Impact Investing Guide

Integration of SDGs and ESG Pillars 🌎 For businesses committed to sustainability, effectively categorizing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) pillars can streamline strategic planning and operational execution. This approach clarifies how initiatives within these pillars can directly contribute to achieving broader global goals, thus enhancing business impact and compliance. The Environmental Pillar of ESG aligns with SDGs focused on ecological stability, such as Climate Action, Clean Water and Sanitation, and Affordable and Clean Energy. Businesses that enhance their environmental strategies not only adhere to regulatory demands but also drive efficiencies in resource use, which can lead to reduced operational costs and improved market positioning. Under the Social Pillar, SDGs like Quality Education, Gender Equality, and Decent Work and Economic Growth are pivotal. By focusing on these areas, companies can foster a more inclusive and equitable work environment, enhancing employee satisfaction and community relations, which are crucial for long-term business sustainability and customer loyalty. The Governance Pillar supports the achievement of SDGs related to ethical practices and equitable growth, including Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, and Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. Strengthening governance can help businesses manage risk, operate transparently, and maintain compliance with increasing legal standards, securing trust and support from investors and stakeholders. Integrating SDGs with ESG initiatives allows businesses to not only address specific global challenges but also to enhance their strategic planning processes. This structured approach provides a clear pathway for companies to evaluate their impact, set measurable targets, and communicate progress in a manner that resonates with global standards and stakeholder expectations. Furthermore, while the example diagram shows one method of mapping SDGs to ESG pillars, businesses are encouraged to adapt this framework to better suit their specific contexts and strategic objectives. Understanding and applying this integration effectively empowers companies to tackle complex sustainability challenges, paving the way for innovation and leadership in their industries. By leveraging the SDGs as a guide to categorize and prioritize ESG efforts, businesses can ensure that their sustainability initiatives are not only impactful but also aligned with global objectives, enhancing overall business resilience and reputation. #sustainability #sustainable #business #esg #climatechange #climateaction #sdgs #impact #strategy

There’s a missed opportunity in the investment world: over 95% of capital remains allocated to non-diverse funds. This leaves diverse-led funds undercapitalized, despite their proven ability to outperform. This disparity isn’t just about fairness — it’s about untapped potential. A report from the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC) highlights systemic barriers: smaller commitments to diverse-managed funds, higher asset requirements and inconsistent support from corporate and union pension funds. These challenges restrict market growth and limit wealth creation in communities that could benefit most. Addressing these disparities is critical to building a more dynamic and equitable financial ecosystem. When diverse leaders manage funds, they bring unique perspectives, broader networks and innovative strategies that drive returns and create lasting economic impact. This mission is personal to me. Throughout my career, I’ve championed initiatives to expand opportunities for underrepresented entrepreneurs and fund managers. By supporting diverse leadership in finance, we not only unlock growth but also help close the #racialwealthgap and foster sustainable change. It’s time to reimagine how we allocate capital — embracing equality as both a value and a strategy. Together, we can fuel innovation, empower communities and strengthen our economy.

In Ghana, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso, women in rural cooperatives produce some of the world’s finest shea butter- by hand, in conditions many global consumers will never see. Locally, it’s sold raw for $1 to $2 per kilogram. That same shea butter, once exported, repackaged, and labeled “organic” or “artisanal,” can sell in the U.S. or Europe for $30 to $50 or more. The difference? Branding. Packaging. Storytelling. Access to global markets. It’s not just shea butter. It’s coffee, cocoa, hibiscus, moringa, baobab oil- Africa exports raw, and imports wealth back in the form of marked-up goods. Meanwhile, the women who do the hardest work in the value chain often remain in poverty. This isn’t just an economic issue. It’s about power and narrative. The current system rewards ownership of the story, not just the substance. So what needs to change? 🔹 Investing in African-owned brands that can go beyond raw exports 🔹 Building infrastructure for local manufacturing and distribution 🔹 Creating access to retail markets, both on the continent and abroad 🔹 Shifting from “supplier” to brand owner, from “producer” to value creator Africa doesn’t need saving. It needs more control over its own value chains, and support for the people, especially women, who are the backbone of its raw material economy. Let’s stop asking why global brands profit from African goods and start asking what it takes to build our own. Image cred: @tanziehq #Africa #RawEconomy #ValueChain #Entrepreneurship #OwnTheNarrative

