Sustainable Development Goals: Harnessing Business to Achieve the SDGs through Finance, Technology and Law Reform, August 2019, reviewed

By @SimonCocking. Review of Sustainable Development Goals: Harnessing Business to Achieve the SDGs through Finance, Technology and Law Reform, by Julia Walker, Alma Pekmezovic, Gordon Walker. ISBN: 978-1-119-54184-4, August 2019, 432 Pages. Get the book here.

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through Finance, Technology and Law Reform

Achieving the SDGs requires a fundamental rethink from businesses and governments across the globe. To make the ambitious goals a reality, trillions of dollars need to be harnessed to mobilise finance and accelerate progress towards the SDGs.

Bringing together leaders from the World Bank, the financial and business sectors, the startup community and academia, this important, topically relevant volume explains what the SDGs are, how they came about and how they can be accelerated. Real-world case studies and authoritative insights address how to direct investment of existing financial resources and re-align the global financial system to reflect the SDGs.

In depth chapters discuss how financial institutions, such as UBS Wealth Management, Manulife Asset Management and Moody’s Rating Agency are supporting the SDGs. The opportunities arising from Blockchain, Big Data, Digital Identity and cutting-edge FinTech and RegTech applications are explored, whilst the relevance of sustainable and transparent global supply chains is underscored. Significant attention is paid to law reform which can accelerate progress of the SDGs through SME Financing, Crowdfunding, Peer-to-Peer Lending and tax restructuring.

To achieve the ‘World We Want’, much needs to be done. The recommendations contained within this book are critical for supporting a fundamental shift in thinking from business and governments around the world, and for building a more just and prosperous future for all.

Review of Sustainable Development Goals

This is a timely book, especially with the current round of climate change events taking place this week, and in the wider context of our need to make changes fast. Awareness is already growing rapidly about what the 17 UN SDGs are, why they are important, and how we might achieve them.

The first section explains their importance, context, and how they might be integrated into our current organisations and ways of working. Part two then looks in detail at where the funds could come from to finance the SDGs (sustainable development goals). Chapter six has a good in-depth look at how the private sector might be engaged, and ideally transformed to create sustainable investment markets. This is an important consideration if the whole concept is to achieve traction and realise the changes that are needed sooner rather than later.

Part three looks at Fintech’s possible role, and unsurprisingly, considering the UN’s already significant activities in this area, blockchain is mentioned as a potentially important contributing technology. The use of SMART and KYC technologies also offers great potential for more efficient business practices, thereby reducing waste and inefficiencies.

Across the whole the book there is a lot of value and practical insights. A couple of factors suggest this may reach a more academic rather than business audience however, the small, dense text, and the slightly over academic approach to the presentation of the information. Perhaps it is aiming to be extremely watertight in terms of how the arguments are put forward. However, in doing so, it does lose some of its potential impact and urgency that would potentially enable it to reach an even wider audience.

This is an important book, and it lays down insightful and logical strategies, to help inspire, encourage and motivate businesses to buy into the importance to support the UN SDGs, for the benefit of the whole planet. The challenge will be to ensure that the message is digestible and accessible enough to reach as many people as possible.

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