Por Guillaume Bonnel, director ejecutivo de la Iniciativa de Financiación de Impacto para los ODS.

¿Podrías contarnos la historia detrás de la creación de SIFI? ¿Qué inspiró su formación y cómo busca cerrar la brecha entre las finanzas y el desarrollo sostenible?
SIFI se creó en respuesta al llamado de la comunidad de finanzas de impacto para aprovechar la experiencia y la movilización del sector privado para generalizar la inversión de impacto y abordar las necesidades de financiamiento de los ODS. Fundada mediante la colaboración de recursos gubernamentales suizos y los esfuerzos filantrópicos de la Fundación UBS Optimus y, anteriormente, de la Fundación Credit Suisse, SIFI está diseñada como una plataforma internacional. Nuestra misión es movilizar 1.000 millones de francos suizos en capital privado para los ODS mediante el lanzamiento y la expansión de fondos de inversión innovadores en mercados emergentes.

What has your involvement been in Building Bridges over the years, and how have you seen the platform evolve in its ability to drive impactful financial solutions, particularly through initiatives like crowdsourcing priorities and call for proposals launched at Building Bridges 2023?
SIFI was launched during Building Bridges 2021 and we have attended all of its subsequent editions, co-organizing events on various impact investing topics. We have seen the platform develop substantially, broadening its reach in terms of industries and geographies. I believe that one of its strengths has been to incentivize productive discussions through interactive formats. Building Bridges has thereby transformed itself into one of the main impact investing forums in Switzerland.

From your perspective, how has the understanding of sustainability within the finance sector evolved the last 5 years, since Building Bridges started ?
The consideration of sustainability in the financial sector elicited much hope, holding out the promise of an industry better aligned with the long-term sustainability of social and environmental systems. Unfortunately, this consideration of sustainability remained superficial at best and became a mere marketing argument at worst, and the industry lost much credibility in the process. While sustainable finance did scale to some extent, much of it involved compliance rather than a genuine commitment to systemically align capital flows with sustainability. 

As a result, impact investing has emerged as an alternative investment approach dedicated to the generation of positive impact alongside financial returns. While still relatively small, impact investing has grown rapidly as committed investors have moved beyond simple risk avoidance to actively seek measurable positive outcomes. Enabled by the increase in the number of dedicated impact investing products, better data and clearer frameworks, this transformation has been evident at Building Bridges itself over the years, reflected in the growing number of events dedicated to impact investing. 
The SDG Impact Finance Initiative is actively supporting this shift and I am confident that impact investing will grow, aligning capital flows with social and environmental sustainability. 

In 2024, you were involved in two Action Day events at Building Bridges. What was your experience like as the lead organiser or collaborator, and have any concrete steps or initiatives emerged as a result of those discussions?
We thoroughly enjoyed our participation at Building Bridges 2024, where we co-hosted an event on private impact investments in emerging markets and moderated a Solutions Stage session on SDG financing. We were pleased to see that both sessions’ topics resonated with a diverse audience, sparking meaningful and productive conversations. Building Bridges is a very effective platform for fostering connections among participants who might not otherwise have the opportunity to engage, and our events exemplified this dynamic. We gained valuable insights from the questions and contributions shared during both sessions and have since followed up with several participants.

Serie de narración de historias "Construimos puentes"

Building Bridges is more than just an event—it’s a space for meaningful collaboration, fresh perspectives, and lasting connections. Through our storytelling series, we highlight the personal experiences that shape each edition. If you have a story to share about your journey at Building Bridges 2024—whether it’s a key insight, a memorable moment, or the impact of the bridges built—we’d love to hear from you!

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