Strategy

The Core Characteristics of Impact Investing define the growing approach of impact investing, and offer the financial markets greater clarity on what constitutes credible impact investing.

This resource is for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Strategy: Intentionally contribute to positive social and environmental impact by using evidence and impact data in investment design, enabling the investor to manage impact performance and contribute to the growth of impact investing overall.

The ‘ABC’ of impact provides a way to connect these high-level intentions – which are what most enterprises and investors start with – to the more granular dimensions of impact and data categories, which help to measure and manage impact.

Use this resource to:

• Connect high-level intentions – which are what most enterprises and investors start with – to the more granular dimensions of impact and data categories, which help to measure and manage impact.

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are a set of guidelines for states and companies to prevent, address and remedy human rights abuses committed in business operations.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Strategy: Commit to preserving human rights, observing the states’ duty to protect human rights and corporations’ responsability to respect human rights.
• Governance: Embed human rights considerations into decision-making policies and processes.
• Implement: Set up human rights due diligence.

This legal review found that while there are differences across jurisdictions and investor groups, where investing for sustainability impact approaches can be effective in achieving an investor’s financial goals, the investor will likely be required to consider using them and act accordingly.

It also provides an extensive suite of options for policymakers wishing to facilitate investing for sustainability impact, including changing investors’ legal duties and discretions, such as allowing the pursuit of sustainability goals as long as financial return goals are prioritised, and a presumption in favour of investor collaboration in tackling sustainability challenges.

Use this resource to:

• Strategy: Understand whether the law permits, encourages, or even requires investors to manage the sustainability outcomes of their investments.

Informed by interviews with asset owners and investment consultants, and data on industry practice, this report outlines common approaches and challenges to incorporating ESG considerations and sustainability outcomes in new or existing investment mandates.

Use this resource to:

• Strategy: Explore how and to what extent asset owners can consider ESG factors when developing and designing investment mandates. Understand common approaches and challenges to incorporating ESG considerations and sustainability outcomes in new or existing investment mandates.

The Guidance provides practical support to enterprises seeking to implement of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, through plain language explanations of its due diligence recommendations and associated provisions.

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 Finance Sector Supplement is a specialised framework, in addition to the Natural Capital Protocol, to guide financial institutions in measuring and valuing natural capital impacts and dependencies across the entities and portfolios that they finance, invest in or underwrite.

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 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.