The inalienable and unstoppable commitment to sustainability entered a new stage in 2024, by the European Union, with the approval of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSDR) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). . New steps in reporting on the ‘life’ of business in line with the European Green Deal, the Sustainable Finance Agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In the case of 2025, large companies, listed or not, with more than 250 employees and/or turnover of 40 million euros and/or 20 million in assets, must submit their reports in 2026 (the year in which listed SMEs must do so. , except microenterprises).
Meanwhile, responsible investment, impact investment, continues to be vigilant in financing projects and companies that demonstrate their fidelity to ESG criteria, the environment, social aspects, and governance. A context in which Ana Ruiz, partner of the strategic sustainability and impact consultancy Transcendent and member of the Board of Directors of SpainNAB, differentiates between impact investment and sustainable investment. «Impact investment (he points out) is one with the explicit intention of generating a positive, additional and measurable social and environmental impact. Its main focus is to finance projects and companies with direct solutions to social and/or environmental challenges, seeking an additional transformation that would not be viable without this investment. “Sustainable investing seeks to integrate ESG factors to support companies with responsible practices and foster long-term sustainable outcomes, without necessarily focusing on creating additional impact.”
In this environment, Transcendent has just presented its report ‘The 7 Trends in Sustainability and Impact’. Among them (such as capitalizing on the opportunity of adaptation to climate change, the need to double ‘green talent’, biodiversity or impact valuation), the sixth is ‘impact investment will focus on generating systemic change ‘, as a way to “finance projects that combine economic profitability with social and environmental benefits.”
A flow that, according to data from SpainNAB, reached 1,517 million euros in 2023 (year-on-year increase of 26%), which is expected to increase to 5,000 in 2025, according to estimates by the Spanish Association of Impact Funds (AEFI). Performance in which the FIS of Cofides (Social Investment Fund), endowed with 400 million euros to finance entities with positive social impact, will play a fundamental role.
«Responsible impact investment (highlights Angel Pérez Agenjo, managing partner of Transcendent) will continue to accelerate because there are more and more objective measurement elements, as seen in conferences and large fund events, with a growing interest since “from the point of view of risks and opportunities, with very advanced tools to evaluate climate, physical, transition, adaptation risks… aspects that influence investment.” A scenario in which the specialist highlights the importance of regulations to guide this decisive compliance: «Regulation is advancing more and more, and is increasingly rigorous, better defining what type of investment is sustainable and in what way. Added to this is that the funds, in general, will continue to have their own analysis and information, beyond the companies’ reporting.
The managing partner of Transcendent also points out the importance of the Social Impact Fund “which positions Spain as the fourth country in the world in public and public-private impact investment initiatives and the second in the EU. The FIS hopes to have a catalytic effect and mobilize two or three euros of private capital for every euro invested, something the United Kingdom has successfully achieved.
A necessary effort to not clash with the ongoing transition towards an economy that is more respectful of nature: according to data from the ‘State of Finance for Nature 2023’ report by the United Nations Environment Programme, investments in NbS ( Nature-Based Solutions) are expected to triple by 2030 and quadruple by 2050, up to €700 billion annually (with estimates of 5,000 in five years for Spanish listed companies in the ‘nature credits’ market).
public, private
As a national ‘logbook’, the Green Paper on Sustainable Finance in Spain (approved in November) is an initiative of the Ministry of Economy, Commerce and Business to promote the transition towards a sustainable economy (aligned with the EU objectives of net zero emissions in 2050). A meeting corpus for public-private collaboration in which the creation of vectors such as a sustainability ‘sandbox’, guides for SMEs, dissemination of the Taxonomy Regulation, Sustainable Finance Council, ICO Green Lines, etc. are complemented.
In the case of Spainsif, a meeting and reference platform on sustainable finance and investment in Spain, since 2009 it has published studies on the Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) market in Spain which, in the case of the latest edition, It has been based on the responses of 27 national and 15 international entities.
«Given the new context of market measurement (they point out), the national companies manage 236,894 million euros in assets with ESG criteria, 49% of the total of the national market. Of this assets managed with ESG criteria, 88% corresponds to ESG investments, 7% advanced ESG, 5% aligned with impact and 0.16% generating impact. A scenario in which they highlight “the use of active management policies, especially dedicated to addressing issues related to climate change and Human Rights.” Spainsif has also carried out the report ‘Due Diligence and Human Rights in Sustainable Finance’, in collaboration with the ONCE Foundation
Also regarding the ‘es’ of the ESG criteria, initiatives such as the one promoted by Fundación Seres stand out, whose Social Impact Report, prepared with Deloitte, analyzes in depth the last decade of responsible business management (two out of every three IBEX companies have participated in their editions). “Among the main results (stand out), the investment of the organizations that collaborate with the foundation in social impact projects in the last decade stands out, close to 9,718.6 million euros.”
Of social interest
Regarding this connection between investment and society, Fernando Ruiz, president of Fundación Seres, has commented: «After a decade preparing this annual study, pioneer in the evaluation of the aggregate social impact of companies, we are able to see the evolution of Spanish company in the last decade and what changes it has experienced in social matters. There is no doubt that its social commitment has been transformed and strengthened, in complex moments like the current one.
Regarding the SERES Social Footprint Map, a tool to evaluate the social impact of companies on society (Forum of Renowned Spanish Brands in collaboration with the Seres Foundation), it evaluates the social impact of companies in five sectors (energy, hotels , food and beverages, industry and habitat, and fashion and retail) for four interest groups: employees, customers, community and suppliers. Everyone, part of the interest groups, of the value chain in which investment funds focus, increasingly and better, to close, as much as possible, the circle of sustainability.
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