A lack of disclosure, regulation and standardisation of metrics makes getting a handle on the positive, and negative, impacts of an investment challenging.

The difference between an impact output and a true impact outcome are very different: and the time it takes for real impact outcomes to arise is often longer than hoped for.  

Our Chief Impact Officer spoke to Citywire’s impact investing spotlight about all things impact reports.

Read Citywire’s spotlight report here.

The Double D approach is critical for investors and companies to engage with. “Dynamic” and “Double” are widely misunderstood and as such, don’t factor into a large majority of reporting. Dynamic materiality reflects the shifting nature of the issues companies face or are creating. What might not be an issue today could quickly escalate over a short time into a material issue with the potential to rapidly destabilise both the company and society. Double materiality is the recognition that for too long “extra financial” risk reporting, where it has existed, has focused on the risks that face the business, not the risks the business is creating.

Amy clarke, chief impact officer