Implement

One of the main (and government-backed) international instruments on Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) setting out principles and standards on RBC. Regulators reference them in regulation.

This resource calls upon organisations to:

• Strategy: Align strategy with the expectation to avoid and address negative impacts of their operations, while contributing to sustainable development in the countries where they operate.
• Governance: under construction

• Identify: Set objectives with reference to minimum safeguards on topics such as: human rights, labour relations, employment practices, public health and safety, bribery and extortion, science and technology and taxation.
• Measure, assess and value: under construction
• Implement: Embed due diligence across business operations and in the value chain in order to identify, assess, mitigate, cease and prevent adverse impacts on people
• Communicate: under construction

Guidance that provides practical support to enterprises on the implementation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises by providing plain language explanations of its due diligence recommendations and associated provisions.

Use this guidance to:

• Implement: Cease, prevent or mitigate negative impacts and provide for or cooperate in remediation where appropriate

Tool designed to help organisations measure and manage their impacts in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Use this resource to:

• Identify: Understand the SDGs most relevant to manage, based on the organisation’s size, sector, and geography. The questionnaire draws from B Lab’s B Impact Assessment and the UN Global Compact’s 10 Principles. It was developed through research and public consultation and so provides an evidence-based starting point for identifying sustainability topics to measure.
• Measure, assess and value: Obtain a set of metrics. The questionnaire enables organisations to collect performance information on the SDGs that are most relevant to manage, based on the organisation’s size, sector and geography.

Guidance that outlines a process organisations should follow to identify, measure and value their impacts and dependencies on the natural environment.

Use this resource to:

• Strategy: under construction
• Governance: under construction
• Identify: Identify stakeholders in order to set objectives for a natural capital assessment and to map the links between significant impacts and the business activities that affect or rely on them. This process helps organisations determine whether each impacted stakeholder is likely to affect their business model (and therefore enterprise value).
• Measure, assess and value: Value impacts and dependencies on natural capital. This methodology draws on organisational data, data collected from stakeholders and publicly available country- or sector-level data.
• Set targets and plan: Use the guidance on how to identify and engage with stakeholders in order to set objectives for a natural capital assessment.
• Implement: under construction

Guidance that outlines a process for organisations to follow so they can identify, measure and value their impacts and dependencies on social and human capital.

Use this resource to:

• Strategy: under construction
• Governance: under construction
• Identify: Map the links between significant impacts and the business activities that affect or rely on them. This process helps organisations determine whether each impacted stakeholder is likely to affect their business model (and therefore enterprise value)
• Measure, assess and value: Value impacts and dependencies on social and human capital. This methodology draws on organisational data, data collected from stakeholders and publicly available country- or sector-level data.
• Set targets and plan: Use the guidance on how to identify and engage with stakeholders in order to set objectives for a social and human capital based assessment.
• Implement: under construction

Practice standards that provide a common language and a system for integrating sustainable development issues, the Sustainable Development Goals and impact management into business and investment decision-making. These practice standards also outline the ‘ABC’ classification methodology, which helps organisations assess whether an impact ‘Acts to reduce harm’, ‘Benefits stakeholders’, or ‘Contributes to solutions’ in relation to the SDGs.

Use this resource to:

Set up processes and embed practices that orient an organisation towards achieving the SDGs. The SDG Impact Standard contains practice indicators that are relevant to several actions. Use the links below to access guidance for different practice indicators. Alternatively, view the whole guidance document here.

Guidance to help an organisation maximise the positive social value it creates.

Use this resource to:

• Strategy: Engage stakeholders and understanding their objectives and needs in order to design a business model around delivering these objectives.
• Governance: under construction
• Identify: under construction
• Measure, assess and value: Check whether the organisation has all the information it needs to assess impact. The guidance contains 10 questions that guide impact assessment and function as a checklist to ensure all necessary contextual information is collected.
• Set targets and plan: Use the guidance on engaging stakeholders and understanding their objectives and needs in order to design a business model around delivering these objectives.
• Implement: Integrate information on social value into management decision-making.

