The Brief

The Brief: Sustainability scores at the Oscars

ImpactAlpha · March 3, 2025

Greetings Agents of Impact!

In today’s Brief:

  • The Oscar for sustainability goes to…
  • Waste-to-energy in Sierra Leone
  • Employee ownership in Africa

In the category of sustainability-themed entertainment, the winner is… There are signs that the film industry is ready to take on sustainability as a key narrative and storytelling device. Several of this year’s Oscar nominees embed sustainability themes into their plots, from stories about the tribulations of animals trying to survive environmental catastrophes (The Wild Robot and Oscar winner Flow), to the controversial politics of resource extraction and exploitation (Dune Part Two), to characters confronting the damaging effects of discrimination and inequality (Nickel Boys and Wicked). There is no shortage of sustainability themes on the small screen, either, with popular TV shows like Billions, Loot and Paradise offering perspectives on issues that investors, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and government officials must contend with in a fast-changing world.

To bring more attention and scrutiny to such storytelling efforts, Dmitriy Ioselevich of 17 Communications, in partnership with ImpactAlpha, is launching a kind of Rotten Tomatoes for the impact investing crowd. “The last thing we need is more disinformation about the costs of the energy transition (Landman) or sensationalized hot takes about ESG (Industry),” Ioselevich writes in the introduction to his first two reviews (related: “HBO brings a sleek, sexy and skeptical view of impact to a television audience”). To help separate the gems from the groaners, he’ll be rating films and TV shows on a scale of 0-15, with a maximum of five points each for accuracy, entertainment and impact, i.e. How will this film or TV show inspire people to change their behavior? Will there be a long-lasting impact after they’ve finished watching?

  • Flow (2024). Without a single word of dialogue – at least human dialogue – the winner for Best Animated Feature at last night’s Oscars is able to convey the terror and drama of being caught in a climate disaster. “It’s hard to watch the film without thinking about what many parts of the world will look like in a few decades,” Ioselevich writes. There isn’t much data or research on the effects of flooding on wild animals, most of which don’t have the ability to get to higher ground or access to any kind of early warning system. Some biologists predict that 35% of animals and plants could go extinct by 2050 as a result of climate change and changes to land use. “The cat at the center of Flow obviously isn’t aware of any of this – the cat is just trying to survive in a world that seems determined to kill it,” Ioselevich says. Score: 8 (Accuracy – 1; Entertainment – 4; Impact – 3).
  • The Wild Robot (2024). “This movie is an emotional rollercoaster, in the best possible way,” Ioselevich writes. Scenes that tug at your heartstrings include the image of the Golden Gate Bridge underwater, an apocalyptic fire that tears through the forest, bitter cold that endangers all living creatures and precarious links in the food chain. The film was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film, and also received nods for its sound and score. “What sets The Wild Robot apart is how it shows the power of community and collaboration in addressing these challenges,” he writes. “Just because it’s a robot and a bunch of wild animals doesn’t make it any less inspirational or heart-warming.” Score: 12 (Accuracy – 3; Entertainment – 4.5; Impact – 4.5).
  • Keep reading, “In the category of sustainability-themed entertainment, the winner is….,” by Dmitriy Ioselevich on ImpactAlpha. 

Dealflow: Climate Finance

Climate Fund Managers invests $3.1 million in waste-to-energy conversion in Sierra Leone. Netherlands-based Climate Fund Managers has raised a family of blended finance facilities (Climate Investor One, Two and Three) to invest debt and equity in renewable energy, water and sanitation, green grids and other climate-resilient solutions in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Climate Investor Two, which  leveraged a tranche of first-loss capital to raise more than $850 million, has invested $3.1 million in a joint waste-to-energy project with Infinitum Energy Group, a developer of renewable energy, energy storage and waste-to-energy systems. “This partnership underscores the importance of blended finance to absorb early-stage project risks and develop innovative infrastructure solutions in emerging markets,” said CFM’s Darron Johnson. Last month, CFM launched Climate Investor Three with €150 million ($155 million) from European investors and donors. The facility has backed green hydrogen and energy transition projects and country-specific climate funds, including SDG Namibia One and South Africa’s SA-H2 Fund.

