Geneva, 30 June 2021 – UNEP FI has launched two new tools for impact analysis; the Real Estate Impact Analysis Tool and the Investment Portfolio Impact Analysis Tool. The two new tools join the Portfolio Impact Analysis Tool for Banks and the Corporate Impact Analysis Tool (launched in 2020) to offer a suite of tools developed to enable financial institutions to holistically identify and assess the impacts associated with their portfolios, clients and investments, based on UNEP FI’s unique holistic impact methodology.
The Investment Portfolio Impact Analysis Tool was developed to complement the Bank Portfolio Impact Analysis Tool, in order to enable signatories to the Principles for Responsible Banking to meet their requirements under Principle 2 on impact analysis. In 2019, the core group of banks involved in the development of the Principles for Responsible Banking conducted a gap analysis for the implementation of the Principles, revealing the need for impact analysis tools that can help signatories meet the requirements on scope, context, salience and intensity.
Investors and real estate companies across Asia Pacific are thinking more broadly about their contribution to the built environment, both in terms of the environmental impact of real estate but also how it responds to societal needs. The impact-based approach embedded in the Impact Analysis Tool supports practitioners in better understanding the range of issues they can influence, and then setting strategy, executing investments, and measuring outcomes – Calvin Lee Kwan, Head of Sustainability, Link REIT
Whilst the Bank Portfolio Impact Analysis Tool focused on consumer, business, corporate and investment banking, it did not cover investment portfolios. With the Investment Portfolio Tool, the holistic impact methodology can now be applied consistently across the bank.
The Real Estate Impact Analysis Tool builds on the UNEP FI Positive Impact Real Estate Investment Framework Model Framework, developed by the UNEP FI Property Working Group in 2018, based on the UNEP FI Impact Radar. The Tool enables single asset analysis or fund/portfolio level analysis, and is applicable for both new developments and exiting assets. The Tool is also compatible with GRESB.
How do the tools work?
Users are required to input data about the nature, content and context of their portfolios. A set of in-built impact mappings is then combined with this data to help users identify the most significant impact areas of the portfolio and to reflect on their current impact performance, thus setting the basis for strategy development, engagement and target-setting.
The holistic impact methodology that underpins all of the tools is based on five core principles that set it apart:
- Holistic – positive and negative impacts are considered across the three pillars of sustainable development
- Objective – the analysis is based first and foremost on the impact drivers that are specific to each object of analysis
- Contextualised – real/actual needs on the ground are considered as an integral part of the analysis
- Practical – the impact mappings (i.e. the taxonomies) are based on existing norms (e.g. ISIC, GICS, PRI, GRESB)
- Transparent & Comparable – all tools are open source and all aspects of the tools are transparently displayed
The impact analysis tools are live resources, co-constructed with practitioners and designed to evolve over time in order to constantly improve user experience and benefits.
Find out more about the tools, how they relate to each other and more about our work on impact analysis here.