The UK impact investing market has seen substantial growth and increasing sophistication in targeting positive social and environmental outcomes, having reached £76.8 billion (US$101.2 billion) as of the end of 2023. A new report from the Impact Investing Institute noted this marked a £19.3 billion increase and a 10.1% compound annual growth rate since the beginning of 2021 – significantly outpacing the broader UK asset management sector, which has an annual growth rate between –2% and 0% over the same period. Following a market survey and engagement with over 100 market players, thought leaders and policymakers, the institute determined that the resilience of impact investing demonstrated the increasing importance investors are placing on impact strategies in the UK financial landscape. “The continued growth of impact investing in the UK demonstrates the potential to transform capital markets to support a fairer, greener, more resilient future,” said Kieron Boyle, CEO of the Impact Investing Institute. “It invites all to transform capital markets to support a fairer, greener, more resilient future [and] all stakeholders […] to participate in building a future where financial success and positive impact are inextricably linked.” Private equity attracted the highest proportion of impact capital (45%), followed by real assets (28%) and private debt (11%). Demand for impact investing has also increased among institutional investors, with the UK’s Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) making more local impact allocations. Two-thirds of survey respondents said they planned to increase or sustain their capital allocation towards impactful companies, projects, and assets in the UK over the next five years. The UK market now accounts for around 8% of the global impact investment market.

Over 100 civil society organisations globally have called on major US banks to halt their financing of industrial livestock production, pointing to its disastrous climate impact. Targeting the likes of Bank of America, Citigroup and JP Morgan, the letter highlighted the critical role of major banks in exacerbating the climate crisis through their support of meat, dairy and feed corporations – including JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill and Nestlé. Research shows global banks have provided more than US$615 billion in credit to the sector since the Paris Agreement. The letter called on the banks to recognise industrial livestock production as high-emitting and implement sector-specific 1.5°C targets and action plans. Key demands include halting new financing, requiring clients to disclose and adhere to verified climate targets, and addressing the broader social and environmental harms caused by the industry. “Industrial livestock production is one of the most destructive activities for our planet. By continuing to finance [it], banks are complicit in driving climate change and environmental degradation, undermining their own climate commitments,” said Monique Mikhail, Agriculture and Climate Finance Campaigns Director at Friends of the Earth. “Halting all new financing that enables expansion … is one of the most climate-positive actions [they] can take.” Industrial livestock emissions significantly contribute to global warming and biodiversity loss, while also inflicting substantial harm on animal welfare and human rights. According to the statement, emissions from the top 56 global meat, dairy and feed corporations alone are higher than those of Japan. In addition, meat and dairy corporations’ actual emissions may be up to four times higher than self-reported figures – a discrepancy the signatories attribute to underreported data and exclusion of Scope 3 emissions. The letter is part of a broader global campaign to hold major banks accountable on the subject. “Major banks must stop financing industrial beef production which is driving deforestation and land-grabbing in the Amazon,” said Stephanie Dowlen, Forest and Finance Campaigner at Rainforest Action Network. “Cattle-ranching is pushing this critical ecosystem to an irreversible tipping point and significantly reducing the world’s capacity to combat climate change.”

The Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) has launched the first public consultation on ocean science-based targets, developed by the SBTN Ocean Hub, and led by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Conservation International. Other partners who helped develop the consultation include The Nature Conservancy, FishWise, the Marine Stewardship Council, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, and the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). The consultation is open for comment on the draft technical guidance until 22 October, with a webinar scheduled on 17 September and publication planned for 2025. The SBTN said the proposal marked a critical point in the development of ocean targets, with an opportunity for the public to provide input into the multi-stakeholder process to ensure the finalised guidance for companies is as robust, clear and practical as possible. “Covering over 70% of our planet, the ocean supports global food security and livelihoods, regulates the global climate, and produces half of the oxygen we breathe … but current pressures on [its] health pose great risks to economies, communities and nature,” the SBTN said. “Integrating ocean targets into science-based targets will elevate corporate responsibility by ensuring companies address the significant environmental impacts of their ocean-related activities including industrial fishing, helping to protect and restore critical ocean ecosystems within a clear, measurable framework.” The targets will also expand the SBTN’s existing portfolio of environmental targets, which already includes land and freshwater, with biodiversity guidance integrated throughout the methods. They will focus on seafood value chains, addressing corporate impacts from both wild capture fishing and aquaculture, with a focus on avoiding and reducing overexploitation; protecting structural habitats; and reducing risks to endangered, threatened, and protected marine wildlife from fishing impacts.