Claiming gold at the end of the SDG rainbow

New Zealand has committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through domestic and international action. Achieving the goals requires cross-government effort as well as action by the private sector and civil society.  

This session will connect the national picture to the role of the financial sector in allocating capital, designing products and communicating sustainability claims with integrity. It will explore what SDG alignment means in practice for investors, advisers and product issuers in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2026, at a time when the regulator is placing emphasis on clear, substantiated and consistent sustainability-related claims across PDSs, SIPOs, websites, marketing materials and reports.

Building on RIAA’s new SDG-alignment guidance FAQs in its Certification Program, the session will show how products can make SDG-related names, labels and claims with greater confidence, provided terminology is defined, methodologies are transparent, claims are supported at portfolio level, and communications avoid overstatement or investor misinterpretation.