Making Waves: Aligning the Financial System with Sustainable Development - Executive Summary

This document reviews UN Environment’s Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System, summarizing 2014–2017 progress and the Inquiry’s conclusion in March 2018. It traces how market rules and norms began to align finance with sustainable development, drawing on work in more than 20 countries. Reported shifts include green bond issuance rising from US$11 billion in 2013 to US$155 billion in 2017; policy and market measures expanding from 139 in 44 jurisdictions to 300 in 54; divestment pledges approaching US$5 trillion by 2016; and Principles for Responsible Investment signatories surpassing 1,900 with US$70 trillion in assets. It documents new platforms and coalitions (G7, G20, V20), the Sustainable Digital Finance Alliance, a network of financial centres, and China’s national guidelines, and calls for moving from acknowledgment to alignment with clear metrics and coordinated policy and market action.