Towards impact-driven economies: Boosting emerging market perspectives for impact policymaking and transparency, and global advocacy for change

 

Impact investing, which focuses on investments that generate measurable societal impact alongside financial returns, has grown into a CAD3 trillion market globally over the past decade. However, it still faces challenges in addressing the climate crisis and social inequalities, particularly gender inequalities, as gender lens investing constitutes only a small part of the industry. Key factors for progress include enhancing impact accounting that can direct capital to areas with the greatest effect and implementing supportive regulations and policies.

This project aims to advance these areas by fostering collaboration between key local and global industry players and local research institutions in four countries across Latin America and Africa. Leveraging and synthesizing the research supported locally in four countries, the project will also develop a global advocacy strategy to promote effective impact policymaking and transparency at international forums such as the Conference on Financing for Development and the G20.

Building on previous IDRC-supported initiatives, this project will integrate gender considerations and emerging markets perspectives into impact accounting methodologies through pioneering pilot implementation; advance policy and regulatory reforms needed to make substantive progress towards impact economies in selected emerging markets; and strengthen research institutions' capabilities in emerging markets to further engage in the impact economies field. The aim is to promote an economic system where impact is integral to investment, business and government decisions.