The Institut de la Finance Durable (Paris Sustainable Finance Institute) published the first industry standards to support the development of impact finance

In March 2021, the Institut de la Finance Durable launched a marketplace group to develop impact finance, upon the request of Minister Olivia Grégoire, then Secretary of State to the Minister for the Economy, Finance and Recovery, responsible for the Social, Solidarity and Responsible Economy. As a result of this initial work, the IFD has published a series of deliverables and tools, constructed collectively and made available to all financial players, which establish an operational framework to encourage the development of impact finance.

• The Impact Investor Charter set out the principles to be respected in order to define oneself as an “impact fund”, in line with the market definition, and commits signatory funds to applying the grid;
• The Impact Potential Evaluation Grid, updated and adapted to different asset classes, with associated explanatory notes for listed and unlisted equities.

In addition to these key tools, four documents lay the foundations for further work:

• An initial report entitled “What are the keys to assessing the impact of financing for banks”, which provides a starting point for thinking about the actions to be taken in the banking sector;
• A summary of the hearings with impact companies, “Consideration by companies of the impact dimension and rôle of financiers”, which identifies the best practices to be implemented by companies and funders to strengthen their impact dynamics;
• Two studies, “How can an investment fund measure its impact?” and “Measuring the impact of the underlying asset”, which take stock of impact assessment methods for investors and companies respectively. This inventory will enable them to identify existing best practices to improve their impact measurement.