The SDG Hive is a series of practically focused workshops, power roundtables and hackathons held with industry experts and global leaders established to create a ‘hive of activity’ with the aim of enhancing private capital flows towards achieving the UN SDGs. GEFI recognise certain Goals are the priority for governments to achieve and select Goals are highly impacted by private markets. GEFI view the UN SDGs as a key globally accepted overarching framework for sustainability and that financial institutions have a key role to play in achieving such through both directly financing or through indirect blended financing solutions.
Upcoming SDG Hives
SDG Hive - Ethical Finance Global 2026
By invitation only, the SDG Hive programme will hold a series of private roundtables where senior FS professionals and policy leads join for interactive discussions on key industry challenges.
Date & Time: Wednesday 17 June, 12:00-14:40
Venue: Edinburgh Futures Institute
Sessions:
- Navigating Fracturing Multilateralism and What Next for the SDGs?
- Moral Markets: Social Rights and Returns
Past SDG Hives
SDG Hive - Ethical Finance ASEAN 2026
GEFI Global Steering Group Chair Dame Susan Rice and Managing Director Omar Shaikh returned to Kuala Lumpur for our second SDG Hive programme in Malaysia. Taking place in person at Bangunan AICB on 5 February 2026, the programme featured two private, in-depth sessions on Unlocking Islamic Sustainable Finance and Financing Our Shared Prosperity.
SDG Hive - Ethical Finance Global 2024
Our SDG Hive was held in Edinburgh on 16th September as part of Ethical Finance Global 2025 and the inaugural Edinburgh Finance Festival. The programme will include:
- Tuesday 16th September
- The Trump Effect
- Policy and Regulation
SDG Hive - Ethical Finance ASEAN 2025
Ethical Finance ASEAN 2025 marked the launch of our inaugural SDG Hive programme in Malaysia. Held in-person at Bangunan AICB, Kuala Lumpur on 18 February 2025, the programme took place the day before the virtual Ethical Finance ASEAN 2025 and featured three private, in-depth sessions on Financing a Fair Transition, Unlocking Islamic Sustainable Finance and Supporting SMEs.
SDG Hive - Ethical Finance Global 2024
Our SDG Hive returned to Edinburgh on 24th and 26th September as part of the Ethical Finance Global 2024 programme. Across the two days, we were joined by over 150 delegates who heard insights from 18 global experts across 6 focused sessions. The programme included:
- Tuesday 24th September
- Global Leaders Sustainable Finance Update
- Business Case for Nature with Planet Tracker and WWF
- Beyond Growth: in conversation with Professor Tim Jackson with the David Hume Institute
- Thursday 26th September
- Lord Mayor Session in Partnership with the City of London Corporation
- Sustainable Finance Collaboration Lab in Partnership with PRI and UN Global Compact Forum
- Faith in Finance with Islamic Finance Council UK
You can access a highlights video from the SDG Hive as well as write-ups and photos from the sessions.
SDG Hive - COP28
The programme comprised a series of practically focused, private events held with industry experts and global leaders, established to create a ‘hive’ of activity with the aim of enhancing private capital flows towards achieving the UN SDGs. During COP28, our SDG Hive series provided a platform for high-impact discussions around select COP28 themes. The sessions built upon the SDG Hive from our annual Ethical Finance Global summit and provided finance practitioners with the skills they need to address the climate crisis and achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.
SDG Hive - Ethical Finance Global 2023
Our SDG Hive during the Ethical Finance Global Summit 2023 featured deep-dive working sessions, co-curated with our partners at the NatWest Group Business School, Gogurburn Campus, Edinburgh and include a residential format.
Our discussions centred around:
- Purpose & Leadership
- Global Leaders
- Asset Management
- Financing Nature
- Islamic Finance
- Empowering Women
SDG Hive - Ethical Finance Global 2022
The Ethical Finance Global Summit 2022 saw the inception of the SDG Hive which propelled the Hive into a permanent part of our events.
Our discussions centred around:
- Global Leaders
- Islamic Finance
- Finance for Nature
- Women Leaders
Promoting the UN SDGs
In 2018, GEFI commenced a joint venture with UNDP seeking to partner with global financial institutions towards creating financial products that help achieve the SDGs. In 2019 GEFI and UNDP hosted a series of workshops and hackathons in Edinburgh bringing together SDG aligned commercially viable projects alongside financiers across different thematics, including nature and biodiversity. Subsequently in 2020 GEFI launched the SDG Financial Products programme with AEGON and partnered with the UKIFC to launch the Global Islamic Finance and UN SDGs Taskforce together with HM Treasury and IsDB. The Taskforce has been leading global efforts to enhance awareness and engagement with the SDGs by the sector and has successfully engaged key stakeholders including LSEG, Ministry of Finance Indonesia, State Bank of Pakistan along with multiple leading global financial institutions and advisory firms across various workstreams within the Taskforce. Across 2022 and 2023 we have issued various reports including the SDG Insight Series, delivered in partnership with Aegon. GEFI remain committed to ensuring financial markets play their role towards achieving the global goals and the SDG Hive is a key convening platform to inspire and expedite practical action.
Attitudes of Banking Customers towards the UN SDGs
SDG Insight Series
Islamic Finance and the SDGs:Thought Leadership
Attitudes of Banking Customers towards the UN SDGs
A pioneering global survey that gauges the understanding and awareness of the UN SDGs amongst retail consumers of finance products.
SDG Insight Series
This series explores how financial institutions are using the SDGs in their financial products across a range of asset classes. The series also includes briefings on the move from ESG to the SDGs and the SDG Impact Standards.
Islamic Finance and the SDGs: Thought Leadership
A short summary of a four-part thought-leadership series on Islamic finance and the SDGs.
SDG Financial Products is the result of a collaboration between the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to facilitate the development of innovative financial products that are SDG aligned.
GEFI and UNDP believe that private sector led solutions are required to deliver the SDGs. In a market of increasing virtue signalling, financial products listed are prequalified and we only partners with financial institutions that demonstrate a genuine commitment to the 2030 SDG agenda.