Sustainable development commitments

Banks, insurers and investors are in a key role as the providers of funding and protection against business risks. At the moment, the majority of global financial flows is directed into business activities that have an adverse environmental impact. To secure biodiversity, it is crucial to steer these financial flows into nature-positive activities instead.

The financial sector is in a key role also in adapting to the consequences of climate change; the insurance sector as a risk bearer, the financial sector as a major investor, asset manager and lender. Finance Finland and its member organisations support measures that seek to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius. The sustainable development commitments are a means to achieve these objectives.

The Society’s Commitment to Sustainable Development is the Finnish implementation of the UN Agenda 2030. In addition to the financial sector, five other sectors have made such commitments.

The purpose of the sustainable development commitments is to promote a resource-wise and carbon-neutral economy. The progress of commitment is monitored for a set period. According to a member survey by Finance Finland, 95% of the respondent member companies take climate change into account in their investments. Nearly 90% take climate change into account also in their business operations.