Why impact valuation, and why now

Impact valuation translates social and environmental outcomes into a common unit that sits alongside financial data. Three phases mark its development: methodology (roughly 2010–2019), disclosure (roughly 2020–2024), and active decision use (from around 2024) (p.6). Three forces drive current adoption: structured disclosure data, reduced analysis costs, and rising leadership expectations. The paper presents 19 engagements across five archetypes: strategy, investment, steering, operations, and engagement.

Part I. Strategy

Impact valuation converts materiality matrices from reporting artefacts into board-level decision tools by monetising each topic. ANSA Merchant Bank found physical risk driving around 91% of total risk severity, with flood responsible for close to two-thirds of the physical component, and identified roughly USD 16 million in exposure — around 3.9% of annual revenue (p.10). Genève Aéroport produced what is described as the first board-ready double materiality matrix in the European airport sector expressed in budget-equivalent units, with the Board endorsing a strong sustainability ambition to 2040 (p.11–12). Mercantil found around USD 117 million in societal value created in 2025, with around 94% attributable to the core business rather than social programs (p.15).

Part II. Investment

A consumer-goods company’s internal climate fund screens opportunities on the Impact Multiple on Invested Capital (IMOIC) and Return on Impact (p.17–18). Summa Equity embedded impact valuation in due diligence, requiring pathway translation and scenario analysis before deals proceed (p.19–20). Wilstar, a Norwegian family office, applies eQALY logic across two investment mandates — Wilstar Innovate (finance-first) and Wilstar Impact Investing (impact-first) — managing 13 active investments assessed by portfolio composition rather than headline rank (p.23).

Part III. Steering

EA Technology reports a wellbeing SROI of 2.8 and an economic SROI of 6.5 per pound of revenue, with annual economic impact of around GBP 318 million; societal value rose 49% between 2024 and 2025 (p.27–28). Grupo Boticário applied ROI discipline to 27 ESG initiatives using a four-quadrant portfolio matrix (p.29–30). A food & beverage multinational operating across more than 150 markets is replacing output metrics with long-term outcome pathways (p.31). Adapt(us) Capital used impact valuation to rank six strategic directions for pre-revenue company Bactery (p.32–35).

Part IV. Operations

A large US retailer applied four impact models — audit-based, secondary data, commodity sourcing, and natural capital — to re-rank its global supply base by harm intensity, finding overtime the single largest impact driver in human capital terms (p.38). Agrolimen is testing impact valuation at the product-innovation gate across three pilots in early 2026 (p.39). Tony’s Open Chain produced its first Integrated P&L for the 2024/25 season against a business-as-usual benchmark. Nelixia found regenerative cardamom creates 42% more societal value than conventional sourcing, adding around USD 2.6 per kilogram at the producer level (p.42).

Part V. Engagement

Bracell’s social investment portfolio (roughly BRL 3.8 million) achieved a portfolio-wide aggregate just below two-to-one in societal return (p.46). The FIVB Volleyball Foundation built a shared valuation tool for its network of 222 national federations (p.47–48). At Combs Moss, Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages found the 350-hectare peatland restoration creates around USD 3.3 million of societal value over its lifetime — roughly USD 9,500 per hectare and about 2.7 dollars per dollar invested (p.50).

Lessons, and how to act on them

Six patterns recur across the engagements: the value sits in the decision, not the number; ranking almost always flips when a common unit is applied; the unit matters more than precision; embedding valuation in live decisions outperforms standalone projects; first use trains the organisation while second use changes decisions; and stakeholder translation is often the most durable output.

Practical guidance includes starting from a specific upcoming decision, selecting a visible and uncomfortable anchor case close to senior leadership, working with available data while documenting uncertainty, planning for translation across multiple audiences from the outset, and matching the valuation lens to the decision rather than applying a single methodology.