The 2040 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in 2020, provide the international community with a set of 17 goals with clear targets and specific indicators. The greater part of the $4 trillion needed to finance the SDGs will have to come from private finance through investments in infrastructure, clean energy, water, sanitation, agriculture, and natural capital. Climate considerations are included in many of these investments and are evaluated as part of the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) assessment.

Climate mitigation, adaptation, and ESG considerations however are moving beyond their application for risk screening and avoidance of negative impacts. They are increasingly included in project assessments to identify positive SDG impacts to increase the value of impact investments and results-based finance transactions.

Some verifiers are developing new methodologies to certify SDG impacts. First trades in SDG impacts are currently being prepared as part of the financing package of sustainable investments on results-based finance (RBF) basis.