Monitor, learn and adapt

The IRIS+ Thematic Taxonomy provides guidance to impact investors on the IRIS+ Impact Categories and Impact Themes.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Strategy: Set an intention for impact using the IRIS+ Thematic Taxonomy of Impact Categories and Impact Themes.

The Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) guide banks in aligning their business strategies with society’s goals, as well as promoting sustainability. These principles aim to encourage banks to play a crucial role in achieving global sustainable development objectives, including addressing climate change, promoting financial inclusion and fostering sustainable economic growth.

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.

“Maximise Your Impact: A Guide for Social Entrepreneurs” proposes a practical approach for social entrepreneurs to understand and maximise the positive social value they create, supporting both the creation and development of impact-oriented organisations.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Strategy: Develop a strategy and business model that address the root causes of the problem that the organisation is trying to solve.
• Governance: Set the right governance structure and practices to serve the organisation’s mission.
• Identify: Identify the problems and solutions that the organisation will seek to address, including through qualitative research and stakeholder engagement.
• Measure, assess and value: Check whether the organisation has all the information it needs to assess its impacts. The guidance contains 10 questions that guide impact assessment, functioning as a checklist to ensure all necessary contextual information is collected.
• Set targets and plan: Create an impact goal (the core problem that the organisation is trying to achieve), set targets and forecast changes that the organisation is planning to make towards the impact goal and associated targets.
• Implement: Integrate information on social value into management decision-making.
• Monitor, learn and adapt: Understand how to use the collected information to decide whether to change, stop or scale-up activities, and learn how to develop a set of recommendations about adapting targets.

The B Corp Certification is an assessment process that evaluates a company’s social and environmental performance, as well as governance and transparency. Organisations that achieve B Corp Certification demonstrate a commitment to meeting a high standard of responsible business practices and accountability.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management

• Verification, assurance and certification: Achieve B Corp certification by meeting the standards set by B Lab, demonstrating a commitment to social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency.
• Benchmarking and rating: Compare impact scores and metrics with those of other organiations within the same industry or sector.

The Natural Capital Protocol is a framework designed to help businesses identify, measure, and value their impacts and dependencies on natural capital. It provides a standardised approach for organisations to integrate natural capital considerations into their decision-making processes, enabling them to better understand and manage their relationship with nature.

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 Social and Human Capital Protocol is a framework designed to assist organisations in identifying, measuring, and managing their impacts and dependencies on social and human capital. It provides a standardised approach for businesses to integrate social and human capital considerations into their decision-making processes, enabling them to better understand and manage their relationships with employees, communities and stakeholders.

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.

This guide briefly introduces a leading methodology for translating planetary thresholds related to greenhouse gas emissions into company-specific targets. It also provides further links to more detailed implementation guidance.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Set targets and plan: Set a company-specific target for greenhouse gas emissions that incorporates an ecological threshold for a given global warming scenario.

This guidance helps organisations to set nature-related science-based targets. More generally, SBTn is embarking on a multi-year strategy to develop guidance for translating planetary thresholds and societal goals into company-specific targets for air, water, land, biodiversity and ocean.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Set targets and plan: Set a company-specific target that references an ecological threshold for nature.

This tool is designed to help banks and investors holistically understand and manage the actual and potential impacts of their portfolios.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Identify: Understand the impact areas and topics associated with a bank’s portfolio, based on portfolio composition and context; and identify the bank’s most significant impact areas.
• Measure, assess and value: Assess current practice and performance vis-à-vis most significant impact areas, by combining the tool’s ‘Identification’ outputs with additional data; use the assessment as a basis for target-setting and defining the bank’s action plan.
• Set targets and plan: Define relevant and meaningful targets and action plans.
• Implement: Inform and carry out impact management process.
• Monitor, learn and adapt: Monitor practice and performance; and use the assessment to make improvements and adjust targets.

The Impact Management Norms provide a common logic to help enterprises and investors measure and assess their social and environmental impacts. They aim to promote a consistent approach to impact assessment, enabling organisations to better understand, communicate and improve their impact performance. The Norms comprise – among others – the Five Dimensions of Impact, ABC of Impact and Investor Contribution.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Measure, assess and value: Use the norms to quantify and evaluate the social and environmental impacts of the organisation’s activities.