As the investment management industry strives to adapt to the increasing momentum of Sustainable Investing, the speed with which ESG-related acronyms appear to be emerging may be disconcerting to many. To help navigate the maze of acronyms, this paper presents a typology of acronyms of organizations or initiatives that aim to contribute to the Sustainable Investing space.
UN-Related Organizations and Initiatives - Several of these initiatives have been originated by the United Nations, which, given the organization’s mission, is seen as a first mover in the Sustainability space.
Investment Industry Organizations and Collaborations - These have also responded to investor interest in ESG, either by leveraging the existing membership groups or by forming new collaborations with specific objectives.
Sustainability Reporting Organizations and Initiatives - Several organizations have been formed to establish standards for sustainability reporting, an area of historical inconsistency in terms of format, depth, and quality of information presented.
Climate-Related Organizations and Initiatives - There are also organizations that specifically aim to tackle climate change, although in varying ways. Some may focus on advocacy, others on reporting, while some focus on carbon measurement.
Impact-Related Organizations and Tools - Lastly, several organizations aim to establish best practices and create investor tools for impact investing.
A non-exhaustive list acronyms falling within these categories are listed in Table 1 below. Please refer to the Glossary at the end for an expansion of the acronyms and links to the organizations and initiatives.
Table 1 - Typology of Acronyms
Subsequent whitepapers will aim to provide more in-depth discussion on the relevance and application of the various frameworks and tools that have been created by the organizations noted in this paper.
GLOSSARY
UN-Related Organizations and Initiatives
PRI: Principles for Responsible Investment
UN SDGs: UN Sustainable Development Goals
UNGC: UN Global Compact
UNDP’s SDG Impact: United Nations Development Programme’s Sustainable Development Goals Impact
UNEPFI: United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative
NZAOA: UN-convened Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance
Investment Industry Organizations and Collaborations
ILPA: Institutional Limited Partners Association
AIMA: Alternative Investment Management Association
SBAI: Standards Board for Alternative Investments
CFA Institute: Chartered Financial Analyst Institute
The Investor Forum: UK investor collective on stewardship
ICGN: International Corporate Governance Network
ICSWG and ICSWG (US): Investment Consultants Sustainability Working Group European and US Chapter
ESG Data Convergence Project: GPs and LPs collective
Diversity Project: Membership organization that initiated the Asset Owner Diversity Charter
RIA (Canada): Responsible Investment Association (Canada)
RIAA: Responsible Investment Association Australasia
GRESB: Global ESG Benchmark for Real Assets
Sustainability Reporting Organizations and Initiatives
GRI: Global Reporting Initiative
SASB: Sustainability Accounting Standards Board
IIRC: International Integrated Reporting Council
VRF: Value Reporting Foundation
IFRSFoundation: International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation
ISSB: International Sustainability Standards Board
WEF-IBCInitiative: World Economic Forum - International Business Council Initiative
Climate-Related Organizations and Initiatives
TCFD: Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures
COP26: 26th Conference of the Parties
SBTi: Science Based Targets initiative
CDP: Climate Disclosure Project
CDSB: Climate Disclosure Standards Board
GHGProtocol: Greenhouse Gases Protocol
IIGCC: Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change
IGCC: Investor Group on Climate Change (Australia)
AIGCC: Asia Investor Group on Climate Change
CeresInvestorNetwork: North American investor group on climate change
NZAMI: Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative
iCI: Initiative Climat International
ShareAction: Key proponent of Investor Decarbonization Initiative
PCAF: Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials
WBCSD: World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Impact-Related Organizations and Tools
IMP: Impact Management Project
GIIN: Global Impact Investing Network
IRIS+: Impact Reporting and Investing Standards+
OPIM: Operating Principles for Impact Management
B Lab: Beneficial Lab
III: Impact Investing Institute
PFP: Pensions for Purpose
IWA: Impact Weighted Accounts
SROI: Social Return on Investment
Nesta: UK innovation think-tank
Jennifer Kizilbash Galang - April 2022
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