Originals
Climate Finance | January 26, 2023
Voluntary carbon markets face a reckoning over credit quality and environmental impact
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 25 – Are carbon markets a key pillar of climate finance, or an empty exercise in double-counting and greenwashing? After soaring …
photo: World Economic Forum
Capitalism Reimagined | January 19, 2023
What if they threw an elite global forum in a Swiss ski resort and no one cared?
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 19 – At least for those of us who aren’t there, it is definitely cooler to skip Davos than to attend …
John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy (photo: ImpactAlpha)
Muni Impact | January 17, 2023
Overheard at the Public Finance Conference: Investment opportunities in Emerging Market America
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 17 – A computer glitch that snarled air traffic last week presented a fitting backdrop as government and finance leaders gathered …
Policy Corner | December 14, 2022
The case of the suddenly missing trillions in ESG investments
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 14 – It’s an ESG whodunnit. Sustainable investment assets in the U.S. totaled $17.1 trillion in 2020, according to US SIF. …
Climate Finance | December 8, 2022
Move over climate, here come biodiversity disclosures
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 8 – Even as a mandatory climate disclosure rule proposed by U.S. regulators hits speed bumps, efforts are underway to require …
Source: Amplify ESG
Policy Corner | December 5, 2022
Pro-ESG forces rally to confront backlash against corporate accountability, workers rights and risk management
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 5 – It took a while, but advocates for the integration of environmental, social and governance factors in investment decisions are …
Policy Corner | November 23, 2022
For pension fund managers, Department of Labor puts ESG back on the table – again
ImpactAlpha, Nov.23 – Cannot! Can so! Just as some states are trying to block so-called ESG investing, the U.S. Department of Labor has …
Climate Finance | November 15, 2022
New narrative of climate action: Unstoppable progress and immense opportunity
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 15 – It has become fashionable to dismiss global climate confabs like COP27 as so much “blah blah blah.” But for …
Photo credit: Akintune Babatunde
Climate Finance | November 10, 2022
At COP27, ‘loss and damages’ inches from discussion to action
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 10 – Scotland kicked off the race with $7 million. Then came $13.5 million from Denmark, $10 million from Ireland, $50 …
Photo credit: Tienda Pago
Frontier and Growth Markets | November 8, 2022
Inclusive fintechs build on gains to help emerging market businesses weather the economic storm
ImpactAlpha, November 8 – First it was Covid lockdowns. Then global supply-chain disruptions. Now, the rising cost of goods and interest rates is tightening …
Impact Investing | November 3, 2022
A new kind of carbon credit incentivizes fossil fuel producers to ‘keep it in the ground’
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 3 – ‘Keep it in the ground’ has long been a rallying cry for climate activists. A new company is creating …
Impact Investing | November 2, 2022
What’s at stake for climate, ESG and impact investors in the U.S. midterm elections
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 2 – The annual global climate summit known as COP27, this year in Egypt, will coincide with next week’s midterm elections …
Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
Catalytic Capital | October 26, 2022
Creative finance is needed to plug gaps in global climate funding – and to rescue COP27
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 26 – Climate action is facing mighty headwinds just two weeks before the COP27 global climate summit kicks off in Sharm …
photo: Phenix Capital
Climate Finance | October 18, 2022
Rockefeller Foundation’s new climate strategy: A Q&A with Thomas Belazis
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 18 – In late July, The Rockefeller Foundation announced a major shift: it would make climate central to everything it does. …
Gender Smart | September 26, 2022
How women-led funds in South Africa are unlocking capital for women and small businesses
ImpactAlpha, September 26 – Gender-lens investing is no longer a niche or little-known strategy. Still, too little capital is making it into the hands …
