During this podcast, Careen explains why addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their large financing gap, requires an impact analysis implementation framework to be applied up front. Careen highlights how a holistic approach to impact analysis, i.e. understanding both positive and negative effects, across the three pillars of sustainable development (social, environmental and economic), could not only help us to collectively develop new solutions to achieve the SDGs, but also reduce the costs involved in their delivery.
With many organisations already mapping back their societal impacts to the SDGs during reporting season, Careen and her team are now creating useful tools to conduct impact analysis that can be applied ahead of programme or proposition delivery.
Developed via the UN Environmental Programme’s Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) – the Positive Impact Initiative already has signatories that include financial organisations such as: ABN-AMRO, Aviva, BNP Paribas, ING Bank, Hermes Investment Management, Societe Generale, Triodos Bank and many others. Now Careen is on a mission to engage organisations from other sectors. As she says: ‘Only by working collaboratively will the Global Goals be achieved.’
At a time when many are calling for consolidation across the impact management space, with The Impact Management Project and The Corporate Reporting Dialogue amongst others exploring the topic – Positive Impact could also be an ideal way to deliver this consolidation and provide consistency – for businesses, financiers, investors and impact specialists.
If your organisation is interested to know more about how the analysis and measurement of its positive and negative societal impacts could help deliver business and social value, then we would love to hear from you. Simply contact me directly on Ka***@bu*******************.org
More can be found on the Positive Impact Initiative here. In addition look out for Rethinking Impact to Finance the SDGs, a new positioning paper and call to action launching at the UNEP FI Global Roundtable in Paris on 26-28 November 2018, where Careen and her team will also be launching a set of tools for holistic impact analysis including a model framework for various financial instrument and asset classes, and the accompanying Radar tool.
