A science-based heuristic to guide sector-level SDG investment strategy

Sofia Maniatakou, Beatrice Crona, Isabelle Jean-Charles, Moa Ohlsson, Kate Lillepold and Amar Causevic

Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 2024, vol. 14, issue 2, 258-282

Abstract: Aligning investments with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been a longstanding ambition for many private investors. The assessment of corporate impact on the SDGs is not a trivial task, and most present-day attempts often overlook SDG interactions, and lack scientific anchoring and transparency. We present an evidence-based review approach for investors to assess sector-level impacts on individual SDGs, and score these using a traffic-light system. Our initial review documents impacts of 81 economic sectors on SDGs 1-16. Results show that environmental SDGs are impacted negatively by most economic sectors, and that primary sector activities negatively impact the highest number of SDGs. Using the agricultural sector as a case, we draw on Causal Loop methodology to illustrate spillovers resulting from SDG interactions. Our findings point to three key considerations of relevance for sustainable investment strategies; the necessity to capture ‘impact shadows’, spillovers across SDGs, and the hierarchical nature of the SDGs.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1080/20430795.2024.2320318

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