The Naming and Classification of Sustainability Topics in the Context of Impact Management

An analytical review

Release date: December 6, 2024
File size: 1.08 Mb

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Download the Structured Inventory (see below)

One of the objectives of the Impact Management Platform is to drive clarity and to foster a more coherent ecosystem of standards, frameworks, and other resources for managing sustainability-related impacts.

Through dedicated working groups, the  Platform enables the Partners to address specific issues associated with the fundamental building blocks of impact management that can only be resolved via a collective approach.

The proliferation of standards, frameworks and other resources that provide guidance to manage sustainability-related impacts, risks and opportunities is an on-going challenge for market actors. The sheer volume of resources, their differing approaches and methodologies, variations in the use of concepts and terminology, contrasts with the limited absorption capacity by users – individuals working in companies, investors and financial institutions.

This paper starts by making a number of observations about the way in which sustainability management resources name and classify sustainability topics. It examines how existing nomenclatures and classifications differ using existing definitions laid out by the Impact Management Platform in its Key Terms and Concepts and provides some explanations for why such variations may occur. The paper then presents some of the potential consequences of conceptual inconsistency and variations across resources. It concludes by making some suggestions for improving the coherence of classifications.

The paper is accompanied by a Structured Inventory, a mapping of the sustainability topics used in impact management resources. The inventory can be used by Partners of the Platform and others to better understand differences in nomenclatures and classifications across resources. The methodology behind creating the Structured Inventory is laid out in Annex I of the paper.

IMP Structured Inventory of Sustainability Topics

The paper is accompanied by a Structured Inventory, a mapping of the sustainability topics used in impact management resources. The inventory can be used by Partners of the Platform and others to better understand differences in nomenclatures and classifications across resources. The methodology behind creating the Structured Inventory is laid out in Annex I of the paper.
Release date: December 6, 2024
File size: 1.28 Mb