SEI and World Bank partner to promote sustainable capital markets

The World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD) today published a paper co-authored with Efraim Hernández-Orozco and Mario Cárdenas-Vélez from Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Using Automated Text Mining to Align Investments to the Sustainable Development Goals: A Case Study Analyzing World Bank Projects, presents the methodology SEI developed to map activities to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using World Bank-financed projects as a case study. This methodology is the result of a three-year collaboration made possible with the support of the World Bank Group’s SDG Partnership Fund and contributes to the World Bank’s effort to build models for transparency and disclosure to promote sustainable capital markets.

The SDGs are used by capital markets stakeholders as a reference framework to show the impacts of investments on global sustainable development. Disclosure on the links between the SDGs and investments can improve transparency on such efforts and potentially help channel funds to sustainable purposes. This paper also highlights the interconnected nature of the SDGs and the importance of interpreting results holistically.

“Achieving the SDGs will require increases in sustainable financing and investment across sectors and world regions,” said Nilsson. “It is important that projects and activities lead to more environmental sustainability and secure livelihoods. We are proud of our work with the World Bank to help investors easily map and identify the impact they are having on SDG progress with their portfolios. We believe this type of information can be powerful to motivate increased resources and inform strategies, as well as priority setting. We stand ready to continue this work with interested parties and to keep refining the methodology developed.”