Earth Security Index showcased at UN Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Earth Security and the Swiss Development Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), convened 70 participants from business, investment and development policy to discuss the framework and recommendations of the Earth Security Index 2015.

The side event at the 3rd UN Conference on Financing for Development (FFD) in Addis Ababa on July 15th, explored how the resource pressures captured by the Earth Security Index, can help business define practical ways of investing in sustainable development in response to a growing complexity of social, environmental and governance (Earth Security) pressures.

Featured speakers included:

• Swiss Secretary of State, Manuel Sager, Director General of SDC opened the meeting discussing the potential of the Earth Security Index to improve dialogue and cooperation between business and governments on development priorities given the growing pressures on scarce resources.
• Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, emphasised the need for a clearer risk approach to development to guide private sector investments for post-2015 and the role of the Earth Security Index in providing the necessary direction.
• Alejandro Litovsky, CEO, Earth Security, discussed how the Earth Security Index identifies the social, environmental and governance priorities that must guide private investments in sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, energy and extractives to build the necessary resilience of developing countries.

A discussion panel initiated a much-needed dialogue between investment managers, insurance companies and public development banks. Panelists discussed their own priorities over the next 5 years:

• Malcolm Gray, former Head of ESG and consultant at Investec Asset Management, emphasised that investors need a clearer understanding of business models that can help communities out of poverty. Investment in infrastructure and energy sectors will shape the matrix of ESG risks and opportunities in developing countries.
• Rowan Douglas, CEO, Capital, Science and Policy at the insurance broker Willis Group, stressed the need for rapid structural change in the private sector and governments in their understanding and assessment of risks, underlining that the ESI is producing the information needed to support this transformation.
• Mohamed El Azizi, Director, Water and Sanitation Department and African Water Facility, at the African Development Bank spoke about the interest of the bank and other multilateral public finance institutions in finding new ways of attracting private sector investments, of developing a clearer business case for investments in development and collaborating to increase capital flows, in this case, into the water and sanitation sector.