Imperial co-hosts UN roundtable on capital markets and sustainability at FFD4 | Imperial News

Imperial College London brought academic insight to the UN, co-hosting a high-level roundtable on capital markets at FFD4 in Seville.

The Financing for Development Conference (FFD4) is a landmark United Nations summit, held only once every decade that brings together global leaders and institutions to shape the global financial architecture needed to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year’s summit, held in Seville, came at a critical juncture as the international community pushes to accelerate progress toward the 2030 Agenda, amid mounting economic, environmental, and geopolitical challenges.

Imperial’s presence at the conference, through the university’s ECOSOC-accredited status and with support from the Global Development Hub, reflects our growing role as a global convener for thought leadership at the intersection of science, technology, policy, and finance.

The roundtable, Capital Markets for Innovation: Unlocking Science and Technology Investment in Developing Countries, was co-chaired by Dr. Raul Rosales, Senior Executive Fellow at Imperial Business School, alongside partners from the Science Summit at UNGA and featured a panel of global experts spanning academia, finance, government, and international organisations. The session explored how capital markets can be leveraged to channel private sector finance more effectively into sustainable development efforts.

During the lead up to FFD4, Dr. Rosales prepared a briefing paper looking at innovative finance mechanisms to unlock capital market investment for science infrastructure in LMICs. Read the paper here.

Thought leadership and academic insight

The roundtable aligned closely with remarks delivered at FFD4 by Baroness Chapman, the UK’s Minister for Development and Africa, who stressed the urgency of financial innovation to drive meaningful progress on the SDGs.

“We need private capital at a much greater scale in developing countries. We are proud to launch a coalition of governments, finance institutions, and investors at FFD4”, she said, echoing the roundtable’s call for deeper engagement between academia, industry, and policymakers.

Among the speakers were Imperial researchers Professor Marisa Miraldo, Dr Adria Junyent-Ferré, and Professor Faith Osier, who each contributed perspectives on health systems, energy infrastructure, and biotechnology as investable pathways to sustainable development.

Professor Michael Wilkins, Executive Director of the Centre for Climate Finance & Investment, also took part in the roundtable, offering reflections on the role of credit markets and financial institutions in accelerating the sustainable agenda.

How can the International Conference on Financing for Development mobilise finance for climate action – Michael Wilkins

Reflecting on Imperial’s critical role in this space, Raul Rosales said:

“Universities have a responsibility to bridge the gap between knowledge and action. We bring the rigorous, independent thinking that long-term finance needs.”

Rosales also highlighted the breadth of innovation emerging from across Imperial’s research ecosystem:

“At Imperial, we are not just generating world-class science—we are building the platforms to scale it. From Faith Osier’s call to invest in Africa’s vaccine manufacturing ecosystem, to Adria Junyent-Ferré’s work on scaling solar mini-grids for agriculture and mobility in Kenya, Rwanda and Ghana, and to Marisa Miraldo’s vision of health data platforms as investable infrastructure—our researchers are showing how science can unlock capital and deliver impact where it’s needed most.”

Driving international dialogue

This marks the latest step in Imperial’s growing international engagement around sustainability and finance. The roundtable helped to surface key questions about how academic research can inform financial system reform and highlighted the importance of evidence-led policymaking in unlocking private capital for sustainable development.

Imperial’s continued presence at key global forums highlights its commitment to contributing research, innovation, and leadership to international policymaking and sustainable development.

Global Development Hub

Imperial’s Global Development Hub supports equitable science and technology partnerships in LMICs that help to address shared global challenges. Several of these projects have now reached a pivotal point in their development, having moved successfully from theory through to prototyping and application, they now need to scale up to meet the demands of the local communities they serve.

Professor Faith Osier leads the Chanjo Hub, an African‑led vaccine manufacturing initiative building capacity in Kenya and Ghana to develop and produce vaccines and accelerate access to new platforms such as plant‑based vaccines in Africa. The plant-based solution was profiled in an Impact Memo.

Dr. Adria Junyent-Ferre, leads the Moving IMPACT initiative, an Imperial-consortium, exploring how solar mini-grids integrated with electric vehicle EV charging infrastructure can meet agricultural and community energy needs in Sub-Saharan Africa, advancing sustainable energy access and local development.  Read more here.

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