The true costs of environmental damage: Uncovering the hidden impact
Accounting standards change slowly, while regulations often update after a disaster. The recent focus on sustainability and financial reporting has brought to light the importance of using data to prepare and protect assets and investments. However, with the debate on whether to use qualitative or quantitative data and whether to adopt single or double materiality, […]
China’s $148 billion water management: The importance of water risk data for investors
China’s water crisis is a pressing issue for both the country and its investors. The Chinese Ministry of Water Resources announced this week that the country spent over $148 billion on managing water resources last year.1 Despite this significant investment, water scarcity remains a major concern. Over the summer, factories in southwest China had to […]
How to avoid greenwashing in the mining sector?
Non-disclosure of ESG metrics is rife in the mining sector. Impact investing shines a light on what missing data could reveal. ESG investors use this to support the transition to a sustainable economy. How? Only 3 from 56 global miners accurately report the Tailing Dam Waste from their operations. All the remaining companies pretend […]
Against all odds – CBD COP-15 and its implications for business and nature
Against all odds, the Kunming-Montréal CBD COP¹ -15 delivered a Global Biodiversity Framework that sets the right priorities to give nature a fighting chance. The odds against this COP were indeed great: Covid-19 had delayed this Conference of Parties two years from its original October 2020 timeline; the Ukraine war had sucked away energy and […]
5 Critical ESG Conversations for Board Members
ESG is increasingly important for Board Members. According to The Sustainability Board Report 2022[1], 80% of boards have an ESG committee, 27% of board members served on a relevant committee and 45% of those on such a committee were engaged[2]. What were the others doing? It’s also increasingly apparent that boards and executives are navigating […]
Are ESG scores killing sustainable investing’s potential?
Written in partnership with FNZ The appetite for sustainable investments continues to grow. But with no standard definition, and general confusion around the difference between input and output effects of ESG, it is little wonder ESG investing has failed to live up to the hype. The solution: a combination of Impact Economics, trustworthy data, improved […]
How about levelling the playing field for impact investing vs mainstream investing?
Over the last two years, 2019 to 2021, impact investing has seen remarkable asset growth: from USD 0.58 trillion to 1.64 trillion, around 70% per annum. While we can be encouraged by the important mindset shifts underpinning this growth, it still begs the question: can we realistically expect current impact investing models to drive enough […]
SFDR – The Hardest Data Challenges to Solve
Our recent workshop on SFDR featured an open discussion on the main challenges facing asset and wealth managers in sourcing and reporting data to meet PAI requirements. GIST Impact’s CEO, Pavan Sukhdev, highlighted the importance of interpretation, measurement and benchmarking of PAIs. It is mandatory to provide these indicators for qualification as a sustainable investment […]
GIST Impact Welcomes The SEC’s Proposed Mandatory Climate-Related Risk Disclosures
GIST Impact Welcomes The SEC’s Proposed Mandatory Climate-Related Risk Disclosures The SEC has proposed new rules for mandatory climate-related risk disclosures in registration statements and annual reports. If adopted, these rules will require regulated firms to provide material information about climate-risks, including a registrant’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and new financial metrics in audited accounts. […]
From Profit Accounting to Impact Accounting
Published by By Pavan Sukhdev Chief Executive Officer, GIST Impact; Goodwill Ambassador, UNEP; President, WWF International and Dr. Katell Le Goulven Executive Director, Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society, INSEAD This has been an interesting week for mainstreaming sustainability into the world of business and finance. A G7 meeting of finance ministers formally endorsed […]
