Corporate Sector Policy Innovations for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Implementation in the Global South: The Case of sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are calling for developing and developed nations to strive to end inequality, promote universal access to electricity and enhance climate change mitigation. However, ensuring that the SDGs can be achieved will require significant new investments from both the public sector and corporate sector. For example, it has been estimated that climate change adaptation costs in Africa may rise to above US$100 billion per year by 2050, hence likely surpassing the magnitude to which the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) processes can mobilise climate funds. There have therefore been urgent calls for the private sector and corporate world to provide additional financial and technical assistance for SDGs implementation at all levels. Some studies have shown that climate resilient development in any country is feasible provided that a range of market and policy failures are corrected; and new technologies, business models, and financial innovations are implemented. This paper therefore aims to improve awareness of SDG 7 and SDG 13 implementation modalities in the Global South in order to improve knowledge on which actions from the corporate sector can enhance the mobilisation of climate funds and accelerate SDG 7 and SDG 13 implementation through funds mobilised via conventional and non-conventional financing mechanisms. Through an exploratory analysis of various research articles, case studies, policy briefs and project reports it was possible to determine the policies that can enhance climate change mitigation and renewable energy deployment in developing countries through the corporate sector. The analysis concluded that Africa’s climate finance landscape lacks venture funds to stimulate climate change entrepreneurship and innovation hence corporate actors may augment SDGs and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) implementation by initiating policies that can incentivise corporate actors to facilitate the development and implementation of climate change venture funds.