This Week in ESG and Impact Investing

The 2025 SDG Global Business Forum, held as a high-level event today (7/22/25) in conjunction with the UN High-Level Political Forum, highlighting both the urgency and opportunity facing public and private actors committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Adam Zakman from Creative Investment Research took part in this event and offers his summary and reflection below, drawing connections to our ongoing work supporting equitable economic development and impact investing. The $4 Trillion Challenge—and the Private Sector’s Response A central theme of the Forum was the staggering $4 trillion annual financing gap required to achieve the SDGs by 2030. While no one expects the private sector to close this gap alone, the forum made clear that institutional and impact investors are eager to deploy capital—if the conditions are right. “Profit is not a dirty word,” as UN Global Compact CEO Sanda Ojiambo reminded attendees. Creative Investment Research has long argued that...

As the world struggles to achieve only 35% of its Sustainable Development Goals , a new technological disruption threatens to reshape the very foundations of governance. Dr. Yasar Jarrar's analysis reveals that SDG 16 —functioning government institutions—may be the critical bottleneck preventing progress on all other goals. With AI poised to create both unprecedented innovation and inequality, governments find themselves caught between the promise of technological advancement and the peril of being left behind. The challenge is no longer simply about adopting AI tools for public services, but about fundamentally preparing governmental structures for a world where artificial intelligence becomes ubiquitous.  The timeline for this transformation is alarmingly compressed. By 2040, an estimated 10% of the population will consist of robots, chatbots, and automated systems, potentially displacing entire employment sectors overnight—from taxi drivers to various government roles. Yet most...