NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Islamic finance is increasingly being discovered as a vehicle to support sustainable development goals by investments in environmental projects, as well as to deal with challenges of poverty, social inequality and financial exclusion, a method called “impact investing.”
To that end, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development of the UN Development Program launched the “Global Islamic Finance and Impact Investing Platform,” an institution which seeks to build collaborations between a multitude of stakeholders, including Islamic banks and Islamic finance institutions, that engage in developmental investments in accordance with the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Both institutions last week allowed a glimpse into the role Islamic finance can play in this process through the launch of the new report “I for Impact: Blending Islamic Finance and Impact Investing for the Global Goals.” In short, the report sheds light on the potentials of Islamic finance in impact investment for the achievement of sustainable development goals.