Impact Insights: Driving Smarter Decisions for Greater Impact
Article
By Bram van der Grinten, 14.10.2024
Founder of Impact Forecast
Founder of Impact Forecast
In the rapidly evolving world of climate innovation, knowing where to direct your efforts can make all the difference between marginal progress and transformative change. With countless innovations vying for attention and resources, how do you identify the ones that will truly make an impact? This is where Impact Insights come into play. By leveraging data-driven analysis, we transform raw environmental and climate data into actionable insights that guide both entrepreneurs and program managers toward smarter decisions and greater impact.
What Are Impact Insights?
Impact Insights are actionable understandings derived from the detailed analysis of environmental and climate-related data, gathered through the Impact Framework and the impact tools and services it contains. These insights are generated at both the company level and the program level, enabling entrepreneurs to optimize their innovations for maximum positive impact, and allowing program managers, investors, and accelerators to make informed decisions that enhance the overall effectiveness and sustainability of their initiatives.
Impact Insights provide clarity on key drivers of positive and negative impacts, highlight opportunities for improvement, and offer guidance on how to achieve or maintain a net positive climate impact. For clients, these insights aggregate data across cohorts to reveal patterns, trends, and benchmarks that can guide future program strategies and investment decisions.
Impact Insights provide clarity on key drivers of positive and negative impacts, highlight opportunities for improvement, and offer guidance on how to achieve or maintain a net positive climate impact. For clients, these insights aggregate data across cohorts to reveal patterns, trends, and benchmarks that can guide future program strategies and investment decisions.
Impact Insights Across Different Levels
Impact Insights can be categorised into three primary levels: Cohort Level, Company Level, and Innovation Level. Cohort level insights are useful to our clients, Innovation level insights are useful to the companies they support, and Company level insights are useful to both clients and companies. Continue reading to discover the types of insights we generate for them.
Cohort level Insights
At the cohort level, Impact Insights focus on the collective performance of groups of companies. These insights help program managers and investors understand the overall effectiveness of their initiatives and identify which segments are driving the most significant results.
| Type | Insight Gained | Example Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Total GHG Emission Reduction (Potential) Per Sub-Group | Impact breakdown by country, sector, or program vertical, allowing identification of the most successful segments | "Location A achieved a much better impact than location B, let's organise an exchange for team A to learn from team B" |
| Number of Positive Climate Impact Companies Supported | Count of companies within the cohort that are making a measurable positive climate impact | "Noticing that not all companies could demonstrate a positive climate impact, we should be more selective next time" |
| Total GHG Emission Reduction (Potential) | The overall climate impact potential of all companies in the program | "We achieved our impact goal, let's inform our backers about this success!" |
| Average Climate Mitigation Potential | The total GHG emission reductions from valid forecasts, divided by the number of companies with valid forecasts | "Let's use this average impact per project as our benchmark for the next selection, so we only attract above-average companies" |
| Total and Average Environmental Impact | Aggregated and average environmental impact across the cohort | "This company creates significant eco-toxicity, let's address this topic and see how this environmental burden could be reduced" |
| Identification of Impact Unicorns | Discovery of innovations with extraordinary climate impact potential | "This company can make or break the total impact of our project, let's ensure we keep them on board" |
| Patterns in Impactful Companies | Insights that can be used to attract and select high-impact companies for future programs | "We notice that most of our highest impact companies are offering B2B services in the Energy sector. We can increase our impact by attracting more companies like that." |
Company Level Insights
At the company level, Impact Insights focus on individual organizations within the cohort, providing a deeper understanding of their specific contributions, challenges, and growth potential. These insights help investors and program managers tailor their support to maximize each company’s positive impact.
| Type | Insight Gained | Example Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Teams With and Without the Ability to Provide a Green Claim | Identification of which companies are capable of making credible sustainability claims | "Some of our companies need help to build sound impact claims, let's offer them additional input on how to do that" |
| Positive Climate Impact Ratio | Positive impacts divided by negative impacts. Provides a measure of how sensitive or robust the overall positive impact is to changes in its design. | "Location A achieved a much better impact than location B, let's organise an exchange for team A to learn from team B" |
| Ambitions of Each Company on Growing Their Impact and Scale | Insights into how each company plans to scale their impact over time | "These companies do not make much impact now, but are ambitious about the future. Let's give them a chance!" |
| Negative Impact Cases | Identification of companies or innovations that have a net negative impact | "This innovation inherently makes more climate (and/or environmental) impact instead of mitigating it. We cannot select that type of innovation" |
| Level of Engagement With the Impact Framework Per Company | Assessment of how actively each company is participating in the impact measurement process | "This company has been very engaged with the process, and that makes them a candidate for a validation" |
| Drivers of Positive Impact Within Top Performing Companies | Key factors contributing to the success of the highest-impact companies | "So that's why they have such a significant impact! I can use that when presenting case studies of our project" |
Innovation Level Insights
At the innovation level, Impact Insights drill down into the specific components of products or services, enabling companies to optimise their designs for maximum positive impact. These insights can inform critical decisions during both the development and refinement stages of innovation.
| Type | Insight Gained | Example Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Varying Impacts for Similar Resources | Understand how different materials or energy sources can affect the carbon footprint | "Using recycled steel instead of a mix of recycled and virgin steel can save 10% of impact while also being cheaper." |
| Surprising Negative Impact Differences | Identify unexpected factors that contribute to GHG emissions | "Chemical upcycling increases our GHG emissions, let's look into mechanical recycling options." |
| Important Facts to Gather About the Product | Realize which specific details (e.g., material types, quantities) are critical for accurate impact calculation | "Now we know which product or service details are important to calculate the impact." |
| Major Drivers of Positive Impact | Identify the key aspects of the innovation that contribute most to its net positive impact | "This feature is the dominant contributor to our positive impact, we should maximize it." |
| Major Drivers of Negative Impact | Pinpoint the main factors that inhibit positive impact | "We should eliminate this component because it reduces our net positive impact." |
| Minor Drivers of Impact | Recognize which differences have negligible effects | "Energy use by our device is insignificant compared to other factors, so we don't need better accuracy on our energy use." |
| Thresholds for Net Positive Impact | Determine critical parameters needed to achieve a net positive impact | "We need at least a 20% customer engagement rate to maintain a positive impact, and will track if this target is met." |
Why Impact Insights Matter
In today’s dynamic landscape of impact investing and entrepreneurial support, having access to detailed, actionable insights is more important than ever. Impact Insights offer a way to cut through the noise, allowing decision-makers to focus on what truly matters: the factors that drive or inhibit positive climate impact. Whether you’re an entrepreneur looking to refine your innovation, or a program manager seeking to maximize the success of your cohort, these insights provide the clarity and direction needed to achieve your goals.
By understanding and leveraging Impact Insights, you can:
- Optimize Innovations
Fine-tune your products or services to maximize positive impact and minimize negative consequences. - Inform Strategic Decisions
Use data-driven insights to guide your program’s strategy, ensuring that resources are allocated where they’ll have the greatest effect. - Enhance Reporting and Accountability
Present clear, validated data to stakeholders, demonstrating the tangible impact of your initiatives.
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