The
government’s
sustainable
finance
strategy
is
an
opportunity
to
tie
action
on
the
Sustainable
Development
Goals
(SDGs)
to
action
on
climate.

UN
Global
Compact
Network
Australia
chair
Fiona
Reynolds
called
the
recently
released
strategy
a
“welcome
step”
and
said
that
the
each
of
the
three
pillars
of
the
strategy
has
elements
that
can
“support
and
reinforce
corporate
engagement
and
investment
in
the
SDG
2030
targets,
particularly
in
the
Asia-Pacific.”

“If
you
look
at
our
sustainable
finance
strategy
–
which
I
think
is
really
good
and
I
am
not
criticizing
it
-a
lot
of
is
focused
on
climate,”
Reynolds
said.
“There
is
recognition
obviously
about
the
interlinks
between
climate
and
getting
to
net
zero
and
the
energy
transition
and
what
we
need
to
do
around
biodiversity,
but
I
don’t
really
think
we’re
talking
a
lot
about
the
rest
of
the
issues
–
everything
else
that
sits
under
the
E
and
the
S
and
the
G.

“The
Sustainable
Development
Goals
are
very
interlinked.
Any
of
those
goals
can
impact
a
climate,
but
it
has
social
elements
to
it.
There’s
a
lot
of
siloing
of
the
E
the
S
and
the
G,
rather
than
seeing
the
interconnectedness
of
them
all.

Reynolds
notes
that
the
world
is
nearly
at
the
hallway
point
of
the
SDGs,
hwihc
set
17
goals
and
169
targets
under
the
goals
to
be
accomplished
by
governments,
companies,
investors
and
civil
society
by
2030.
She
said
that
less
than
18%
of
the
targets
are
on
track.

“In
Australia,
we
know
that
we’ve
been
very
behind
on
climate
so
that
we
do
now
have
to
accelerate
and
focus
on
climate
issues
and
it’s
absolutely
fantastic
that
it
is
happening,”
Reynolds
said.
“There
are
great
groups
like
[Australian
Council
of
Superannuation
Investors]
who
have
focused
heavily
on
modern
slavery
and
human
trafficking
and
do
focus
on
other
issues,
but
when
you
go
to
things
and
when
you’re
looking
at
sustainable
finance,
the
discussion
is
overarchingly
climate
issues.

“But
if
we
look
at
all
of
the
SDGs,
climate
is
one
of
the
goals,
and
every
single
one
of
the
SDGs
is
off
track,
so
we
need
to
bring
our
focus
to
look
at
the
other
16
SDGs
as
well.”

The
Global
Compact
developed
the

Forward
Faster initiative
to
help
members
to
increase
their
accountability
and
transparency
on
progress
to
SDGs.

“One
of
the
difficult
issues
is
that
within
sustainability,
the
list
gets
longer
and
longer
all
the
time
and
nothing
ever
comes
off
the
list
–
there’s
always
more
and
more,”
Reynolds
said.
“For
each
organisation,
they
obviously
have
to
prioritise
the
issues
that
are
material
to
them
within
their
organisations.

“For
the
Global
Compact,
launching
its
Forward
Faster
program
means
focusing
on
five
core
areas
where
we
believe
business
can
have
the
biggest
impact
–
gender
equality,
climate
action,
living
wage,
water
resilience
and
finance
and
investment.”

The
Business
Council
for
Sustainable
Development
Australia
(BCSDA)
reinforces
UNGCNA’s
views.

“At
BCSDA,
we
view
sustainable
finance
as
far
more
than
a
mere
financial
commitment,”
said
BCSDA
CEO
Andrew
Petersen.
“It’s
a
strategic
instrument
that,
when
calibrated
and
aligned
with
the
interconnected
nature
of
the
Sustainable
Development
Goals
(SDGs),
could
unlock
 actions
by
business
towards
our
sustainable
future.

Unfortunately,
the
prevailing
approach
to
sustainable
finance
tends
to
focus
narrowly
on
individual
goals
or
specific
sectors.
This
method
often
results
in
compartmentalized
efforts
that
are
less
effective
in
addressing
the
broader
spectrum
of
sustainability
challenges.”

BCSDA
is
advocating
for
a
strategic
shift
that
fully
recognises
and
leverages
the
interdependencies
among
the
SDGs.

“If
such
an
approach
were
to
be
taken
sustainable
finance
could
transform
into
a
more
potent
catalyst
for
change,”
Petersen
said.