The Principles provide the basic building blocks for organisations that want to make decisions whilst taking social value into account. They are intended to help organisations optimise value for all stakeholders materially affected by an organisations activities. Practice Standards are available to help organisations implement each principle to a point where they are accountable for their activities and are making decisions to optimise value.

Use this resource to:

• Set up processes to include social value data in management decision-making.

Certification awarded when an organisation achieves a score of 80 on the B Impact Assessment.

Use this resource to:

• Become B Corp Certified. Organisations undergo verification including interviews, submitting documentation, and as necessary site reviews, to increase confidence that the company’s score is accurate and the required 80-point score has been achieved.

A high-level framework for any investors looking to shape real-world outcomes in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Use this resource to:

• Strategy: under construction
• Governance: under construction
• Identify: Identify and understand the unintended outcomes of an investors’ investments and their own operations. This assessment involves identifying positive and negative real-world outcomes related to investees’ operations, products and services.
• Measure, assess and value: under construction
• Set targets and plan: Move from identifying and understanding unintended outcomes towards taking intentional steps to shape outcomes.
• Implement: Explore examples of how investors shape outcomes through investor actions including: investment decisions, stewardship of investees and engagement with policy makers and key stakeholders.

Guidance that explains the application of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises in the context of institutional investors. The report highlights key considerations for institutional investors in carrying out due diligence that will help to identify and respond to environmental and social risks.

Use this resource to:

• Strategy: under construction
• Governance: Embed responsible business conduct into policies and management systems.
• Identify: Understand the responsible business conduct expectations for institutional investors, including a discussion of key considerations when identifying negative impacts and risks.
• Measure, assess and value: Understand the key considerations for institutional investors in carrying out due diligence as recommended by the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (OECD Guidelines). This helps institutional investors to prevent and address adverse impacts related to human and labour rights, the environment, and corruption caused by companies in their investment portfolios.
• Implement: Cease, prevent or mitigate negative impacts and provide for or cooperate in remediation where appropriate.

Principles describe essential features of managing investments into companies or other organisations with the intent to contribute to measurable positive social or environmental impact alongside financial returns.

This resource has mandatory requirements for signatories.

This resource calls upon organisations to:

• Strategy: Define strategic impact objectives consistent with the investment strategy alongside managing strategic impact on a portfolio basis.
• Governance: Commit to following the principles and periodically having progress of adoption independently verified. The Principles can be applied to an entire investing organisation or an individual fund.
• Identify: under construction
• Measure, assess and value: Assess potential negative impacts of each investment.
• Set targets and plan: under construction
• Implement: Respond appropriately to information on actual and potential impacts.
• Communicate: Use Principle 9 to enable public disclosure of alignment with the Principles.

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 calls upon organisations to:

• Intentionally contribute to positive social and environmental impact, use evidence and impact data in investment design, manage impact performance, and contribute to the growth of impact investing

Practice standards that provide a common language and a system for integrating sustainable development issues, the Sustainable Development Goals and impact management into business and investment decision-making.

This resource calls upon organisations to

• Measure, Assess and Value: Develop an impact management and measurement framework
• Set targets and plan: Set portfolio level impact goals.
• Implement: under construction
• Verification, assurance and certification: Disclose how the SDGs and sustainability are integrated into decision-making and report on performance

The Impact Protocol provides a step-by-step overview of how to analyse and manage bank portfolio impacts.

Use this resource to:

• Understand how to manage bank portfolio imapcts as per UNEP FI’s holistic impact approach and in conformity with the requirements of the Principles for Responsible Banking.The Protocol provides an overview of the impact management process as a whole; it is complemented by further UNEP FI resources such as the Impact Management Tool and the Thematic Target-Setting Guidance, which can be used to operationalise the methodology.

