Global wealth management platform FNZ has announced it has made an strategic investment in impact data and analytics provider GIST, as part of a wider partnership between the two firms
The Landscape Resilience Fund and the IDH Farmfit Fund are investing in Swiss-Ghanaian cocoa social enterprise Koa to build new processing facilities and provide more income generating opportunities for farmers
Investor group backs oncology support app developed by German health company Fosanis. The capital raised is intended to drive Mika’s international expansion beyond its core German market
A landmark court ruling focused on climate change means charities in England and Wales can now safely exclude specific investments from their portfolio if in conflict with their charitable mission
The International Finance Corporation together with other development finance institutions and impact investors are providing a $165m credit facility to Nairobi-based Equity Group to support lending to MSMEs
Infinity Recycling’s Circular Plastics Fund has made its first investment by acquiring a 20% stake in Pryme, the cleantech company behind Europe’s single largest plastic waste advanced recycling project in Rotterdam
Cardano Development is joining forces with a team of housing experts to create a platform to build affordable housing and associated social infrastructure across Africa, starting in Morocco and Tunisia
Being an impact-driven organisation linked to a corporation can be challenging. A new report and risk assessment tool launched by EVPA aim to help social corporate investors assess and safeguard their impact integrity
The African Development Bank has launched a multi-donor trust fund seeking to stimulate the growth of the continent’s circular economy, with support from the Finnish government and the Nordic Development Fund
Global debt issuance related to all forms of climate and sustainability-related themes, including green, social and transition bonds, rose to nearly $1.1 trillion in 2021, according to the Climate Bonds Initiative
The Shell Foundation and investment manager Nuveen have joined forces to boost private equity investments in startups focused on providing solutions for tackling climate change in developing countries
Investor-led Nature Action 100 initiative plans to launch this summer with the aim to drive targeted investor engagement with companies and policymakers that are critical to the goal of reversing nature loss
A survey by Fidelity Charitable shows that millennials are much more likely to become impact investors than older generations, as values-based investment takes priority over charitable giving
New capital commitments by donors, including governments and multilateral development banks, will help lower-income countries boost short-term COVID vaccinations under the COVAX programme, and procure their own vaccines in the future
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has intensified the debate around the sustainability, affordability and security of Europe’s energy sector. From the need to accelerate the energy transition to discussions about nuclear power, investors have a crucial role to play
CDC Group has been formally renamed as British International Investment (BII), a name which the organisation says better reflects the scope of its work. BII will play a key role in the government’s plans to mobilise up to £8 billion a year in investments in international projects
Triodos Investment Management’s new fund will invest in companies providing solutions to improve children’s wellbeing and development in five areas: health and wellbeing, education, equal opportunity, access to basic services, and safety
Roberta Bosurgi, CEO of the European Venture Philanthropy Association, reflects on the organisation’s efforts to bring philanthropic purpose and investment practice together and the need for the sector to join forces to maximise impact
A study by the UK’s Pensions for Purpose platform found that 92% of active managers don’t use climate indices to benchmark their carbon metrics, despite their funds being marked as ‘climate focused’
Organisations representing impact investors, including the the European Venture Philanthropy Association and the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment, are pooling resources to uncover a reliable picture of Europe’s impact investment sector
The implementation of the European Commission’s Social Economy Action Plan presents challenges, but it has placed social investment at the heart of the EU’s post-Covid recovery programme
Pensioenfonds Detailhandel is investing €100m in the new fund, which will provide loans to Dutch circular projects with potential to create significant impact in the areas of carbon emissions, waste reduction and the replacement of fossil fuels
A pan-European initiative led by Social Enterprise UK supports large companies seeking to engage with social enterprises. The aim is to bring more social enterprises into the supply chain of multinationals
Dutch pension provider APG is investing $750 million in a new fund managed by ILX Management which will invest jointly with development finance institutions to provide loans for SDG-focused companies and projects in emerging markets
The start of lithium-ion battery production at Northvolt’s large-scale ‘gigafactory’ in Sweden is the latest milestone in Europe’s drive to establish a homegrown battery manufacturing sector to meet the surge in demand for electric vehicles..
The reluctance of mainstream institutional investors to make impact investments in the high-risk regions where they are most needed, according to a recently published report by the Impact Taskforce, a G7-backed think tank..
The Swiss government has announced a blended finance initiative intended to leverage up to 1bn Swiss francs ($1.09bn) in private sector impact investments in the developing world to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
The EU’s sustainable finance framework is already shaping the bloc’s investment landscape regardless of ongoing uncertainties around the full implementation of the new regulatory environment. But will it go far enough?
Mirjam ‘t Lam, the new managing director of Oikocredit, has to hit the ground running, faced with steering the impact investment institution and its beneficiaries through the pandemic and charting a new strategic course.
Oikocredit has appointed Mirjam ‘t Lam as its new managing director. Her task: steer the Dutch cooperative and social impact investor through the post-Covid recovery.
The debt-for-nature swap (DNS) formally announced by Belize and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) during the COP26 climate change meeting in Glasgow could trigger a resurgence of the financial instrument.
Pioneering financial institutions are stepping up the pressure on the companies in which they invest to take stronger measures to cut biodiversity loss in their operations and those of their suppliers.
Millions of financial support have been mobilised for off-grid energy companies in need due to the Covid pandemic. But how do fund managers ensure it’s disbursed fast and effectively to those most in need?
The mobile money revolution has changed lives in some of the world’s poorest communities. But not everyone is reaping the benefits. Microfinance banks are trying to fill the gap.
The provision of off-grid solar energy to households and small businesses in low-income countries has been one of the development success stories of the last decade.
Convergence Partners invests in better and cheaper internet access in Sub-Saharan Africa. “We treat a whole block in a township as if it’s a single home in a higher-income suburb”, says CEO Brandon Doyle on how to combine impact with financial profit.
A report from the International Finance Corporation shows sharp growth in global impact investment in 2020. The IFC also underlines that the private sector’s impact investments remain a tiny fraction of its overall investment.
EKA Ventures, a new €80mn venture capital fund, aims to foster the development of UK-based early-stage consumer technology companies whose businesses tackle social or environmental challenges at scale.
A new impact investment fund, Impact 12, aims to finance mission-led social ventures coming out of UK universities, for which traditional funding models do not provide high enough levels of support during their early-stage development.
There is a flurry of announcements of climate-related policy and investment initiatives in the run-up to COP26. What is this conference all about? What’s at stake? We answer the basic questions.
Confidence in the blended finance approaches pioneered over the last decade by companies such as Finance in Motion (FIM) is growing. FIM managing director Sylvia Wisniwski shares her experience with us.
Unlike climate change, the biodiversity crisis is not so much on investors’ radar yet. WWF lobbies hard to encourage investors to take the issue seriously. Its latest report assesses tools measuring impact on biodiversity.
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), a global initiative to quantify risks and opportunities presented by investments impacting on nature and biodiversity, was formally launched last week.
