Financing the sustainable development agenda goals: the role and challenges of the private sector and development finance institutions

The 2030 Agenda is comprehensive, universal, and ambitious. To reach its goals, the world needs to invest US$5 to 7 trillion/year. To finance it, the private sector must be involved. This chapter considers the motivations of business and corporations to incorporate the SDG in their investment agenda and the role DFIs can play in providing financing to their projects. It acknowledges that the private sector is a key element for long-term sustainable development and highlights the difficulties of DFI in assessing impact in risk analysis and therefore financing private investments for sustainable development. Finally, it finds that the international community and developing countries need to work together to improve the business environment on those countries, and concludes that the international community and the banking system do not know how to assess the role and impact of business and corporations projects in the agenda, and that the risk mitigation policy does not consider the nature of DFIs. Looking into the future, the authors present future research topics needed on this subject.