  • Waste-to-energy. The Freetown-based project will incinerate waste to power steam turbines and generate electricity. Infinitum aims to divert over 1,000 tons of waste per day from bodies of water and dumpsites, incorporating local small businesses in the waste-collection process. The project is expected to create over 1,7,00 jobs and provide energy to over 3 million people in Sierra Leone, where around 30% of the population has access to electricity. A similar startup, Freetown Waste Transformers, secured a grant from UK non-profit GSMA in 2022 to digitize the waste collection process. 

Dealflow overflow. Investment news crossing our desks:

  • Ghana’s Oze secured an undisclosed amount of funding from investors including Speedinvest, Africinvest and Visa for its lending management system, which enables financial institutions to offer unsecured, non-collateral loans to merchants and small businesses online. (Innovation Village)
  • Switzerland based responsAbility has invested an undisclosed amount in WheelsEM, an Indian non-banking financial company which provides loans for electric two- and three-wheeled vehicles. (responsAbility)
  • Ecuador-based Impaqto Capital, through its $2.1 million inaugural fund, provided a revenue-based loan to Peru’s CICLO to recycle construction and demolition waste into eco-friendly building materials. (Impaqto Capital)

Impact Voices: Ownership Economy

How investors are advancing employee ownership in Africa. New business models that create employee ownership in Africa are centering the “economics” in economic development. In a guest post on ImpactAlpha, Delilah Rothenberg and Juan Jardon-Pina of the Predistribution Initiative argue  that employee ownership and profit-sharing in companies, and community ownership in real assets, “have the potential to support emerging economies in overcoming the pitfalls of capitalism that we are seeing in mature markets, while also untapping inclusive and regenerative investment opportunities.” This week, the Predistribution Initiative is releasing a guide for investors and other stakeholders on opportunities related to employee ownership in Africa. The playbook includes a legal and regulatory review, as well as an overview of opportunities, challenges, emerging best practices and recommendations. The guide includes case studies of employee ownership strategies implemented by organizations such as Kinvest, fairafric, Fenix International and Delta40.

  • Employee ownership trust. Kinvest Venture Partners is raising the Capstone Kinvest Impact Fund to build and operate farms with a focus on sustainable agriculture and local ownership. Kinvest is developing three farms in Rwanda, totaling 605 hectares, and growing coffee, avocado, banana, and multiple varieties of chili peppers and beans. Unique to Kinvest‘s strategy is a predetermined exit to local workers through an employee ownership trust, which is designed to help workers build capital assets over time.
  • Profit-sharing. Fairafric, a German-Ghanaian social enterprise producing organic chocolate, has rolled out a new employee ownership program, coupled with significant capacity-building and education. An investee of ThirdWay Capital, an investment manager that works across Africa and advocates for broad-based employee ownership, fairafric is aligned with the FairChain movement, which promotes keeping the entire production process, in this case cacao, in the country of origin.
  • Keep reading, “How investors are advancing employee ownership in Africa,” by Delilah Rothenberg and Juan Jardon-Pina.

Agents of Impact: Follow the Talent

Don’t miss these upcoming ImpactAlpha partner events:

Lightrock appoints Samir Abhyankar, previously with British International Investment, as partner and head of India to lead its expansion in the region… Gayatri Suri is promoted to director of social finance at UBS Optimus Foundation… IDH is hiring a climate and carbon finance program manager… Impact Partners is recruiting an analyst in Paris… San Francisco Foundation seeks a program-related investments associate director.

McDonald’s Corp. is looking for an ESG governance senior finance manager… Grant Thornton has an opening for a sustainable investing, ESG and impact senior consultant in Amsterdam… Open Society Foundations is on the hunt for a senior investment analyst in New York… responsAbility seeks a Latin America-focused climate finance senior investment officer… LISC is hiring a fund design director in Washington, DC. 

Sorenson Impact Institute seeks an impact investing student analyst… Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures is on the hunt for a regional council or working group member… Baraka Impact Fund will host its first virtual 2025 Baraka Impact Thursdays, which will focus on health investment opportunities in low- and middle-income countries, Thursday, Mar. 13th at 9:00am ET.

👉 View (or post) impact investing jobs on ImpactAlpha’s Career Hub.

Thank you for your impact!

– Mar. 3, 2025