Climate-related disasters may cause $12.5 TN in losses by 2050. How are investors preparing? This powerful new methodology from Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) offers a way forward and includes a data tool as well. What to know: -The new Physical Climate Risk Appraisal Methodology (PCRAM 2.0) was designed for real-asset developers, managers, and capital providers. -It is applicable to both public and private sector assets and is geography agnostic. -The methodology combines insights from climate science, engineering, and finance to support a user to incorporate PCRs into asset appraisal. -PCRAM 2.0 is relevant to investment decision-makers, offering practical applications for both institutional investors and businesses to consider as they navigate uncertainty. Benefits for Investors: 1. Standardisation: Provides a consistent process for evaluating and managing investments in climate-resilient Real Estate and Infrastructure. 2. Risk and Opportunity: Focuses on resilience benefits like predictable cash flows, enhanced credit quality, and efficient long-term cost management. 3. Efficient Resource Management: Encourages a holistic approach to risk management, ensuring effective resource allocation for building resilient assets. 4. Building Investor Knowledge: Helps institutional investors navigate uncertainty Explore the methods, the data tracker, and share your thoughts here: https://lnkd.in/eKMdBSwj #climaterisk #climatefinance #investors #physicalrisk

In recent posts, I’ve critiqued two widespread fallacies in sustainable investing: - That understanding “#systemicrisk” will somehow lead investors to mitigate planetary risks. - That entity-level targets and disclosures—no matter how rigorous—can drive the systems-level transformations we need. This post offers a constructive alternative: what pragmatic climate investment actually looks like. First, we need to stop conflating two distinct tasks: managing risk and addressing climate change. Managing financial and physical risks is essential—but it is not the same as financing decarbonization. Misunderstanding this distinction has led to frameworks that create at best, ineffective, and at worst, perverse, outcomes. Addressing climate change requires financing transformative systems change: reshaping energy systems, transport, industry, and digital infrastructure. These transformations cannot be delivered by the sum of firm-level targets or strategies, nor by any reallocation of capital by financial firms alone. They require multi-actor coordination around coherent roadmaps—combining technology pathways, institutional reform, enabling policy, and investment strategies. These are the transformations that will have the most decisive impact on decarbonizing our economy. They are not theoretical or impossible. They’re mapped out in reports like the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s Net Zero by 2050, as well as many regional and sectoral pathways. And yet, we remain far off course from global climate targets precisely because we are not orienting our actions around these roadmaps. Instead, we’ve focused on corporate commitments and disclosures that are not proxies for real decarbonization. They neither incentivize nor reflect the systemic changes required. Many of the most critical investments must happen in EMDEs, where future emissions growth will be concentrated. But most institutional investors do not invest in these markets due to high perceived risk (not a single low-income country is deemed credit-worthy by CRAs). That’s why a core part of pragmatic climate investing is addressing the actual barriers to capital mobilization: lowering the #costofcapital in EMDEs, designing innovative risk-sharing mechanisms, and the strategic use of public finance and guarantees to catalyze private investment. These challenges are structural—but solvable. Improving risk assessment and resilience is also essential. We need better integration of science and risk tools to inform strategic investments in adaptation and resilience. But this work must not be confused with—or take priority over—the urgent need to finance mitigation at scale. With clarity on these distinctions, and alignment around real decarbonization roadmaps, we can move from misplaced proxies to effective strategies—and deliver the transformative outcomes the planet urgently needs. Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Darius Nassiry Allan Marks Mahmoud Mohieldin De Rui Wong

Investing in women is not a statement of values. It is a measure of economic intelligence. For decades, women have been systematically underinvested in as entrepreneurs, farmers, scientists, and decision-makers. The cost of that mistake is still being paid. When women gain access to capital, land, and leadership, economies grow faster, communities become more resilient, and businesses outperform. That is not a claim. It is a pattern visible across every sector and region where serious investment has been made. We have recently marked International Women's Day. It is a useful marker, but the real test is what happens on the other 364. Across the world, there are leaders who understand this. Carolina Müller-Möhl's taskforce4women is pushing structural reforms that remove the barriers quietly penalising women's participation in the workforce. Project Dandelion, championed by Pat Mitchell, Mary Robinson, Hafsat Abiola, and Ronda Carnegie, is connecting leaders across climate, food, health, and finance, making visible the strategic role women play in systems change. Through Daughters for Earth, founded by Zainab Salbi, women-led initiatives are receiving the funding and visibility they have long deserved. And at IMAGINE, led by Valerie Keller, gender parity across our leadership networks is not aspirational, it is foundational. At Unilever, investing in women was never a side programme. It was core strategy. We built the first gender-balanced board in the UK, trained women smallholder farmers, backed women entrepreneurs, and ensured women accounted for at least half of all participants in our community programmes. The results were unambiguous: stronger supply chains, more resilient communities, better business performance. The companies that understand this will outperform. Those retreating in the face of political pressure will simply fall behind. That is not a prediction. It is already happening.

