The Impact Discloure Taskforce (IDT) has released a draft guide to assist corporate and sovereign entities in measuring and monitoring their impact, helping them attract bigger pools of sustainable capital.
Drawing on existing resources, the voluntary guidance outlines a five-step process for entities to measure and disclose the impacts of their business strategies or national development plan. It also considers the establishment of mechanisms for disseminating and analysing disclosed impact information to promote transparency and accountability.
According to the guidance, the creation of the Sustainable Development Impact Disclosure (SDID) will provide sustainable financiers with more information to assist financing decisions. It is designed to be entity-level, impact-oriented, forward-looking and context-specific.
Established in April 2023, the Taskforce – which now has over 60 members – was formed to help corporate entities and sovereigns to disclose their efforts to reduce major gaps in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The release of the draft voluntary guidance initiates a four-month public consultation period, ending on 1 September 2024, during which the Taskforce is seeking feedback from industry participants and practitioners.
Arsalan Mahtafar, head of JP Morgan’s Development Finance Institution, said: “This guidance will help connect sustainable investors with entities that are accountable for tackling the development challenges in their country. By connecting like-minded people and empowering them with relevant data, we can make strides towards achieving our global goals.”
Timothée Jaulin, head of ESG development and advocacy and Amundi, added: “Mobilising capital to support the UN SDGs requires meaningful, impact-oriented, enhanced disclosure standards. The Sustainable Development Impact Disclosure guidance will be especially relevant for issuers looking to tap capital markets for their financing needs. All capital market instruments, including equity, general purpose debt or sustainable debt instruments require high-quality sustainability disclosure at the issuer level.”
SDID pilot
Alongside the draft guidance, the Taskforce also released a pilot of what a completed SDID could look like. JP Morgan and Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking – the Taskforce co-chairs – supported global logistics and supply chain solutions provider, DP World, to create a pilot SDID addressing their anticipated contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly health, education, equality and economic growth through emerging markets infrastructure.
