UN SDG WITHIN CONTEMPORARY CORPORATE FINANCE: THE GAP BETWEEN DISCLOSURE AND CAPITAL ALLOCATION
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Abstract
Problem setting. A decade after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, companies have embedded sustainability principles into mainstream corporate reporting, while the financial effects of this transition remain considerably less certain. The growing financing needs associated with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), together with the recent weakening of several sustainable finance indicators, make it increasingly important to distinguish between declared corporate commitment and actual capital allocation. Aim. This study aims to assess this divergence, focusing on the relationship between SDG-related corporate commitments and observable financing and investment outcomes in contemporary corporate finance. Methodology. The study applies documentary, comparative, and structural-dynamic analysis to aggregate open-source data for 2015-2025 and examines five interconnected layers, namely, corporate disclosure, labelled debt issuance, sustainable fund flows, pricing signals, and real investment. Results. The results show that sustainability reporting has become near-universal among the world’s largest companies – 96% of the G250 report on sustainability; among G250 companies that report on sustainability or ESG matters, 74% use the SDGs. At the same time, sustainable bond issuance declined by 19% in 2025 to approximately USD 866 billion, while total global bond issuance increased by almost 11% to more than USD 10 trillion. Sustainable funds recorded USD 84 billion in net outflows in 2025, while SDG-related FDI in developing economies fell by 26% in 2024. Annual labelled issuance is equivalent in scale to approximately 20-25% of the estimated USD 4 trillion annual SDG financing gap, although this comparison does not measure actual gap coverage. The findings demonstrate a descriptive divergence between mature sustainability communication and several downstream indicators of financing and investment. Practical value. This study demonstrates that corporate treasurers, investors, regulators, and development finance institutions should assess disclosure, labelled instruments, investor commitments, and real investment separately when evaluating the financial contribution of business to the SDGs.
How to Cite
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sustainable development goals, sustainable debt, ESG disclosure, capital allocation, sustainability reporting
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