Your investments could be shaping more than just your portfolio. What if every dollar you deploy could create a ripple effect of positive change? The cost of overlooking impact is higher than you think. According to the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), over 3,907 organizations currently manage $1.571 trillion USD in impact investing assets under management (AUM) worldwide, representing a 21% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) since 2019. Yet, this still accounts for only about 1% of total global assets under management, indicating a vast potential for growth. By not integrating impact considerations, investors may miss out on opportunities for meaningful change and long-term value creation. 7 Strategies to Align Investments with Purpose: 1. Define Your Impact Objectives ↳ Identify core values: Determine the social or environmental issues that resonate most with your mission. ↳ Set clear goals: Establish specific, measurable outcomes you aim to achieve through your investments. 2. Conduct Thorough Due Diligence ↳ Assess impact potential: Evaluate how prospective investments contribute to your defined objectives. ↳ Analyze track records: Review the historical performance of organizations in delivering both financial returns and positive impact. 3. Diversify Across Asset Classes ↳ Explore various vehicles: Consider equities, bonds, and alternative investments that align with your impact goals. ↳ Balance risk and return: Diversification can help mitigate risks while enhancing potential for impact. 4. Engage with Investee Companies ↳ Active ownership: Use your shareholder influence to advocate for sustainable practices. ↳ Collaborate on initiatives: Work with companies to develop strategies that enhance their social and environmental contributions. 5. Measure and Report Impact ↳ Utilize standard metrics: Adopt frameworks like IRIS+ to track and compare impact performance. ↳ Transparent reporting: Regularly disclose impact outcomes to stakeholders to build trust and accountability. 6. Stay Informed and Adaptable ↳ Monitor industry trends: Keep abreast of developments in impact investing to identify new opportunities. ↳ Be flexible: Adjust your strategies as needed to respond to changing social and environmental landscapes. 7. Collaborate with Like-Minded Investors ↳ Join networks: Participate in groups like the GIIN to share knowledge and resources. ↳ Co-invest: Partner with others to amplify impact and share due diligence efforts. Every investment is an opportunity to shape a better future. What’s one step you can take today to align your portfolio with your purpose? ♻️ Share this story with your network - let's spread inspiration far and wide! 👉 Follow Ben Botes for more insights on Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Impact Investment.

🚀 Thrilled to share my latest piece with ImpactAlpha: “Innovative Finance Initiative’s fund designs for radical impact” — co-authored with the brilliant Erinch Sahan of the Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL). Over the past decade, we’ve seen impact investing and sustainable finance gain serious momentum. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: despite this growth, our social and ecological crises have only deepened. Why? Because most financial tools have tried to fit into traditional systems, rather than transform them. It’s time to reimagine. We’re calling this next chapter Impact Investing 3.0—a refresh that moves us from tweaking systems to building new ones, rooted in accountability, inclusion, and regeneration. 🌱 A major piece of this shift? Fund design. Too often, we start with structure—10 year closed end fund, equity investments, etc. —and retrofit the mission. What if we flipped that? What if fund managers designed structures from the ground up, starting with purpose? We lay out a five-part framework for how fund managers can unlock deeper, more transformative impact: 🎯 Purpose – Anchor the fund in a regenerative investment thesis. Think long-term stewardship, not short-term shareholder value. 🧱 Structure – Embrace vehicles beyond the usual suspects. Open-ended funds, permanent capital, and blended finance can provide the flexibility impact needs. ⚖️ Incentives – Align manager comp and investee terms with real impact—not just IRR. 🗳️ Governance – Include the voices of those most affected by investment decisions. 🔁 Exit – Redesign exits to preserve impact: employee ownership, community buyouts, or even self-liquidating structures. This draws on the best of Adventure Finance, Doughnut Economics (Kate Raworth), and Marjorie Kelly’s vision for economic redesign. And it’s already happening: check out innovators like Purpose Economy, Fair Capital Partners, Prime Coalition, Citizenfund Brussels, and Apis & Heritage Capital Partners. 💡 If we’re serious about transformative change, our capital must reflect it—from structure to strategy. 📰 Read the full article on ImpactAlpha (link below) and join the conversation at the Innovative Finance Initiative (link also below). Let’s build the next generation of funds—designed for impact, not just returns. #ImpactInvesting #FundDesign #InnovativeFinance #ImpactAlpha #DoughnutEconomics #Investing3point0 #RegenerativeFinance #SystemsChange

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝟮°𝗖 𝗯𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟯𝟳 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝟮.𝟱°𝗖 𝗯𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟰𝟴? That’s not worst-case modelling. That’s the average projection across 𝘕𝘈𝘚𝘈, 𝘕𝘖𝘈𝘈, 𝘌𝘙𝘈5 and other leading datasets (𝘍𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 & 𝘙𝘢𝘩𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘧, 2025). This changes the game for long-term investors. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 Financial Conduct Authority’𝘀 𝗔𝗕𝗖 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵: 𝗔 – 𝗔𝗶𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟭.𝟱°𝗖 But let’s be honest, 1.5°C may be breached by 2026. So, while ambition matters, we must plan for where we’re heading, not just where we hope to stay. 𝗕 – 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟮.𝟬°𝗖 Use 2.0°C as your strategic baseline. Design resilience into your Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA), risk models, and mandates across tangible assets, infrastructure, property, fixed income and equity portfolios. 𝗖 – 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟮.𝟱°𝗖 Stress test for systemic shocks. Ask: how would our portfolio perform under cascading physical risks, e.g. floods, fires, crop failure, migration, and water stress? And who in our ecosystem is modelling this seriously? 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱  1. Are our portfolios priced for physical climate risk, not just transition risk?  2. How are our managers building climate resilience into strategies and valuations?  3. What does a 2.5°C contingency plan look like for our fund? 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Add the FCA’s ABC framework to your next Board or Investment Committee agenda. Use it to test your governance, your SAA and your managers. This is no longer about TCFD reporting. It’s about risk, portfolio resilience, and future-proofing outcomes for your members. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗙𝗖𝗔 𝗖𝗙𝗥𝗙 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁: 𝗠𝗢𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗗𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 https://lnkd.in/eYcysQnx #AdaptationFinance #BoardAgenda #ClimateAdaptation #ClimateRisk #CFRF #FCA #ABC #FiduciaryDuty #StrategicAssetAllocation 

Some of the most important shifts in healthcare begin as observations on the ground long before they are reflected in global data. The World Economic Forum Women’s Health Investment Outlook 2026 is a timely validation of what many of us have been advocating for: a fundamental rethinking of women’s health. Women today live longer than men yet spend 25% more of their lives in poor health or with disabilities. That is 75 million years of life lost globally. To me, this is not just a statistic. It is a call to action. In my experience, one of the most persistent gaps in healthcare is not capability but prioritisation. For far too long, male biology has been the default in research, clinical trials, and product development. This has systematically limited our understanding of conditions that affect women differently or disproportionately. The consequences are visible: Women receive just 6% of private healthcare investment Nearly 90% of that is concentrated in reproductive, maternal, and cancer care. Conditions like menopause, PCOS, and endometriosis remain underfunded Equally concerning is the data gap: Only ~5% of clinical trials report sex-disaggregated data Women are diagnosed later than men for 700+ diseases, often by several years From where I stand, this is not just a healthcare disparityit is a systemic inefficiency. Because when women’s health is not adequately addressed, the impact extends beyond individuals to families, communities, and economies. What is equally clear to me is the scale of opportunity. Addressing this gap could unlock over $100 billion in new market opportunities by 2030 and add at least $1 trillion annually to the global economy by 2040. But more importantly, it gives us the opportunity to fundamentally improve quality of life. In my view, there are three priorities we must act on: First, we must move from a fragmented view of women’s health to a lifelong, continuum-based approach—from adolescence to healthy ageing. Second, we must invest in data, research, and innovation that are gender-intentional, ensuring that women are no longer an afterthought in clinical science. Third, we must build care models that are preventive, accessible, and personalised, particularly for conditions that have long been overlooked. Encouragingly, initiatives like the World Economic Forum’s Global Alliance for Women’s Health are beginning to create momentum. But meaningful change will come only when we collectively choose to prioritise women’s health not as a niche, but as a central pillar of healthcare transformation. For me, this is not just an area of focusit is a responsibility. And the time to act is now. https://lnkd.in/gqFbaURK #WomensHealth #HealthcareLeadership #HealthEquity #PreventiveCare #FutureOfHealthcare #WomenInHealthcare