The UN Global Compact CFO Task Force for SDGs, a global committee of chief financial officers created to drive Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), has pledged to invest more than €400 billion to help achieve the goals set by the United Nations (UN). EDP, represented by Rui Teixeira, is the only Portuguese company at this level of the committee, which will kick off with a campaign at this week's UN Global Compact event to gather more support for sustainable finance policies.

Created in 2019, this committee currently brings together the CFOs of about 60 major companies, which have now decided to ramp up their SDG efforts by agreeing to invest €420 billion over the next five years. They have also decided to link close to 50% of all corporate funding to sustainability performance, with plans to issue hundreds of billions in new sustainable finance instruments, including SDG bonds. These commitments are only a starting point, as the committee's most important challenge is the full integration of UN SDG goals into corporate finance.

Against the backdrop of next week's UN Global Compact event, the task force - which boasts an overall market cap of more than €1.4 billion - is set to roll out a coordinated campaign with the aim of persuading hundreds of companies to adopt similar strategies in the coming years. Only thus will it be possible to create a financial structure to ensure compliance with the SDGs.

The World Bank estimates that the global business sector allocates almost €15 billion each year to corporate investments, and the goal of the CFO Task Force is to substantially increase the percentage allocated to sustainability projects. The UN estimates that it will take €2.5 to €4.3 billion every year to achieve the SDGs by 2030. And this committee of global financial officers believes that if this campaign is successful in mobilizing more CFOs and their companies for this common effort, it will be possible to obtain the necessary investment for areas such as sustainable infrastructure, renewable energy, water, health, food and agriculture, and decent work.

“With its involvement in the UN Global Compact CFO Task Force for SDGs, EDP is reaffirming its clear, unequivocal commitment to sustainability and, in particular, decarbonization. The group was one of the first to invest in renewable energy and continues its efforts to build a more sustainable future for all, in which the UN SDGs play a crucial role. In this context, our financial policy is increasingly aligned with the ambitious energy transition targets we have set for ourselves,” says the CFO of EDP, Rui Teixeira.

The CFO Task Force is one of the various UN Global Compact initiatives taking place this week for which EDP has been invited. Over the next few days, this UN-sponsored global conference will bring together heads of state, corporate leaders, experts and UN representatives to debate climate change, social inequalities, and the need to build a fairer, more equitable world based on international cooperation. In addition to this intervention, EDP will participate in the meeting by presenting some of its most relevant sustainability projects and commitments and by taking part in top-level climate action discussions.