About The Principles For Positive Impact Finance

The Principles were developed by the Positive Impact Working Group, a group of UN Environment Finance Initiative banking and investment members, as part of the implementation of the roadmap outlined in the Positive Impact Manifesto released in October 2015.

About The Principles For Positive Impact Finance

The Principles were developed by the Positive Impact Working Group, a group of UN Environment Finance Initiative banking and investment members, as part of the implementation of the roadmap outlined in the Positive Impact Manifesto released in October 2015.

As at 1st January 2017, the Positive Impact Working Group includes: Australian Ethical, Banco Itaú, BNP Paribas, BMCE Bank of Africa, Caisse des Dépôts Group, Desjardins Group, First Rand, Hermes Investment Management, ING, Mirova, NedBank, Pax World, Piraeus Bank, SEB, Société Générale, Standard Bank, Triodos Bank, Westpac and YES Bank.

Acknowledgements and appreciation is extended to the individuals and institutions who kindly provided their time, insights and recommendations in the course of the development of the Principles.

About Un Environment Finance Initiative

The UN Environment Finance Initiative is a partnership between UN Environment and the global financial sector created in the wake of the 1992 Earth Summit with a mission to promote sustainable finance. Over 200 financial institutions, including banks, insurers and fund managers, work with UN Environment to understand today’s environmental challenges, why they matter to finance, and how to actively participate in addressing them.

Purpose Of The Principles For Positive Impact Finance

The Principles for Positive Impact Finance are a set of guidelines for:

· financiers to identify, promote and communicate about Positive Impact Finance across their portfolios;

· investors and donors to holistically evaluate the impacts of their investments and orient their investment

· choices and engagements accordingly;

· auditors and raters to provide financiers, investors and their stakeholders with the verification, certification and rating services needed to promote the development of Positive Impact Finance.

The Principles are also intended to help:

· corporates and other economic stakeholders structure SDG-focused business opportunities and business models, and identify financial institutions capable of accompanying their efforts;

· governments to leverage their interventions with the private sector (for instance by issuing impact-based tenders and requests for proposals and choosing its private sector implementation partners based on the Principles) and adjusting public policies strategically to maximise the leverage of public funds;

· civil society to identify and develop the kind of technical expertise that will be most helpful to the above parties as they seek to establish new, impact based business models.

The Principles are applicable to all forms of financial institutions and financial instruments. By jointly considering the three pillars of sustainable development and by basing themselves on an appraisal of both positive and negative impacts, they propose a holistic approach to sustainability issues.

In doing so the Principles build on and complement valuable existing frameworks such as the Green Bond

Principles (instrument-specific), the Principles for Responsible Investment (sector-specific), the Equator

Principles (risk focused), among others, to provide a broad, common framework to achieve the financing of sustainable development.

Read more www.unepfi.org