FCC Construcción has participated in the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) held in Seville. The meeting brought together world leaders, governments, businesses and civil society to discuss a new global financial contract.

The summit comes ten years after the historic FFD3, which left behind the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, a framework that laid the foundations for mobilising resources towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is also the first time it has been held in Europe, seeking to call on the most advanced economies to take responsibility at a crucial moment in determining how we are going to finance sustainable development.

FCC Construcción, through its CFO, Maria Carrasco, has participated in two key meetings, Innovative Debt Instruments and Driving Business Leadership in Sustainable Finance in Uncertain Times. She was invited to both discussions and reflections by the United Nations in New York and the United Nations Global Compact in Spain.

She explained that the financing gap to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda exceeds $4.3 trillion. In addition, more than 50 countries face unsustainable levels of debt, and official development assistance remains stuck below the 0.7% commitment.

The objectives to be achieved are: mobilising more capital at lower cost; promoting innovative financial instruments that attract public and private investment; reforming multilateral sustainable financing institutions by transforming their operating model, promoting private investment and channelling resources towards sustainable infrastructure; and increasing coherence between financial flows and the SDGs by aligning investment with the green transition, inclusion and human rights.

These reforms seek to unlock financing in an environment of growing debt, high interest rates and geopolitical fragmentation.

Private sector participation is essential to close the financing gap towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Companies not only mobilise resources, but can also innovate, forge strategic alliances and direct capital towards activities with a positive social and environmental impact. However, according to data from the OECD, 60% of private investment for the SDGs is concentrated in just 10 countries. This imbalance highlights the urgent need to democratise access to finance and encourage business action in more vulnerable contexts.

In Spain, positive signs are already visible. According to our latest survey, 32% of large companies have sustainable finance strategies in place. This is an important step, but still insufficient to achieve the necessary scale.

FFD4 is an opportunity to take a leading role in the transformation of the global financial system.