The global shift toward sustainable investing has never been more critical. Mobilizing private capital is essential to bridge the $4.2 trillion SDG financing gap, and UNDP’s Private Finance for the SDGs, part of the Sustainable Finance Hub, is leading the charge. This session introduced participants to innovative tools like the SDG Impact Standards and ISO/UNDP Guidelines, which help organizations manage and optimize their contributions to the SDGs. With practical insights into market intelligence, pipeline development, and impact management, this event is a must-attend for anyone committed to aligning financial success with social and environmental impact.
Event Recap
As the global investment landscape shifts toward sustainability, mobilizing private capital is crucial to addressing the US$4.2 trillion SDG financing gap. Total global wealth is estimated at US$477 trillion - less than 1% of that amount each year would address the financing gap to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (2024). The UNDP Sustainable Finance Hub is leading efforts to align investments with the SDGs by equipping investors, businesses, and policymakers with tools and frameworks to embed impact into financial decision-making. This webinar explored innovative approaches to SDG financing, featuring insights from leading experts:
Sara Lisa Ørstavik - Impact Specialist at UNDP’s Private Finance for the SDGs
Alejandra Revueltas - Senior Portfolio Officer, Alternative Finance, Deetken Impact
Omoneka Oyier - Senior Director for MEDA's Technical Areas of Practice
Polina Gamayunova - Director, Operations & Strategy, Clear Skies Investment Management
Melek De-Wint - Independent impact measurement and management (IMM) consultant Board Director at CAFIID
Three Pillars of UNDP’s Sustainable Finance Approach
Sara Lisa Ørstavik (UNDP) outlined UNDP’s three-pillar approach to sustainable finance:
Leveraging Capital – Directing investment into high-impact areas through blended finance mechanisms and tools like the SDG Investor Map, which identifies market opportunities aligned with the SDGs.
Aligning Capital – Encouraging investors to integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles into decision-making, ensuring capital flows toward sustainable and responsible business models.
Strengthening Policies & Institutions – Partnering with public and private sector stakeholders to shape financial policies and regulatory frameworks that support sustainable investments.
From Measurement to Management: Tools for Impact Investors
UNDP has developed three key resources to help investors manage for impact rather than just measure outcomes:
SDG Impact Standards – A practical management framework designed to help businesses and investors integrate sustainability into decision-making across strategy, governance, transparency, and impact measurement.
SDG Investor Map – Identifies investment opportunities that are both profitable and impactful, and they work on blended finance mechanisms to de-risk investments.
ISO/UNDP Guidelines for the SDGs – The first international framework for organizations to systematically manage and optimize their contributions to the SDGs, providing a clear roadmap for embedding sustainability into operations.
With the anticipated launch of new ISO/UNDP management standards investors and financial institutions have even more guidance on aligning their strategies with global sustainability priorities.
Industry Perspectives on Impact Investing
The panelists shared insights on how investors can effectively integrate impact across the investment cycle:
Polina Gamayunova (Clear Skies Investment Management) highlighted the importance of authenticity in impact investing, outlining four key criteria: intentionality, strategy, measurability, and additionality. She also introduced the Impact Radar, a tool designed to map investments against the 17 SDGs.
Omoneka Oyier (MEDA) emphasized the importance of decent work creation and shared how investors can define, measure, and track social impact within their portfolios. Thus SDG 8, decent work and economic growth is central to their work.
Alejandra Revueltas (Deetken Impact) discussed how Deetken integrates impact throughout the investment lifecycle, using tools like the Impact Management Project framework and a gender scorecard to ensure that capital advances social equity and environmental resilience.
What’s Next for Sustainable Finance?
The session underscored the growing demand for structured, transparent impact investment approaches. Investors are increasingly looking for data-driven insights to inform their capital allocations and frameworks to ensure accountability.
For those looking to deepen their involvement, the Financing for Development Conference in Sevilla this summer will provide a key platform for governments and investors to shape the future of SDG-aligned finance.
With over 130 members, CAFIID is well-positioned to facilitate knowledge-sharing and collaboration in the Canadian impact investing sector. As part of our commitment to aligning financial success with social and environmental progress, CAFIID will continue to engage with members and partners like UNDP to advance sustainable finance practices globally, through forums like this and through our Impact Measurement and Management Community of Practice.
Context:
The global investment landscape is increasingly shifting to prioritize approaches that deliver both financial success and positive impacts for people and the planet. Achieving the SDGs hinges on mobilizing and leveraging private capital to address the $4.2 trillion annual SDG financing gap. UNDP’s Sustainable Finance Hub is driving this transformation by providing a comprehensive suite of tools and services that span market intelligence, pipeline development, and impact management and measurement. These resources empower investors to identify opportunities, optimize outcomes, and align their strategies with the SDGs.
A key initiative is the SDG Impact Standards. These practical guidelines help businesses and investors embed sustainability into their decision-making processes. By focusing equally on social, environmental, and financial outcomes, the standards ensure organizations create value for all stakeholders while safeguarding the resilience and long-term viability of their business. Sustainable practices are not just ethical, they are essential for ensuring businesses thrive in a rapidly changing world.
Another vital resource is the ISO/UNDP Guidelines for the SDGs, the first international framework for organizations to systematically manage and optimize their contributions to the SDGs. These guidelines offer a clear roadmap for integrating sustainable practices into operations, helping organizations create meaningful change and demonstrate accountability.
