Identify

The overall objective of the Initiative is to advance human rights and positive outcomes for people through investor stewardship. The Initiative will primarily seek change through investors’ use of influence with portfolio companies. The following three expectations will be set for engagement focus companies:

• Fully implement the UNGPs –the guardrail of corporate conduct on human rights
• Align their political engagement with their responsibility to respect human rights
• Deepen progress on the most severe human rights issues in their operations and across their value

Use this resource to:

• Identify: Select the companies and sectors that investors can engage with, in support of the Initiative’s overall objectives. This includes identifying the sectors and companies where human rights and impacts are most severe.
• Implement: Determine where investors within the Initiative can influence (through stewardship) sectors and companies, to advance respect for human rights.

The GRI Standards are a modular system of interconnected standards for reporting on sustainability performance, covering a wide range of sustainability topics, including climate change, human rights, labour practices and product responsibility. They enable organisations to measure, manage and communicate their sustainability performance effectively.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Communicate: Report to all stakeholders on material topics that reflect the organisation’s most significant impacts. GRI’s standardised metrics help the organisation and its stakeholders compare performance with others.

The B Impact Assessment is an evaluation tool used by businesses to measure and manage their social and environmental impact. It assesses performance across various impact areas, including governance, workers, community, environment and customers.

This is a cross-cutting resource, meaning that it supports the internal impact management process as a whole, rather than one or a few of the Actions of Impact Management.

The SDG Impact Standards for Enterprises provide a practical guide and self-assessment tool for integrating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into organisational decision-making.

This is a cross-cutting resource, meaning that it supports the internal impact management process as a whole, rather than one or a few of the Actions of Impact Management.

The excel-based Impact Mappings are standalone versions of the research embedded in UNEP FI’s Impact Analysis Tools, split into two parts. The first part, Sector Mappings, shows the strength of connection between economic activities (using ISIC classification) and positive and negative impacts (using UNEP FI’s Impact Radar). The second part, Needs Mappings, tracks a selection of indicators at global, country and local levels as a way to estimate the sustainable development needs in different geographies.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Identify: Use the Sector-Impact map to understand the impact areas and topics associated with different economic activities, understand positive and negative associations, and identify key sectors for different impact areas and topics.

The Investment Portfolio Impact Analysis Tool helps financial institutions holistically understand and manage the actual and potential impacts of their investment portfolios. It aligns with UNEP FI’s unique holistic approach to impact and helps to implement PRB Principle 2 on Impact Analysis.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Identify: Identify impact areas and topics related to economic, environmental and social factors associated with an investment portfolio, based on an objective review (cartography) of the portfolio’s sectoral and geographic breakdown.
• Measure, assess and value: Assess current practices and performance in relation to the bank’s most significant impact areas by integrating the outputs of the ‘Identification’ tools with additional data.
• Set targets and plan: Use the outcome of the practice and performance assessment to set targets and define the bank’s action plan.
• Implement: Develop action plans that outline specific strategies, initiatives and measures that the bank will undertake to address the identified impact areas.
• Monitor, learn and adapt: PRB signatories can use the Tool to periodically update and review information on their impact performance, as part of the requirements set out in Principle 2.

The SDG Action Manager is a digital tool designed to help organisations measure their impact across various sustainability areas, set goals aligned with the SDGs, and track progress over time. The questionnaire, which draws from B Lab’s B Impact Assessment and the UN Global Compact’s 10 Principles, enables organisations to collect performance information on the SDGs that are most relevant to manage, based on its size, sector and geography. It was developed through research and public consultation and so provides an evidence-based starting point for identifying sustainability topics to measure.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Governance: Prioritise governance mechanisms that address the organisation’s key sustainability risks and enhance its resilience against potential challenges.
• Identify: Understand the most relevant SDGs to manage based on the organisation’s size, sector, and geography.
• Measure, assess and value: Obtain a set of metrics.
• Set targets and plan: Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) targets related to sustainable development. Organisations can align their targets with the specific indicators and targets outlined in the SDGs.

Regulation that sets out performance thresholds for organisations to classify their economic activities as “sustainable” according to European policy objectives.

Use this resource to:

• Identify: Find the economic activities that correspond to the financial institution’s activities and review what the taxonomy says about likely impacts on sustainability. This can be an input into identifying sustainability topics to measure. This regulation is based on research connecting economic activities to likely significant impacts on six environmental objectives. Currently, research related to objectives of climate change mitigation and adaptation are most developed.
• Measure, assess and value: Assess whether underlying assets are sustainable. Underlying assets that fall under the taxonomy regulation will report on the portion of their revenue, capital expenditure and operational expenditure that are ‘taxonomy aligned’, and therefore considered a ‘sustainable investment’ according EU policy objectives.
• Set targets and plan: Set objectives for a portion of the portfolio to be ‘taxonomy-aligned’. Regulation provides investors with a set of performance thresholds that have to be met for an underlying asset to be viewed as operating sustainably in relation to one the EU’s six environmental objectives. Underlying assets that are ‘taxonomy aligned’ are generating sustainable outcomes and are therefore also ‘Benefiting stakeholders’.

The SDG Impact Assurance Scheme is an assurance criteria for demonstrating adherence to the SDG Impact Standards for Enterprises, Private Equity Funds or Bonds, and associated certification.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Verification, assurance & certification: Certify that an organisation’s systems and processes adhere to the SDG Impact Standards.

The Impact Standards for Financing Sustainable Development (IS-FSD) is a framework for donors, development finance institutions (DFIs) and their private partners to make financial decisions that maximise their positive contribution to the SDGs. The Standards are harmonised with the UNDP SDG Impact Standards.

This is a cross-cutting resource, meaning that it supports the internal impact management process as a whole, rather than one or a few of the Actions of Impact Management.