Impact investing vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goals – UN official

AMMAN – UN Under Secretary-General and Associate Administrator Usha Rao-Monari emphasised the importance of creating sustainability through impact investing to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

Monari highlighted that impact should be about “positive, inclusive, intentional outcomes, especially amid the incredibly fragile time that the whole planet is going through due to the pandemic as well as the Ukrainian-Russian war”.

Monari’s remarks came during the launching event of the Seeds of Impact report on Sunday, a joint initiative of  HYPERLINK "https://beyondcapital.vc/" Beyond Capital and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), showcasing the sustainability journey of funds and businesses in Jordan.

According to UNDP, the first of its kind report is based on interviews and features of ecosystem players, 10 funds and some of the businesses they invest in, as the report aims to show how they define impact and are starting to measure and integrate impact into investment and business strategies and where they see some of the challenges and opportunities for an impact-driven economy to emerge.

The report showcases case studies of funds and companies that drive social and environmental impact while generating profit, being the first in a series, as the next one intends to go into much more depth, including more businesses, partners, and more, UNDP stated.

Monari said that the SDGs are a “contract” between the people and the planet.

“Sustainability should be unpacked and then funded. Investment should be accompanied with impact, integrity and inclusivity,” Monari said during her speech.

She highlighted the importance of “measuring outcomes”, as the world is shifting to sustainability in order to survive. “Sustainable development is about our survival as we are facing a future we never faced before, however, we have tools we never had before,” Monari continued.

During an interview with the Jordan Times, Monari said that the main issue around sustainability is that “many companies lack the knowledge of what it actually is.”

“UNDP’s role is to define and raise awareness around sustainability, in addition to managing the risks to achieve it, all while showing integrity. UNDP will walk side by side with the private sector companies, financial institutions and investors to ensure these aspects,” she said.

Monari highlighted that sustainability should be an effort of partners and an intersection between policy and governance on one hand, and investment on the other hand.

“Every private sector entity has to consider every dollar as an investment, impact and integrity, as well as inclusiveness. Companies have to realise that benefits need to be shared between all the stakeholders in and around any project, because other than that it would be a short-term venture,” she added.

Monari expressed her content with Jordan’s efforts and the direction in which the Jordanian impact community is going in.

“It is encouraging and should be scaled to the extent, but in order for that to happen, partnership between governance, finance and society is needed. There has never been a better moment for this to scale, especially after the pandemic,” Monari continued.

She also highlighted young people’s role, noting that youth need to be part of the change because “they hold the ideas and the passion”.

The launch event included 150 senior representatives from the private sector, government and development partners.

The report said that Jordan has “yet to tap into the rapidly growing number of global, regional and local investors that are interested in a triple bottom line. By spotlighting new opportunities Seeds of Impact seeks to help put Jordan on the map of impact investors.”

According to the report, Jordan is currently preparing its second review, highlighting achievements as well as challenges, including the impact of COVID-19 and other crises on progress towards the SDGs and opportunities moving forward.

The report highlighted that Jordan is among the first SDG Impact pilot countries and the first Arab country. SDG Impact Jordan has four main pillars, impact awareness, impact management and measurement, impact intelligence and impact facilitation.

The report stated that there are many opportunities for businesses to align to the SDGs from tapping into new markets to identifying innovative solutions and reducing operational costs, such as growing revenues, enhancing reputation, building supply chain, increasing competitiveness and more.