Climate finance vital in SDG Investor Map
THE Philippines’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Investor Map, released by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in the Philippines during the SDG Investment Forum, highlighted the country’s 12 investment opportunity areas (IOAs), including climate finance initiatives, renewable energies and nature-based solutions.
Each IOA provides comprehensive information, including the specific development needs it addresses, anticipated developmental impacts, supportive conditions, potential impact risks and illustrative case studies. This information is designed for international and domestic investors aiming to amplify their contribution to the SDG in the Philippines.
The SDG Investor Map, a UNDP market intelligence tool, helps the private sector identify emerging markets’ investment themes that may have significant potential to advance SDGs and are aligned with the government policies and sustainable national development needs of the country.
The SDG Investor Map highlights the following 12 IOAs: education loans for students in primary and secondary education; agriculture cold storage facilities; affordable and resilient housing infrastructure; bulk water supply infrastructure for underserved areas; effective infrastructure for solid waste management; hydropower infrastructure for underserved areas; solar power infrastructure for underserved areas; insurance solutions for vulnerable smallholder farmers; digital health care payment processing; affordable hospital infrastructure development in remote areas; modular specialized health care facilities for patients with chronic kidney disease in underserved areas; and low-cost internet services in partnership with last-mile local governments.
National Economic and Development Authority Undersecretary for National Development Policy and Planning Rosemarie Edillon said that the SDGs are mainstreamed in the Philippine Development Plan “to effect an economic and social transformation so that we can have a prosperous and inclusive society.”
UNDP Philippines Resident Representative Selva Ramachandran noted that the private sector’s increasing interest to align their investment with the SDGs indicates a call for unifying standards and services that investors can rely on to support a process of achieving development outcomes.
Joel Tugade, chairman of SDG Committee of Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, acknowledged that the SDG Investor Map’s investment opportunities came at a “relevant manner for businesses” which are “starting to articulate their business plans as they align them with SDG goals.”
UNDP Philippines produced the SDG Investor Map in partnership with the SDG Impact, and the Center for Impact Investing and Practices. It had the support of the recently concluded Joint Program on Integrated National Financing Framework of the United Nations and the Government of Canada through the UNDP Climate Finance PH for NBS Project. It co-launched the map’s initial outputs with some of the country’s biggest private sector organizations: the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Philippine Business for Social Progress and the Makati Business Club.
Information about the 12 IOAs of the Philippines are also available through the global platform at https://sdginvestorplatform.undp.org/.