The International Foundation for Valuing Impacts (IFVI) has launched Interim Methodologies – a suite of accounting resources to enable companies and investors to measure and value their environmental impacts. The resources span four categories – air pollution, land use and conversion, waste, and water pollution – and cover more than 430 different types of impacts tailored to 268 countries and regions. Building on the frameworks and protocols of existing standard setters, the IFVI aims to give investors the ability to rely on robust data to measure and compare the impacts created by companies in monetary terms. “The work that we have accomplished has eliminated a significant barrier to impact accounting – lack of open access to impact accounting methodology and value factors,” said Robert Zochowski, President and CEO of the IFVI. “We are closer than ever to a just and sustainable global economy based on the full contribution of business to people and the planet, built upon the practice of impact accounting to promote decision-making based on risk, return, and impact.” The accounting resources include: a global database of 100,000 value factors included in interim and official environmental methodologies; an overview of interim methodologies; spreadsheets outlining interim models; and detailed guides on interim technical manuals. “The destination we must reach is a world in which companies and governments account for their impact in a meaningful way by putting a monetary value on impact and building it into financial statements, so that climate and nature are on the balance sheet,” said Nick Hurd, Chair of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment Impact and the investor-backed Impact Taskforce.
