Orange Forum 2025: Transforming Dialogue into Action to Mobilize Orange Capital to Close SDG Financing Gap
Jakarta, November 17, 2025 – With trillions of dollars needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and women and marginalized groups in the Global South continue to face systemic barriers to capital, Orange Forum 2025 convened over 300 institutional investors, policymakers, and civil society leaders to set pathways to scale Orange Capital solutions globally. Through dialogues on Global South leadership, policy frameworks, innovative instruments, and data-driven impact measurement, participants laid the groundwork to achieve the Orange Movement™’s mission to mobilize US$10 billion by 2030 to empower 100 million women, girls, and gender minorities, accelerating progress toward closing the SDG financing gap. The discussions also amplified Indonesia’s leadership role in the Orange Movement. The Orange Forum 2025 was initiated by Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), in partnership with the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), the Indonesian Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas), and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The forum marked a decisive shift from fragmented, grant-based approaches to economic development to market-led, ecosystem-wide solutions. As the SDG financing gap balloons into the trillions, leaders from across the Global South gathered at the Forum to advance climate-smart, gender-equal finance that unlocks private capital at scale. The forum’s highlights included a bell-ringing ceremony, a formal celebration of PT Permodalan Nasional Madani’s (PNM) Orange Bond and Orange Sukuk issuances, valued at around US$980 million. This establishes Indonesia as a global leader in issuing the world’s largest Orange Bond and first Orange Sukuk, designed to empower 15.7 million women entrepreneurs. Orange Capital—encompassing Orange Bonds™, Orange Sukuk™, loans, and guarantees—is a cross-cutting asset class at the nexus of gender equity and climate action. Operating under the Orange Bond Principles™, which require measuring, reporting, and verifying impact with women at the last mile, it represents the gold standard addressing impact-washing in sustainable finance. Over 10 Orange Bonds have catalyzed US$1.4 billion across Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, Sri Lanka, the US, Vietnam, and beyond. “The Orange Movement™ is proving that market-led solutions can help close the SDG financing gap,” said Prof. Durreen Shahnaz, Founder and CEO of IIX. “By recognizing women as multipliers, we show how building inclusive capital markets achieves true climate justice, a just transition, and equitable economic growth.” she added. Leonardo Teguh Sambodo, Deputy Minister of Food, Natural Resources, and Environment, Kementerian PPN/Bappenas, emphasized, “Orange Bonds transcend traditional sustainable bonds. Unlike conventional green bonds focusing primarily on environmental outcomes, Orange Bonds uniquely address the intersection of social and environmental impact while enhancing transparency. We see this as a powerful mechanism to accelerate global SDG progress and strengthen the Global South’s leadership in sustainable finance. Indonesia’s leadership—with 62% of SDG indicators on track and more than US$10 billion channeled through thematic bonds and sukuk—demonstrates what’s possible when we place women and underserved communities at the center as equal partners,” I Gede Nyoman Yetna, Listing Director of IDX, stated, “Orange Forum 2025 demonstrates the power of the Orange Movement and Indonesia’s role in global sustainable finance. The Forum also reflects IDX’s commitment to equip capital market participants to lead climate-smart and gender-lens investments, building a new generation of investors who see equality as an engine of growth.” Unlike traditional conferences, Orange Forum 2025 served as an action platform, convening institutional investors, policymakers, regulators, multilateral institutions, enterprises, civil society, and data specialists to co-create solutions. This ecosystem approach addresses regulatory frameworks, market infrastructure, legal institutions, data systems, and capital mobilization simultaneously. Orange Forum 2025 positions the Orange Movement™, with Indonesia among the leaders and catalyst, at the forefront of transforming global sustainable finance. By uniting governments, investors, and communities through innovative finance and ecosystem-wide collaboration, the forum proves that when women and marginalized communities are empowered as equal partners, entire economies grow stronger and more resilient to future shocks.
