Sustainability Community

Hi All, 

This is my first post so please forgive me if I cover something that I did not see in the conversation threads.

I am deeply interested in, and have had the privilege to work on, Impact measurement and accounting and the potential for predicting the winners and laggard companies over the next 10 years. Is there anyone that has a similar interest? 

In particular I would be interested in thoughts or experiences of the new exposure draft that the  IFVF and the VBA have combined their resources to produce on the measurement of impact (https://www.value-balancing.com/_Resources/Persistent/5/0/b/0/50b01884def43e1cca7ac47d2544dc3ef9daea32/IFVI_VBA_Public%20Exposure%20DRAFT_General%20Methodology%201_A4.pdf) 

Hi Ronan,

First of all, welcome to the community !

As an impact investor in the energy transition, this is a topic which also interests me. In particular, whereas in previous years annual reports and investor analysis has often included somewhat arbitrary impact metrics,  I strongly believe that adopting common impact accounting standards is critical for growth in the next phase of impact investing. Standards not only enhance transparency but also improve the comparability and reliability of impact measurements across companies, funds etc.

The CFA published a blog on this (quite early!) in 2021, the link is here. Impact-Weighted Accounting: The Missing Ingredient? | CFA Institute Enterprising Investor

Looking forward to connecting in person.

James

Hello everyone, 

we recently had a very interesting and popular community online meetup on impact accounting and valuation (in September) with Ronan Langford, Partner, E&Y and Dimitrij Euler, Value Balancing Alliance. Sharing post-event notes here for those who couldn't join us. We are not recording our online community meetups, so hope these will be interesting.

This is a new upcoming methodology and I know many investment space bodies and companies are working towards reflecting their sustainability and impact work/achievements/challenges in their financial statements. Many of you got back to me after the meeting and shaid that you would like to learn more on this theme, so watch this space as we are planning a podcast to dive deeper into this.

 Do share your thoughts here on whether you are using impact accounting and valuation methodologies or how do you think these could help your company?

brief overview: but download the file to read full notes

Brief overview below, but download the full notes from the library or read from the attachment.

he CFA UK September 2024 networking meeting, hosted by Ronan Langford of E&Y Switzerland, featured Dr. Dimitrij Euler from the Value Balancing Alliance (VBA) discussing impact accounting and valuation. The session explored how companies are increasingly incorporating environmental, social, and economic externalities into financial statements to assess risks and enhance corporate decision-making. VBA's standardized methodology allows businesses to monetize impacts like greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, and labor practices, aiding global firms such as BASF and SK in refining their strategies.

The conversation also touched on the efforts to standardize impact accounting globally, with initiatives by organizations like the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) working to ensure comparability across companies. Impact valuation is not only shaping corporate strategies but also being used by asset managers and banks, like ABN Amro, to guide investment decisions and create a more holistic view of corporate performance.

Attachment(s)

post event notes impact accounting.docx   16 KB 1 version

Hello Community!

Back in September 2024, our member from Switzerland (E&Y, Partner) Ronan Langford helped to organise and run community meetup on an evolving impact accounting and methodology theme! It was a great online meetup where we learned a lot form Ronan and our guest speaker Dimitrij Euler from Value Balancing Alliance.

Attached are the event notes, but I am also happy to share that the video is now available. We do not record our member meetups, but this was an exception last year. Enjoy the video and share your thoughts in this thread.

Is your firm using impact accounting? What would you like to learn more about this?

Watch video here

30 min, 0.5 CPD points attached

The value of a company in the past came from its assets – but now, it is becoming a product of the environment it creates. Dr. Dimitrij Euler, Director of Sustainable Finance, Value Balancing Alliance explains how to use methodologies that attribute positive and negative values to the impact of a business, and how impact accounting looks at a company's future rather than its past. Define: 

• What the Value Balancing Alliance is, and its purpose to help companies jointly understand and measure impact 
• The various metrics that go into impact valuations, from water consumption to land use 
• The level of comparability between various impact statements and how they are applied 
• Differences between impact-weighted accounts and traditional accounts, and how to interpret them 
• How to use impact accounting methodologies to evaluate the value of several parts of your portfolio