IMP+ACT Alliance has announced a strategic partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to offer investors digital guidance on aligning their investments with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The IMP+ACT Alliance’s Impact Classification System (ICS), which was launched in June 2020, will collaborate with UNDP’s SDG Impact initiative to assist investment practitioners in aligning their activities with SDG standards.
As a spinoff of Deutsche Bank, IMP+ACT strives to establish a global consensus on impact measurement and reporting for investments. This will enable comparability across portfolios and provide greater consistency in measurement and management practices.
The ICS will now incorporate UNDP’s SDG Impact Standards, which are designed to guide users from intent to actionable steps. This integration will enhance investment management by classifying the environmental impact of funds, thereby promoting transparency about how multi-asset portfolios fulfill the impact objectives outlined by the SDGs.
This initiative contributes to the ongoing dialogue regarding how financial institutions and individual investors can effectively measure the impact of their portfolios, especially given the varying measurement and rating techniques employed by asset managers.
Elizabeth Boggs Davidsen, Director of SDG Impact, describes the Impact Standards as “grounded in existing high-level principles” and provides context for utilizing other tools and frameworks, including metrics and reporting frameworks. Claudia Coppenolle, CEO and co-founder of the ICS, referred to this integration as “a natural extension” of both organizations’ efforts to enhance the consistency of impact measurement and management.