Measuring contributions to the transition to a more sustainable economy
Measuring and reporting on companies’ impacts on the environment and society – positive and negative – is essential to tackling the greatest challenges facing the planet and humankind.
We continue to advance our proprietary reporting of the environmental and social impact delivered by the companies held in Impax portfolios through the development of new metrics and the refinement of our methodology to ensure it is robust. We know this is paramount to our clients.
Our ninth annual Impact Report
This year, we again report the emissions and avoided greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the activities of our investee companies, as well as key metrics for environmental impact and the alignment of portfolio company revenues, by strategy, to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.1
One of our focus areas has been sustainable food production. We are delighted to have introduced a new metric for quantifying the positive impacts associated with investee companies that supply consumers with healthy and nutritious food.
In this report, we are pleased to report on our progress in developing a metric for measuring reductions in the agriculture sector’s environmental impact, as well as our ongoing work to develop new metrics for social impact. We also share an update of our long-term project to develop a clearer understanding of the biodiversity‑related impacts of our investee companies.
A permanent work in progress
Great strides have been made in the quantity and quality of corporate measurement and disclosure. But it remains patchy and inconsistent, especially beyond GHG emissions reporting. We continue to make the case for stronger reporting of environmental and social impacts through engagement with companies, regulators and standards-setting bodies.
Enhanced disclosures ultimately enable us to make better informed, risk-adjusted investment decisions and to target our stewardship and company engagement activities where we believe they can have the greatest effect. Over time, they also enable us to continue improving the breadth and depth of our impact reporting.
The investment strategies we manage are designed to intentionally allocate our clients’ capital towards those companies which are expected to benefit as the global economy transitions to a more sustainable model. We believe that our import reporting is a concrete demonstration that our investments are strongly aligned to companies benefiting from, and contributing to, the transition to a more sustainable economy.
1The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) encompass 17 sets of targets to be met by the world’s economies by 2030. For further information, please visit https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals