Our thinking

Capital idea

24 November, 2023

In 2015, the world set 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030. Now, seven years out from that target, there is a real danger that these goals will not be met – despite the fact that we have many if not all of the solutions we need to achieve them.

Next Monday, Ketan Patel, founder and chairman of Force for Good (and friend of Good Business), will be speaking about these solutions as part of the Lord Mayor of London’s speaker series. Titled Capital as a Powerful Force for Global Impact, Ketan’s speech will explore the work that Force for Good has done to identify the pathways to achieving the SDGs.

Without giving away too many spoilers, Force for Good’s research focuses on six solution areas to harness to achieve the goals: policy, public sector activities, infrastructure, technology, private industry and financial services. They’ve further identified just 15 initiatives which act across different combinations of these solution areas and which, if deployed in full, could address 70% of the goals. Critically, there is sufficient capital to deliver these solutions, but deploying it will require reallocating exiting investments, mobilising new capital and reprioritising spending.

We won’t say any more than that, but if your interest is piqued, dial into Ketan’s presentation at 11am on Monday, to learn more about capital as a force for good in achieving the SDGs.

By Louise Podmore