Guidance

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.

Guidance on designing impact measurement systems for impact investments selection.

Use this resource to:

• Measure, assess and value: Design an impact measurement system for impact investments.

The Multilateral Development Banks’ (MDB) Harmonized Framework For Additionality In Private Sector Operations standardises the assessment of “additionality” in private sector investments. Understanding additionality can increase access to finance for underserved markets, or enhance environmental and social standards by refering to the extent to which MDB finance contributes to outcomes.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Monitor, learn and adapt: Identify the types of evidence to demonstrate additionality.

The Financial Sector Science-Based Target Guidance helps financial instituions to set science-based targets related to climate.

Use this resource for the following Actions of Impact Management:

• Set Targets and plan: Set a portfolio target for greenhouse gas emissions.

The Responsible Business Conduct for Institutional Investors helps institutional investors implement the due diligence provisions of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

Guidance on how to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals into reporting processes.

Use this resource to:

• Communicate: Use the guidance to disclose positive and negative contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals.

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.