Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the twentieth annual conference of the Principles for Responsible Investment, in Amsterdam today:
Excellencies, dear friends,
For 20 years, the Principles for Responsible Investment have signalled a powerful truth: The choices investors make today will determine the economies — and societies — of tomorrow.
Responsible investment is an engine of value creation. Your members are powering it — with over $135 trillion in collective assets under management.
The message is clear. Aligning investment with environmental, social and governance factors can help address key global challenges like underdevelopment and climate change — while also creating new opportunities for growth.
This year’s conference rightly focuses on investing for people, planet and prosperity. Investors can drive development in emerging economies — especially in renewable energy, technology and critical minerals — creating value that is widely shared by beneficiary communities.
At the same time, the Sevilla Commitment agreed last year gives the global community a practical road map to boost financing and investment for development: By mobilizing more domestic resources and scaling up capital flows towards emerging economies. By making multilateral development banks bigger, better and bolder, positioned to de-risk private investment at scale while guaranteeing concessional funding for countries in need. And by establishing a development-oriented debt architecture that prevents crises and reduces the cost of borrowing.
To make all this possible, it is essential to reform the international financial architecture, increasing the participation of developing countries.
As the Principles for Responsible Investment enter their third decade, I urge global investors: Lead with ambition. Seek out new opportunities to align investment with impact. And help us build a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable future. Thank you.