil society lingo and on the other hand you have hard core New-World-Order-is-coming doomsters doing end-times prophetic warning stuff.

Here are a couple finance-related stories that seem to make a natural juxtaposition.
First up, ClimateAction.org/UN, April 30:

European Investment Bank launches new bond to support sustainable development
The EU’s official bank has unveiled a new loan product to help finance sustainable development.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) recently launched the Sustainability Awareness Bond, a debt product which will be used to support projects related to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The new bond is expected to be made available by the autumn and will initially focus on projects in the water sector, based on the EIB’s previous experience in the area. This should make measuring the bond’s impact on several of the goals, of which two are directly related to water, a lot easier.

The news from the EU’s main lending institution, owned by member states, is the latest move towards accelerating sustainable finance within Europe. Last month, the European Commission launched its Action Plan towards making sustainability a key component of the financial sector.

Green bonds have been one of the key growth areas in the field, with the hope that the market could reach $1 trillion by 2020. It current stands at $150-$200 billion.

The EIB’s President, Werner Hoyer, said he hoped the bond will “launch a new dialogue on sustainable investment.”

“We want to discuss how we can contribute to raising the trillions that we know are needed to tackle poverty, raise living standards and combat disease around the world. This is also a debate about impact, transparency, and reaching out to new investors.”

It is estimated that $6 trillion a year will be needed between now and 2030 to meet the SDGs, and that around half of that is flowing already....

The link goes to another  CA/UN press release from March 30:
How investable are the Sustainable Development Goals?

One of the easiest ways to take advantage of the world is to find a firehose of money and go stand next to it. With enough moolah splashing around some of it is sure to land on you.

And from AgFunder, May 9:

UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are ‘Business Opportunities’ for Ag Biotech Startups

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals have created business opportunities for small companies, according to Peder Holk Nielsen, CEO of Novozymes, a Copenhagen-based biotech company that produces unique enzymes to promote sustainability across agriculture, bioenergy, food and beverages, and household care products. 

Nielsen was speaking at the Techonomy NYC conference, where leaders in diverse industries from across the world came together to discuss how technology can support responsible and sustainable growth. During a series of talks about corporate responsibility in mitigating natural resource constraints due to overconsumption and climate change, leaders in biotech came together to discuss how naturally-occurring chemical processes, such as those catalyzed by specific enzymes or facilitated by yeast, can be harnessed to promote sustainability.

“The world is exploding right now with genetic information, and this gives us a wealth of opportunities to increase yield with fewer inputs,” said Nielsen. “However, we have been at a standstill since the financial crisis, and we have lost about 10 years. Is it now an issue of speed, rather than technology [that prevents us from meeting our goals]. It is really important for governments and companies to work together. As a company, we are doing everything we can so that governments understand the impact of our technology and create regulations around it.”

In agriculture, Novozymes products provide specific combinations of naturally-occurring microbes that can be added to soil to promote greater yield in corn and soybean fields. Novozymes has also teamed up with Monsanto to create the BioAg Alliance, which has products in its pipeline to use naturally occurring fungi and microbes to improve nutritional uptake of corn, soybeans, and wheat.

John Melo, CEO of Amyris, a California-based biotech company that uses yeast to generate specific compounds from sugarcane, is focused on using his company’s technology to reduce the amount of resources required in industrial processes, such as manufacturing flavor and fragrance products and skin care products....MORE