President Obama delivers remarks at the Closing Session of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals in New York City. September 27, 2015.

Alex is a Professor of Finance at London Business School. Alex graduated top of his class from Oxford University and then worked for Morgan Stanley in investment banking (London) and fixed income sales and trading (NYC). After a PhD in Finance from MIT Sloan as a Fulbright Scholar, he joined Wharton, where he was granted tenure and won 14 teaching awards in six years. Alex’s research interests are in corporate finance, behavioural finance, CSR, and practical investment strategies. He has been awarded the Moskowitz Prize for Socially Responsible Investing and the FIR-PRI prize for Finance and Sustainability, and was named a Rising Star of Corporate Governance by Yale University. Alex co-led a session at the 2014 World Economic Forum in Davos, and runs a blog, “Access to Finance” (www.alexedmans.blogspot.com), that aims to make complex finance topics accessible to a general audience.

In his interview during the UNU-WIDER 30th Anniversary Conference 'Mapping the Future of Development Economics' Nobel laureate in economics Professor Joseph Stiglitz gave an interview on the past and future challenges to development. When asked about the SDGs Professor Stiglitz said that he welcomes the new goals as they apply to all countries and embrace a wider meaning of development than simply growth in GDP. He also welcomes the number of goals, which are a testament to the influence this framework has in setting global norms that will underpin international development efforts.