Practice standards to support donors in the deployment of public resources through DFIs and private asset managers, in a way that maximises the positive contribution towards the SDGs. The Standards are harmonised in approach with the UNDP SDG Impact Standards suite, the IS-FSD constitute a framework, ensuring that collectively (with the SDG Impact Standards for PE Funds, Bond Issuers and Enterprises) they help to connect actors across the system using a common language and approach for integrating SDG impacts in the investment strategy and throughout the investment process and governance structures.

This resource calls upon organisations to:

• Strategy: Set impact objectives framed in terms of the SDGs and country priorities
• Governance: Set up processes and embed practices that are aligned with the SDG Impact Standards.
• Measure, assess and value: Understand whether all relevant information is being actioned to understand impact. The Standards outline how baselines, social/ ecological thresholds and other contextual information should be included in assessment of whether an underlying asset is contributing to the SDGs.
• Set targets and plan: under construction
• Implement: under construction
• Communicate: Disclose how impacts are managed and measured

The overall objective of the Initiative is to advance human rights and positive outcomes for people through iIn 2020, the GISD Alliance reached consensus on a common definition of Sustainable Development Investing (SDI) that can help establish norms that differentiate investment strategies.

Use this resource to:

• Implement: Refer to key definitions and recommended practices when embedding impact management into strategy, governance and management approach.

Guidance that provides practical support to enterprises on the implementation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises by providing plain language explanations of its due diligence recommendations and associated provisions.

Use this guidance to:

• Implement: Cease, prevent or mitigate negative impacts and provide for or cooperate in remediation where appropriate

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.

This resource calls upon organisations to:

• Implement: Set up human rights due diligence.

Principles to guide companies in aligning their sustainability commitments with credible corporate finance strategies geared towards contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Use this resource to:

• Integrate impact management and contribution to the SDGs into the corporate finance function.

To be completed.

Use this resource to:

• To be completed.

Practice standards that provide a common language and a system for integrating sustainable development issues, the Sustainable Development Goals and impact management into business and investment decision-making.

Use this resource to:

• Implement: Inform internal decision-making. The standards are designed to transform how enterprises and investors think about value creation, and integrate impact management and contributing positively to the SDGs.

This document sets the SVI Standard to apply Principle 8: Be Responsive. The essence of this Principle is to take action; to make decisions about social value in response to data and measurement.

Use this resource to:

• Implement: Create a structured ‘impact management approach’ that can guide decision making at strategic, tactical, and operational levels to optimise impacts on wellbeing for all materially affected stakeholder groups. This means implementing activities that are designed to maximise the extent and rate of positive changes in wellbeing, whilst also identifying and eliminating activities that result in negative changes in wellbeing as fast as possible.

The paper outlines what voting principles are, why they are needed, how voting principles can align with Active Ownership 2.0 (the PRI’s framework for more effective stewardship), and how they can be developed and applied to govern their use of voting on shareholder resolutions.

Use this resource to:

• Implement: Develop and apply high-level principles to govern voting on shareholder resolutions.

Active Ownership 2.0 is a framework for the more ambitious stewardship needed to deliver against beneficiaries’ interests and improve the sustainability and resilience of the financial system.

Use this resource to:

• Implement: Use the guidance to shape sustainability outcomes by engaging in more effective and assertive stewardship activities.

Guidance on constructing due diligence questions based on the investor’s impact goals.

Use this resource to:

• Implement: Integrate impact measurement and management into the due diligence process to aid in assessing and managing impact risk.

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 overall objective of the Initiative is to advance human rights and positive outcomes for people through iIn 2020, the GISD Alliance reached consensus on a common definition of Sustainable Development Investing (SDI) that can help establish norms that differentiate investment strategies.

Use this resource to:

• Implement: Refer to key definitions and recommended practices when embedding impact management into strategy, governance and management approach.

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 a global framework for financial institutions to identify, respond to and publicly communicate on environmental and social risks associated with their clients.

Use this resource to:

• Implement: Cease, prevent or mitigate negative impacts and provide for or cooperate in remediation where appropriate

Guidance that provides a set of minimum requirements that investors should meet to prevent negative social or environmental impacts.

Use this resource to:

• Implement: Act on minimum requirements for risk management, labour, resource efficiency, community, land resettlement, biodiversity, indigenous people and cultural heritage.

This paper provides a common framework for financial institutions – and particularly development finance institutions – on how to carry out due diligence to identify, respond to, and publicly communicate on environmental and social risks associated with projects and assets they finance.

Use this resource to:

• Implement: Obtain practical recommendations to financial institutions on key aspects of the RBC due diligence process, including on stakeholder engagement, managing client’s confidentiality, providing for or contributing to the remediation process, etc.

Practice standards to support donors in the deployment of public resources through DFIs and private asset managers, in a way that maximises the positive contribution towards the SDGs. The Standards are harmonised in approach with the UNDP SDG Impact Standards suite, the IS-FSD constitute a framework, ensuring that collectively (with the SDG Impact Standards for PE Funds, Bond Issuers and Enterprises) they help to connect actors across the system using a common language and approach for integrating SDG impacts in the investment strategy and throughout the investment process and governance structures.

This resource calls upon organisations to:

• Strategy: Set impact objectives framed in terms of the SDGs and country priorities
• Governance: Set up processes and embed practices that are aligned with the SDG Impact Standards.
• Measure, assess and value: Understand whether all relevant information is being actioned to understand impact. The Standards outline how baselines, social/ ecological thresholds and other contextual information should be included in assessment of whether an underlying asset is contributing to the SDGs.
• Set targets and plan: under construction
• Implement: under construction
• Communicate: Disclose how impacts are managed and measured

Principles for financial institutions and their public and private stakeholders to transition to an impact-based economy that can deliver on people’s needs and aspirations within planetary boundaries.

Use this resource to:

• Implement: Understand key definitions and requirements for the delivery and assessment of positive impact finance.

The Model Frameworks provide guidance on integrating holistic impact analysis into business processes and decision-making, spanning different business lines and asset types. They can be used by financial institutions, as well as by third parties such as auditors. This Model Framework covers financial products for corporates where the funds raised or guarantees issued are used at the corporate’s discretion, without any specified use.

Use this resource to:

• Deliver positive impact financial products. The PI Model Framework enables financial institutions or intermediaries tto develop appropriate frameworks or adapt their existing frameworks to serve a number of purposes: for decision-making (i.e. on financing /investments); for the development of PI financial products, or for on-going analysis/monitoring of portfolios; and
• Verify and/or provide opinions on the PI nature of financial products.

The Model Frameworks provide guidance on integrating holistic impact analysis into business processes and decision-making, spanning different business lines and asset types. They can be used by financial institutions, as well as by third parties such as auditors. This Model Framework covers Financial Products where the funds raised or guarantees issued are used for a specific purpose, in this case Project-related finance within the scope of the Equator Principles.

Use this resource to:

• Deliver positive impact financial products. The PI Model Frameworks enables financial institutions or intermediaries to develop appropriate frameworks or adapt their existing frameworks to serve a number of purposes: for decision-making (i.e. on financing /investments); for the development of PI financial products, or for on-going analysis/monitoring of portfolios; and
  
• Verify and/or provide opinions on the PI nature of financial products.

The first global guide to manage ESG risks in risk assessment and insurance underwriting. It has an initial focus on non-life insurance business—also known as property and casualty insurance business.

Use this resource to:

• Identify: Understand the materiality of ESG risks to various lines of business and economic sectors, including characteristics which might affect the ability to assess and mitigate such risks.
• Measure, assess, and value: Develop approaches to assess ESG risks in non-life insurance business transactions, particularly industrial and commercial insurance business.
• Implement: Address the growing concerns by stakeholders across society (e.g. NGOs, investors, governments).