What sets these tools apart is their focus on managing for impact rather than merely measuring outcomes. This approach enables organizations to build sustainability into the core of their strategies, aligning their actions with global priorities while fostering innovation, reducing risks, and building resilience. With the anticipated launch of new ISO/UNDP management standards later this year, the time is right for investors and organizations to engage deeply with sustainable finance.
CAFIID, as a network committed to aligning financial returns with social and environmental outcomes, is well-positioned to collaborate with UNDP. This event explored how to leverage UNDP’s frameworks and tools to align investments with the SDGs, enabling impactful investments that benefit both businesses and society.
Meet the Speakers:
Sara Lisa Orstavik is the SDG Impact Specialist for Private Finance for the SDGs. Sara Lisa brings over 10 years of systems change, strategy development, and programme management experience from international humanitarian, development, and private sector organizations. In her current role, Sara Lisa works with a global team of experts on rolling out the SDG Impact Standards and SDG Investor Maps globally to catalyze more sustainable decision-making – with the aim of directing investments authentically towards the Sustainable Development Goals. She also leads the team’s work on catalyzing private finance for sustainable food systems.
Prior to her assignment at UNDP, Sara Lisa worked as food systems and gender specialist at the World Food Programme, supporting country offices conduct Systems Analysis for Nutrition (previously Fill the Nutrient Gap) processes. She was responsible for providing strategic policy advice, technical analysis, and for facilitating multi-stakeholder engagements to inform social protection, food systems, and health policies and programmes in a range of countries and humanitarian contexts, such as Bangladesh (national and Cox’s Bazar refugee operation), Burundi (national and refugee operation), Ecuador, Mauritania and Rwanda.
Between 2015 and 2018, Sara Lisa founded a thriving start-up focused on grassroots peacebuilding through sustainable food production and consumption in Bogota, Colombia. Previously, she held a variety of programme management and advisory roles focused rural agricultural development and human rights at WFP in Colombia; UNDP in Cuba; the regional government in Medellin, Colombia; the Norwegian Embassy in Bangladesh; Yara International in Ghana, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development in Rome.
Sara Lisa is a Fulbright Fellow, holds a MPA in Political and Economic Development specialized in Gender Policy from Columbia University, a MA in Sustainable Food Culture and Communications from the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy, and a BA in Economics and Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. She is fluent in English, French, Spanish, Norwegian and Italian.Alejandra Revuelta is a financial professional with experience in public and private financial markets. She joined Deetken Impact in 2021 when Adobe Capital and Deetken Impact chartered a joint partnership. At Adobe Capital, she led portfolio performance monitoring, including relationship and strategic management with portfolio companies. At Deetken Impact, she is also responsible for impact management process and investments for Alternative Finance. Prior to Adobe Capital, Alejandra served as Business Manager Associate at J.P. Morgan Chase in Mexico City, specializing in the implementation of financial products, such as structured notes and investment funds, among others. She has participated in various independent research projects as well as in consulting services while working at Avivar Capital, a U.S.-based SEC registered investment advisory firm focused on managing impact investing portfolios. She also serve as a Board Member at some impact-driven companies. Alejandra holds a master’s degree in Social Entrepreneurship from the University of Southern California and a BA in Financial Administration from Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico City, with an International Business Certificate from Fudan University in China.
Omoneka (Omo) Oyier currently serves as the Senior Director for MEDA's Technical Areas of Practice. Omo brings a wealth of expertise as a seasoned professional with 15 years of experience, including 11 years at the International Finance Corporation. Her background involves advising both private and public institutions on the development of financial inclusion strategies and the implementation of digital financial services targeting underserved segments, such as small and medium-sized enterprises, women, youth, and rural populations. Omo brings this extensive experience to the Business Value Creation team to advance MEDA’s approach to increasing access to finance for agribusiness clients. Omo holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas and a Master of Arts degree in International Relations and International Economics from John Hopkins University, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.
Polina Gama is a financial professional with a unique edge — a background in psychology that’s proven invaluable in shaping successful strategies and impactful investments. As the Director of Strategy and Operations at Clear Skies Investment Management, an impact investing firm, Polina oversees that all processes are strategically aligned to maximize impact, drive strong financial returns, and maintain rigorous compliance standards. With a career rooted in philanthropy, Polina remains dedicated to supporting foundations in her spare time, serving as a board member of AWE, a nonprofit focused on women’s empowerment and capacity development.
Moderator:
Melek De-Wint is an independent impact measurement and management (IMM) consultant based in Québec City, working with social purpose organizations internationally. With over 20 years of leadership roles in non-profit management within the youth development sector, she has strategic acumen and hands-on experience across diverse management areas, notably monitoring, evaluation, and impact measurement. At The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation, she built an impact measurement framework to demonstrate the impact of their youth development program worldwide. At Digital Moment, she drove impact initiatives for digital education accessibility in Canada, leading the development of theories of change and an impact measurement framework. Since 2020, she’s provided impact measurement coaching via the Innoweave initiative of McConnell Foundation (now hosted by MakeWay), benefiting Canadian non-profits. She’s actively engaged in impactful board roles, including on the Board of Directors for Canada Forum for Impact Investment and Development (CAFIID), Common Approach to Impact Measurement and Türkiye's Etkiyap impact investing platform. She is the Chair of CAFIID's Thought Leadership Committee and an active member of the IMM Community of Practice. Melek is a trained Social Return on Investment (SROI) Practitioner, an accredited SDG Impact Standards trainer and an alumna of the Oxford Impact Measurement Programme and the Oxford Impact Investing Programme. Melek holds an MSc in Social Psychology from the University of Surrey in the UK and a BSc in Business Administration from the Middle East Technical University in Türkiye.