Bappenas and Ministry of Finance Support Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) and Ford Foundation in Building Orange Bond Ecosystem, Strengthening Indonesia’s Leadership in Sustainable Finance
Jakarta, Indonesia, 11 July 2024 – In a historic collaboration, key stakeholders driving Indonesia’s sustainable development— including the Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas), the Directorate of Government Debt Securities (SUN) – the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia, demonstrate their support toward the Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) and Ford Foundation to building Orange Bonds Ecosystem in Indonesia through a roundtable meeting to support the mission of the Orange Movement™ in creating a gender-empowered financial system. The Orange Movement™, led by a Global Steering Committee comprising ANZ, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), IIX, Nuveen, the US International Development Finance Agency (DFC), and Water.org, marks a significant step towards advancing Indonesia’s sustainable development goals encompassing gender equality, climate transition, and economic prosperity through the introduction of Orange Bonds, with the goal of jointly mobilizing US$1 billion Orange capital in Indonesia by 2025. Named after the color of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 (UN SDG5): Gender Equality, the Orange Movement™, places gender equality and climate action at the forefront of sustainable finance. Through Orange Bonds as a cross-cutting asset class, the Orange Movement™ aims to mobilize US$10 billion to empower 100 million women, girls, and gender minorities globally by 2030. Unlike traditional sustainability bonds focused primarily on green initiatives, Orange Bonds uniquely address the intersection of social and environmental impact outcomes, enhancing transparency in the ecosystem. Along with this critical milestone, a Feasibility Study on introducing Orange Bonds in Indonesia, supported by the Ford Foundation, was also released, reiterating Indonesia’s leadership in sustainable finance and highlighting the opportunity and recommendations to introduce Orange Bonds in supporting the nation’s inclusive development and SDG agenda. The Study brought out project identification and transparency challenges under the current thematic bonds, such as Green Bonds and Green Sukuk. In addition, there is limited financing support under these thematic bonds for the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) ecosystem; as such, the introduction of Orange Bonds aims to bridge these financing gaps and support the community and women-focused MSMEs. The MSME ecosystem, contributing 61% to the GDP and comprising 97% of employment generation, is crucial to Indonesia’s inclusive development, driving livelihoods for women and communities in the last mile through high-impact solutions. Dr. Vivi Yulaswati, Deputy for Maritime Affairs and Natural Resources of Ministry of National Development Planning as the Chair of the National SDGs Implementation Team, remarked, “Indonesia has set an ambitious goal to become a developed nation by 2045, coinciding with its centennial of independence. To achieve this, the country has embraced innovative financing for sustainable development, exemplified by the introduction of the SDG Bond, making Indonesia the first Asian country to do so in 2021. This initiative is supported by Presidential Regulation Number 111 of 2022, ensuring stakeholder engagement through the SDG National Implementation Team. The SDG financing gap is 24 thousand trillion rupiah by 2030 post-pandemic, necessitating various innovative funding instruments, as government efforts alone are insufficient.” “In this context, the role of the private sector and innovative financial instruments becomes crucial to bridge the existing funding shortfall. One proposed instrument is the Orange Bond, which aims to address gender inequality and climate change impacts by integrating sustainable finance principles into the capital market, aligning with Indonesia’s SDGs agenda, especially Goal 5 focusing on gender equality. The Orange Bond not only offers innovative financing solutions but also promotes social and economic inclusion by providing greater financial access for women and vulnerable groups. This is vital given the gender gap in Indonesia’s financial market, which hinders women’s access to finance and economic opportunities. With the increasing impacts of climate change, women often bear the brunt of economic and social consequences.” Dr. Vivi Yulaswati concluded. “Prof. Durreen Shahnaz, CEO and Founder of IIX stated, “IIX is thrilled to partner with the Ford Foundation and the Indonesian government bodies to work towards building the Orange Movement™ in the country. Together, we look forward to creating a gender-equal and climate-resilient ecosystem to help Indonesia achieve its SDG agenda by harnessing the potential of Orange Bonds, championing sustainable finance, and supporting women in the last mile.” The Government of Indonesia has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to advancing UN SDGs, establishing Indonesia as a global pioneer in sustainable finance by setting up various frameworks for Green Bonds, Green Sukuk, and SDG bonds. This significant collaboration reinforces the commitment of Bappenas and the Ministry of Finance to innovative financing solutions that promote social and environmental impact. By mobilizing financing to empower women and women-focused MSMEs, Orange Bonds will significantly complement and magnify the impact of thematic Bonds, accelerating a just energy transition in Indonesia. The multi-stakeholder roundtable in Jakarta shared findings and recommendations from the feasibility study, drawing upon synergies between Indonesia’s national development priorities and the private sector’s participation in the sustainable finance market. The roundtable saw participation from various financial ecosystem stakeholders, including regulatory bodies, donor organizations, multilateral institutions, financial institutions, and private sector stakeholders. Their collaborative insights were instrumental in introducing Orange Bonds in Indonesia, bolstering the efforts of the Government and the corporate sector to bridge the nation’s critical SDG financing gap, and advancing gender-just climate resilience through this innovative asset class. We urge all stakeholders to sign the Orange Pledge and support the introduction of Orange Bonds to advance sustainable finance, gender equality, and climate action. In addition, the “Feasibility Study for an Indonesian Orange Bond” can be downloaded on the IIX website.