20/30 Visions #17: Richard Curtis on the $50trn pension opportunity
Richard Curtis, film director and campaigner, explains how unlocking the money in our pension posts can help us achieve the SDGs
Welcome to 20/30 Visions, a new Bridges series in which we ask experts and thought-leaders from around the globe: what needs to change if we want to build a more sustainable and inclusive future in the next decade? And how do we make that change happen?
Most people know Richard Curtis as the creator some of the most successful British films of all time. But he’s also been an hugely important figure in the development world, dating all the way back to 1985 when he co-founded Comic Relief after witnessing the famine in Ethopia (Red Nose Day) has since raised over £2bn for charity). In the last decade he has been working with the United Nations to advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals – and his most recent venture is Make My Money Matter, a campaign to unlock some of the $50trn in our pension pots globally to invest for good.
In this episode of 20/30 Visions, we caught up with Richard to discuss:
- How he thinks we’re doing with the SDGs
- Why business has been an ‘unexpected success’
- Why he got excited about pensions
- How the pension companies have responded to this challenge
- Why we need to talk about the banks
- Why investors are cooler than pop stars and movie-makers (kind of)
- and more…
Watch our conversation here:
Or you can download Richard’s insights to read as a PDF here