November 30, Seoul - ‘Sustainability’ has never been so close to the mainstream financial market in Korea, as reflected by the ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) boom in recent years. Yet, investors have been on the lookout for clear guidelines to better identify emerging opportunities and translate them into positive impact that aligns with achieving the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).

Attended by venture capital, private equity, asset management and ESG rating firms, as well as impact ecosystem players from civil society and academia, the “SDG Financing Workshop” hosted by UNDP (United Nations Development Program) Seoul Policy Centre today benefited Korean financiers with insights on making business profitable by channelling capital to where SDG-enabling investments are most needed. 

UNDP SDG Impact – the organization’s flagship initiative to accelerate investment towards achieving the sustainable development - introduced two practical tools the Korean investment community can utilize to optimize sustainable operations and identify profitable investment opportunities aligned with development priorities.

UNDP’s SDG Impact Standards, a set of guidelines for private equity funds, enterprises and bond issuers, provide a clear framework for integrating impact into business and investment decision making. “The Standards build on and complement existing work undertaken by other industry-led initiatives on impact management and measurement and can work with or without other existing tools and frameworks such as the Korea Stewardship Code,” explained Fabienne Michaux, Director of SDG Impact.

Lucia Montalvo, Vice President of Salkantay Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund based in Peru, complemented with pioneering insights and practical advice based on their application of the SDG Impact Standards for private equity funds to benchmark best practices, perform self-diagnosis, and develop a roadmap for their impact management practice.

The accompanying SDG Investor Platform, is a searchable database that provides investors access to information and insights on concrete SDG-aligned investment opportunities that can be filtered by various criteria, such as region, country, sector and market size. UNDP finance specialists provided a global overview of the platform, its methodology and investment opportunity areas, with a special focus on current trends and examples in the Asia-Pacific region including China and India.

“We stand ready to play a bridging role for Korean investors and impact makers wishing to benefit from UNDP’s guidelines, tools and advisory services,” said Anne Juepner, acting Director of the UNDP Seoul Policy Centre.

View the recording in English and Korean.

Presentations

• Introduction to UNDP SDG Impact and overview of SDG Impact Standards by Fabienne Michaux, Director, UNDP SDG Impact

• Case study: Application of UNDP SDG Impact Standards by Lucia Montalvo, Vice President, Salkantay Ventures

• About SDG Investor Platform – global overview of the platform & opportunity areas by Sebnem Sener, Senior SDG Finance Specialist, UNDP SDG Impact

• About SDG Investor Platform – trends and examples in the Asia-Pacific region by Devahuti Choudhury, SDG Impact Specialist, Asia-Pacific, UNDP SDG Impact

• Country zoom-in: Investment Opportunity Areas in Colombia by Alejandro Pacheco, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP Colombia

Related Resources:

UNDP SDG Impact

UNDP SDG Impact Standards 

• Private Equity Funds (Korean version)
• Bond Issuers (Korean forthcoming)
• Enterprises (Korean forthcoming)

SDG Investor Platform by SDG Impact in partnership with GISD Alliance

Coursera Course on Impact Measurement & Management for the SDGs by Duke University in partnership with UNDP SDG Impact

Impact Management Platform, outlining core actions for impact management and links to related resources