Normalizing Sustainability Finance

The paper identifies the global financial system's orientation toward profitability and the concentration of wealth as primary obstacles to sustainable development. It highlights a significant funding gap for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals in developing countries and notes that while private flows toward sustainable energy are growing due to ESG standards, they remain insufficient. The author suggests that while government fiscal capacity is limited by administrative needs, entities like sovereign wealth funds and the precedent set by Covid-19 pandemic responses indicate potential for public intervention to redirect financial flows.

• The global financial system is characterized by a high concentration of wealth, with approximately USD 400 trillion in gross liquid assets, 64% of which are held by individuals, primarily the wealthy in middle- and upper-income countries.
• There is a substantial funding deficit for achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing countries, estimated between USD 8.4 trillion and 10.1 trillion, with private financial flows—largely targeting sustainable energy—covering only about 25% of this gap.
• Despite the rise of net zero and environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards, the primary driver of global and national financial flows remains the perceived profitability of transactions.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2022). Normalizing Sustainability Finance. https://www.sei.org/publications/normalizing-sustainability-finance/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Normalizing Sustainability Finance. 2022. https://www.sei.org/publications/normalizing-sustainability-finance/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Normalizing Sustainability Finance |date=18 May 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/normalizing-sustainability-finance/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2022normalizing, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Normalizing Sustainability Finance}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/normalizing-sustainability-finance/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }