Sustainability Performance Classification (ABC of Enterprise Impact)

Last updated: 2023

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.

Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

Last updated: 2012

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.

Global guidance on the integration of environmental, social and governance risks into insurance underwriting

Last updated: 2020

This guide is the first of its kind globally for managing 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 for the following Actions of Impact Management:

  • Identify: Understand the materiality of ESG risks to various lines of business and economic sectors, including characteristics that might affect the ability to assess and mitigate such risks.
  • Implement: Address the growing concerns by stakeholders across society (e.g. NGOs, investors, governments).

Why and how investors should act on human rights

Last updated: 2020

This paper sets out how investors can ensure they respect human rights across all their investment activities, as defined by the UN and OECD.

Use this resource to:

  • Measure, assess and value: Understand the extent to which investors are facilitating human rights harm; the extent to which they could or should have known; and the quality of any mitigating steps.

Making voting count: principle-based voting on shareholder resolutions

Last updated: 2021

This 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). It also explains how voting principles can be developed and applied to govern shareholder resolutions.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

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

A Legal Framework for Impact

Last updated: 2021

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.

Investment mandates: Embedding ESG factors, improving sustainability outcomes

Last updated: 2021

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.

Driving meaningful data: financial materiality, sustainability performance and sustainability outcomes

Last updated: 2020

A framework that incorporates financial materiality and sustainability performance calibrated to progress on sustainability outcomes. This resource also considers sources of data needed to complete this picture across entities such as companies, governments and global institutions and activities.

Use this resource to:

  • Identify: Identify current and forward-looking information that assesses the range of sustainable risks and opportunities.
  • Measure, assess and value: Assess and interpret a company’s sustainability performance and alignment in the context of long-term sustainability goals and thresholds.

Discussing divestment: Developing an approach when pursuing sustainability outcomes in listed equities

Last updated: 2022

This paper sets out how investors wanting to pursue sustainability outcomes may need to adjust how they make a divestment decision or formulate an overall approach to divestment.

Use this resource to:

  • Implement: Understand how to make a divestment decision or to formulate an overall approach to divestment in order to pursue sustainability outcomes.

Bridging the gap: How infrastructure can contribute to SDG outcomes

This discussion paper details the current approaches that infrastructure investors are adopting to consider the Sustainable Development Goals as part of their investment approaches.

Use this resource to:

  • Identify: Identify outcomes caused by, contributed to and linked to their infrastructure investors, in relation to the SDGs.
  • Implement: Understand the methods by which infrastructure investors can achieve desired SDG outcomes. Ensure that outcomes in line with the SDGs are integrated into infrastructure investment processes.