Climate Finance | September 15, 2022
Overheard at India’s ‘Impact 2022’: Climate investment tipping point
ImpactAlpha, September 15 – India is experiencing a surge of interest in climate investment and innovation, thanks to the country’s bold commitments at COP26 …
Impact Investing | September 13, 2022
Bringing the energy transition to every building and neighborhood, with public and private capital
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 13 – Green jobs in South Los Angeles. Low-carbon retrofits and cost savings in New York public housing. Electric vehicle and battery …
Catalytic Capital | September 12, 2022
The Climate Finance Tracker’s data-driven map for catalytic climate investors (Q&A)
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 12 – Where is capital most impactful in combating climate change? What kind of capital is needed where? And who is …
Photo credit: Teranga Capital
Seeding Impact | August 22, 2022
Teranga Capital: Taking risks to build an impact ecosystem in West Africa
ImpactAlpha, August 22 – Dakar-based Teranga Capital does private equity deals. It deploys venture capital. It helps small businesses that are too early for …
Community Finance | August 18, 2022
Community lenders look to carve out a role for themselves in new green bank fund
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 18 – The Inflation Reduction Act, sprung from the seeming dead just three weeks ago, sprinted into law almost as fast …
photo: Sam Bloxham
Impact Tech | July 21, 2022
Formula E: The hum of electric race cars signals the arrival of the EV era
ImpactAlpha, July 21 – There was no deafening roar of engines as 22 race cars careened along the Brooklyn waterfront last weekend. This …
Climate Finance | July 19, 2022
Early-stage climate tech offers a bright spot amid the gloom
ImpactAlpha, July 19 – U.S. climate policy is in disarray. Venture capital investments are plummeting. The IPO window is shut. And crypto is …
Mansoor Hamayun | Photo credit: Bboxx
Frontier and Growth Markets | July 11, 2022
Off-grid solar pioneer Bboxx is following the data to down-market growth
ImpactAlpha, July 11 – Mansoor Hamayun couldn’t have anticipated the data revolution when he launched Bboxx more than a decade ago. Back then, the …
Institutional Impact | July 7, 2022
The politics and power of asset management lead straight to the U.S. Supreme Court
Editor’s note: ImpactAlpha contributing editor Imogen Rose-Smith, a longtime senior writer for Institutional Investor, contributes a bi-weekly column on the policies, practices and …
Policy Corner | July 5, 2022
Supreme Court’s attack on regulatory policy threatens SEC climate-disclosure rules
ImpactAlpha, July 5 – Fighting climate change just got even harder. But impact investors vowed to redouble their efforts to stave off climate …
photo: Pixabay
Originals | June 27, 2022
Seven Calls: Agents of Impact on carbon pricing, political risk, climate adaptation, responsible fintech and more
ImpactAlpha, June 27 – ImpactAlpha’s spring season of Agents of Impact Calls spanned a period of tumult in the financial markets: instability in …
Frontier and Growth Markets | June 13, 2022
Nyala Venture aims to catalyze local fund managers to unlock capital for small businesses in Africa
ImpactAlpha, June 13 – Who knows best the needs of a community but members of the community itself? First-time fund managers who understand the …
Impact Investing | May 23, 2022
Global corporations commit to carbon removal tech buys in South Pole-led initiative
ImpactAlpha, May 23 – Corporations are teaming up to use their buying power to accelerate commercialization of carbon removal technology. The latest: Boston …
Catalytic Capital | May 10, 2022
Catalytic investors sharpen their tools to accelerate commercialization of climate solutions
ImpactAlpha, May 10 – The stubborn gap in financing for early-stage innovations for years was an obstacle to the development of breakthrough climate …
Inclusive Economy | May 5, 2022
Common Future and Uncharted merge to expand entrepreneurship and wealth-building in underserved communities
ImpactAlpha, May 5 – Call it the un-M&A deal. Common Future, the Oakland-based nonprofit focused on economic inequality, and Uncharted, the nonprofit social …
Stewardship | April 27, 2022
Gates Foundation’s Berkshire Hathaway dilemma shines a light on proxy voting role by charitable groups
ImpactAlpha, April, 28 – Shareholder activists are looking for record wins at this year’s annual general meeting season, which runs through the summer. …
Rook Soto | Photo by Pursuit.
