UNDP’s Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development (IICPSD), Turkey Country Office and SDG Impact organized a webinar in partnership with the International Investors Association explaining impact measurement and management. In the online event, Director Ms. Fabienne Michaux of UNDP SDG Impact and Impact Measurement and Management Advisor Ms. Belissa Rohas presented the ecosystem of impact standards and measurement techniques concerning various financial instruments.

Embracing an approach which puts the well-being of humanity and our planet at the center of all policies, impact investments were discussed at the webinar. The event was organized as part of the SDG Investment Initiative project, which is implemented by UNDP Turkey and UNDP’s Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development (IICPSD).

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) made a presentation on the critical points of impact investment measurement and management. YASED Secretary General Serkan Valandova moderated while Gülçin Salıngan, the Deputy Director UNDP IICPSD, Fabienne Michaux, the Director of UNDP SDG Impact and Belissa Rojas, the Impact Measurement and Management Consultant of UNDP SDG Impact participated the event.

“Impact investing has shown outstanding growth”

“The impact investing market has shown outstanding growth with assets reaching 2.3 trillion USD in 2020 according to IFC. In line with this growing trend, there is a vast demand in the market for standardized impact management and measurement practices to properly assess impact” said Gülçin Salıngan, Deputy Director of UNDP IICPSD. “As UNDP's Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development, we are pleased to have planted the seeds of the impact investing market in Turkey, which achieved great momentum." she added. Salıngan emphasized with "The Impact Investing Ecosystem in Turkey” and “SDG Investor Map” studies that IICPSD conducted, demonstrated the great potential that Turkey hosts for investments with social and environmental impact and added "Turkey presents a promising market to leverage existing resources for the SDG agenda.”

Speaking at the event, YASED Secretary General Serkan Valandova briefly explained YASED’s involvement in the efforts to foster impact investing ecosystem in Turkey led by ‘the Advisory Board on Impact Investing (EYDK)’. He gave information about YASED’s commitment to support SDGs under the Sustainable Development Platform devised to promote sustainable development through harnessing the collective knowledge and experience of their members

and said “We are strongly committed to the sustainability agenda, in so doing we provided a comprehensive coverage of the COP26 with daily digests, panel discussions and insightful interviews”.

“We need a holistic approach to meet the SDGs”

At the webinar, Director Fabienne Michaux from UNDP SDG Impact shared insights about the impact investing landscape and how and in what ways it differs from conventional financing models and the applicable standards to build a functioning ecosystem thereupon. In her presentation, Fabienne Michaux talked about the cutting lines between ESG and impact-oriented approaches. Michaux also underscored the critical role of the private sector in the endeavor to achieve SDGs, and how most of the economy is dependent on the world’s environmental ecosystems and gave a detailed picture of a company’s journey to sustainability in 12 steps, and explained how standards can help organizations internalize sustainability. She said the efforts must be leveraged all around the world in a much more holistic way to get on track to meet the SDGs by 2030.