BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) and sustainability-focused fintech Matter announced today the launch of SDG Fundamentals, a new data solution aimed at enabling investors to analyze companies’ revenue alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The UN SDGs refer to the 17 categories of goals adopted as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with the aim to protect the planet and improve the quality of life globally.  SDG targets include ending poverty and hunger, improving education, and protecting the environment. Achievement of the SDGs will require massive amounts of capital, and generate major opportunities for investment. According to BNPP AM, a funding gap remains, however, between current investments in companies aligned to the SDGs, and what is necessary to meet their 2030 targets.

Lise Pretorius, Head of Sustainability Analysis at Matter, said

“Partnering with BNPP AM to develop SDG Fundamentals has been a unique opportunity to work with a leading asset manager that combines deep market expertise with a genuine commitment to rigorous understanding of the sustainability and SDG alignment of their investments.”

The new dataset aims to help close the funding gap by providing investors with a framework to assess the extent of the alignment of a company’s revenue streams with specific SDGs and targets, and with multiple SGDs. The solution is based on a proprietary SDG taxonomy, and covers more than 50,000 issuers.

According to BNPP AM, SDG Fundamentals can assist investors in enhancing their sustainability analysis approach in integration, helping them identify thematic head- and tail-winds to inform their decision-making, in regulatory SFDR compliance, and in stewardship and exclusion initiatives, as well as in portfolio construction and reporting.

Bérénice Lasfargues, Sustainability Integration Lead at BNPP AM, said:

“Understanding the extent to which companies’ core business revenues are aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals, and by extension have the potential to contribute to real-world sustainable outcomes, is the next frontier of sustainability analysis.  While this type of analysis continues to be hampered by a lack of granular and standardized corporate sustainability disclosures and data, our methodological work with Matter helps to break down this barrier and provides investors with actionable information on what constitutes company alignment to the targets underpinning the 17 SDG Goals.”