Suma Capital was a partner in the VII Ship2B Impact Forum, the benchmark congress on the impact economy. This year, the event was held from 9 to 13 November in a special online edition to continue fuelling the impact economy ecosystem, connecting the community and inspiring through key topics of social innovation and disruptive practices.

In a context marked by the healthcare and economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and by a climate crisis that is threatening life as we know it, rethinking the model and turning it into a real impact economy is a pressing need.

This year’s Impact Forum brought together representatives from several companies and organisations to debate on what this new model should look like and how we can achieve it. Pau Bermúdez, a partner at Suma Capital, participated on behalf of the company in the block focused on the contrast between real impact investment and what is known as impact washing.

True impact investment is guided by ESG criteria (Environmental, Social and Governance), in order to have a real, measurable impact on society or the environment, as well as financial return, and should focus on transparency and accountability of the impact achieved.

Impact washing, however, is a practice that tags traditional investments as impact when they really aren’t, in an attempt to benefit from the positive associations of this trend, and without measurable indicators to provide a standardised assessment of the social or environmental benefits.

So, greater transparency in impact investment strategy and specific criteria for measuring results integrated into the processes are needed to help reduce the risks of impact washing or deviations from the true mission, and to boost the benefits of investment in a much wider sense.

Watch the video of the VII Ship2B Impact Forum.