Features | April 20, 2022
How Pursuit is upskilling low-income New Yorkers for high-paying coding jobs
ImpactAlpha, April 20 — Jukay Hsu’s mother worked multiple jobs after emigrating with him from Taiwan to Queens when he was three years …
An Acacia tree in Africa
Impact Investing | April 17, 2022
Social ‘co-benefits’ and ecosystem restoration begin to make climate adaptation investable
ImpactAlpha, April 14 – Climate-smart investments that restore ecosystems, improve women’s lives, reduce damage from storms and surges, avoid dislocation and migration and …
Climate Finance | April 5, 2022
How climate investors are getting ready for the carbon removal boom
ImpactAlpha, April 5 – The world is hurtling towards irreversible and catastrophic warming. The goals of the Paris climate accord are fast slipping …
Global OTEC's floating power plants (source: Global OTEC)
Climate Finance | April 4, 2022
Overlooked innovators with key climate solutions are a sweet spot for early-stage funds
ImpactAlpha, April 4 – Today’s stark new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change calls for both/and to avert a worst-case climate …
Photo credit: Apollo Agriculture
Smallholder Agriculture | March 31, 2022
Apollo Agriculture is out to show how financing smallholder farmers can boost production and profits
ImpactAlpha, March 31 – Smallholder farmers have long been the darling of development specialists, microfinance institutions and impact investors. Now, commercial investors are …
Climate Finance | March 29, 2022
Impact investing goes to the Oscars
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 29 – Forget yachts. Climate funds are the new Hollywood status symbols. King Richard, the biopic that won Will Smith his first …
Zurich, Switzerland
Europe | March 28, 2022
Acquisitions in Europe reflect investors’ appetite for private debt in emerging markets
ImpactAlpha, March 28 – A trio of Swiss impact investors launched two decades ago with similar missions of boosting financial inclusion in emerging …
Ukrainian families flee the war across the Hungarian border. Photo: Janossy Gergely
Catalytic Capital | March 24, 2022
How Open Road helps providers of essential services carry on in conflict zones
ImpactAlpha, March 24 – In Syria, where hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in a decade-long civil war, an advance warning …
Stewardship | March 16, 2022
Emboldened shareholders ready fights with management on human rights, climate and political spending
ImpactAlpha, March 16 – Grab some popcorn and pull up a chair. This year’s annual general meetings season, when corporations face off with …
Illustration by Vectorfarmer (via Shutterstock)
Impact Investing | February 22, 2022
From Elon Musk and crypto cashouts, more capital flows in than flows out of donor-advised funds
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 22 – One may have gotten Elon Musk’s $5.7 billion gift of Tesla stock. Others have received hundreds of millions in …
Call Recording | February 11, 2022
Call No. 37: Ramping up the supply of carbon reduction to meet the urgent demand (video)
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 11 – ”$100 a ton?” exclaimed CDP’s Paula DiPerna on ImpactAlpha’s Agents of Impact Call this week. “I should be popping champagne.” …
From The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson
Climate Finance | February 8, 2022
Positive externalities: Carrots as well as sticks for the carbon era
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 8 – Putting a price on carbon is only the beginning. With prices on Europe’s emissions trading scheme topping $100 a ton …
The Swedish steel company SSAB last year said it delivered the first fossil-fuel free steel.
Corporate Impact | February 7, 2022
Simple economics driving carbon prices: Soaring demand, limited supply
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 7 – The crossover has arrived for carbon, the commodity that will increasingly drive the global economy. The rising prices around …
Climate Finance | February 3, 2022
Rising price of carbon starts to hit balance sheets – and corporate decision-making
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 3 – The carbon footprint of corporations, long regarded as a “nonfinancial” factor, is about to become very material indeed. The …