The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) hosted the 18th UNEP FI Global Roundtable 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland from December 10-11, 2024. The event was held together with the Building Bridges summit, a community of members from the finance and corporate sectors, governments, civil society, academia, and sustainable development, aiming to “build a bridge towards a global economic model that meets the needs of a sustainable and just society”. 

During the Roundtable, UN DESA held a side-event on “Road to FfD4: Scaling Up Private Finance and Investment for the SDGs”. The panel discussion was moderated by Krishnan Sharma, Chief of the Strategic Engagement Unit at UN DESA’s Financing for Sustainable Development Office, and featured senior representatives from Bancolombia, Building Bridges, UN PRI and UNEP FI as well as UN DESA. The event unpacked key issues of mobilizing and scaling private finance, including making blended finance work, aligning regulations with sustainable investment, and incentivizing longer-term horizons among private investors in developing countries. The interactive discussion provided an opportunity for delegates at the Roundtable and Building Bridges summit to discuss the role of the private sector in the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development and provide recommendations to catalyse private finance and investment for the achievement of the SDGs. 

Learn more about opportunities for business engagement at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville, Spain (30 June-3 July 2025) here.