In this guest blog, as part of the #BeyondESG dialogue, SVI’s partners EVPA discuss how it is vital that we move towards a system of decision making that integrates, and is based upon, impact.

The theme for International Women’s Day 2022 was #BreakTheBias. The celebrate IWD2022, we spoke to 5 inspirational women from across the social value movement who shared their own experiences of breaking the bias, the important role that social value plays, and what more our movement can do to #BreakTheBias for all women, everywhere.

On March 8th, Social Value International (in partnership with Impak Finance) hosted the first in a series of discussions that are making up #BeyondESGMonth. In this blog, we reflect on some of the key takeaways from this panel discussion and what’s next for the ESG agenda.

March 8th is International Women’s Day – A Day on which we can collectively “Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated.”

In this blog we explore the role women leaders have in shaping the social value, ESG and sustainable movement and how measurement of the impact gender representation has can be more meaningful.

As a response to an increase in requests from members about ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) and how it related to the Social Value movement, Social Value UK hosted its first Sectoral Conference on January 20th 2022 to explore these questions. This blog summarizes the conference main findings, and highlights key actions to take forward.

World Day of Social Justice, commemorated every year on 20th February, is a UN international day recognising the need to promote social justice. Commonly, when we talk about social justice, we envision a fair and equal society where everyone has the same social, political, and economic rights, which are respected and protected as well as equal opportunities and access to their basic needs. By definition then, social justice cannot be achieved without tackling inequality in all its forms. Increasing equality and wellbeing for everyone is at the core of Social Value International’s mission to change the way society accounts for value, thus making social justice inextricably linked to the social value movement.

It seems Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing and reporting is one of the most talked about subjects in the market at the moment. In 2020 net inflows into ESG funds in the U.S. alone reached $51.1 billion and by the end of the first quarter in 2021, Global ESG investing was nearly $2 trillion.

In response to this, throughout March 2022, Social Value International will be hosting a month-long series of conversations and thought leadership exploring these questions as we focus in on the key theme of “Beyond ESG.”  

Over the course of the month, we will host webinars, discussions, masterclasses alongside blogs and thought pieces that will culminate in a half-day conference on the 29th of March “Going Beyond ESG”.  

Last year, Andrew King and Kenneth Pucker argued in SSIR that “new proposals for monetizing corporate planetary impacts are alluring, impossible, and perilous,” and specifically referenced the Impact-Weighted Accounts project at Harvard Business School. Since their statements about our work and its goals also apply to the entire impact valuation community, we have written this response to reiterate our position that impact monetization is the most expedient way for multi-stakeholder impact considerations to be incorporated into management and investor decision-making.

By T. Robert Zochowski, Katie Panella & Ben Carpenter

Meaningful stakeholder engagement refers to the routine interaction with any relevant stakeholders, including those individuals that are affected by your decisions, with the openness to adjust your services based on their feedback. Yet, currently, stakeholder engagement is used more as a buzzword as opposed to its purpose of tangibly influencing decision making. So how do we turn stakeholder engagement from just a buzzword to a meaningful and practical process?

In this blog, our CEO Ben Carpenter reflects on the last few years, the impact of the global pandemic, the scale of growth in social value measurement and impact management, and shares his predictions for what he expects to see in 2022…

In early January, Social Value International published a draft response to the Climate Disclosure Standard Board consultation on expanding the scope of the CDSB Framework to include material social information. Following a period of consultation with our own international community of members and partners, SVI has submitted a response.

As COP-26 draws to a close whilst all eyes may be focussed on the outcomes of the vital discussions around climate change and protection of the natural world, but in this blog, we wanted to instead discuss the interlinks between the SDGs and wellbeing.

World Children’s Day is celebrated every year on 20th November to commemorate the anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the UN General Assembly in 1959. It offers each of us an entry-point to advocate, promote and celebrate children's rights, translating into dialogues and actions that will build a better world for all children.

Leading international providers of sustainability standards and guidance have come together to create the Impact Management Platform, a collaboration to mainstream the practice of impact management. As a first product, the ‘Platform’, whose steering committee brings together the IFC, OECD and several UN organisations, has launched a web tool that outlines the core actions of impact management and links to the resources to help organisations and investors implement them.