A PRISMA-based systematic review for unveiling the potential of sustainable investments for achieving SDGs

The 2030 Agenda or Global Goals are a top priority for the globe, and finance is a key enabler to meeting these goals. The aim of this study is to identify recent trends, sustainable financial instruments, key areas of focus, and future directions in research related to sustainable investments and the SDGs through an SLR (systematic literature review). The study employed the PRISMA framework for systematic and bibliometric literature review of 79 papers published from 2007 to April 2025. The key findings of the review analysis highlight that key sustainable financing instruments for financing SDGs. The study has identified four major categories of sustainable investors, including public, private, hybrid, and specialized sustainable investors. Renewable energy, sustainable infrastructure, circular economy, and blue economy are the key focused areas for sustainable investments. The study has identified two of the main hurdles to the expansion of sustainable investments: the lack of standardized measures for effect evaluation, and another one is a financial-sustainability returns trade-off. The study identifies future research areas that include designing robust metrics and standardized reporting frameworks for financial instruments, blue finance mechanisms for ocean conservation, and AI integration for transparent tracking of funds.