Industry-specific

ISEAL’s Codes of Good Practice is a globally recognised framework that defines practices for effective and credible sustainability systems.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Verification, assurance & certification: Provide a framework for assessing compliance with standards, so that consumers, supply chain partners, investors and other stakeholders know they can trust the results of assessments. It encourages assurance that is rigorous and accessible, providing accurate and transparent results.

ISEAL’s Credibility Principles define the core values of credible and effective sustainability systems. They provide the foundations for systems to deliver greater impact.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Verification, assurance & certification: Support the development and use of credible and effective market-based initiatives like sustainability standards and tools.

Guidance on how an investor can develop a responsible investment policy.

Use this resource to:

• Governance: Develop investment policies and incorporate sustainability considerations into the investment process.

This report recommends a set of sector-specific, SDG-related metrics by drawing on metrics from existing standard setters and benchmarks. It was published by the Global Investors for Sustainable Development (GISD) Alliance, a group of 30 large investment firms that aims to scale-up long-term finance and investment in sustainable development. The GISD is steered by UN DESA.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Communicate: Include recommended SDG-related metrics in stakeholder disclosures.

The SASB Standards are reporting standards that provide industry-specific disclosure topics and associated metrics for measuring performance across 26 General Issue Categories (or sustainability topics). Management or mismanagement of performance on these sustainability topics may create, preserve or erode value for a typical organisation in a given industry over time.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Communicate: Report to providers of financial capital on sustainability topics that are likely to affect how value is created, sustained or eroded for the organisation over the short-, medium- and long-term.

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’.

Guidance that contains disclosure recommendations for information on the material financial impacts of climate-related risks and opportunities, including those related to the global transition to a lower-carbon economy. The TCFD recommendations are structured around the four pillars of Governance, Strategy, Risk Management, and Metrics and Targets.

Use this resource to:

• Communicate: Follow recommendations to structure climate-related financial disclosures. Other voluntary standards can be used in conjunction with TCFD recommendations.

The Harmonized Indicators for Private Sector Operations (HIPSO) are a set of standardised indicators for development finance institutions (DFIs). They provide a common framework for measuring and reporting on the development impact of private sector investments and projects, covering areas such as job creation, environmental sustainability, social inclusion and economic growth.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Measure, assess and value: Select from a catalogue of metrics specifically designed for DFIs.

Tool to report on responsible investment activities annually.

This resource calls upon organisations to:

• Communicate: Report on firm-wide and portfolio or strategy-specific investment practices.

The EU Climate Transition Benchmarks (CTB) and Paris-Aligned Benchmarks (PAB) are examples of portfolio impact benchmarking techniques being employed in regulation. The regulation sets out requirements for index providers to construct investable indexes that are on a 7% decarbonisation trajectory.

Use this resource to:

• Measure, assess and value: Review EU’s proposed approach for establishing benchmarks, which incorporates greenhouse gas emissions at portfolio level. A climate benchmark serves as an investment performance benchmark for GHG emission-related strategies; an engagement tool and a policy benchmark to help guide strategic asset allocation.