The Impact World This Week: 17 January 2025

Global: Over half of the world’s workers will need retraining by 2030 to adjust to the green and digital transitions, according to the Future of Jobs report, published this week by the World Economic Forum. The report says over 2.6bn people lack reliable internet access, 760m lack electricity and over 70m jobs are at risk due to automation. By integrating lessons from social enterprises into policy frameworks, governments and businesses can ensure that the benefits of green and digital innovation help create a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable global economy, says the report.

Asia and Africa: Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, Beyond Finance and FosterImpact have launched the US$100m Women Empowerment for Climate fund, which will support measures to help women adapt to climate change. The impact fund will provide loans and technical assistance to enterprises and microfinance institutions to develop climate adaptation products tailored to the needs of women. To incentivise businesses to meet their aims, the loans are indexed on pre-agreed impact indicators, meaning that if impact targets are met within a certain timeframe, they will receive a spread reduction on their loan. “We believe this mechanism supports and accelerates the adoption of climate adaptation products tailored for women,” Maud Savary-Mornet, Beyond Finance’s CEO and founder, told Pioneers Post. The fund targets three sectors: access to clean water, access to clean energy and sustainable agriculture.

UK: Looking to win public service contracts? The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has published an online ‘Business Hub’ to help social enterprises and charities do just that. The publication precedes the Civil Society Covenant, due to be launched in spring 2025. The government says it wants both the Business Hub and the Civil Society Covenant to help ‘reset’ the relationship between civil society and government. 

UK: Charity trustees in England and Wales now have updated guidance on whether they can invest charitable funds to avoid climate change. The Charity Investment Governance Principles, published today by the Charity Finance Group, were developed to reflect the outcomes of the Butler-Sloss case in 2022, which ruled that charity trustees could make investments to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, aligning them with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Luke Fletcher, partner at Bates Wells and a member of the advisory group for the principles, said: “The principles will support trustees to invest well and generate good returns, while responding to some of the key challenges of our time, such as climate change.”

• Read more: Charity trustees can invest for positive environmental impact – landmark legal ruling

Figure of the week: 90. It’s the number of homes Resonance’s National Homelessness Property Fund 2 will buy to provide stable and affordable accommodation to homeless people in Gloucestershire, UK, following a £30m investment from the Gloucester Pension Fund. Chris Cullen, head of Homelessness Property Funds, said the deal “illustrates the difference that local government pension funds can make to the area in which their members live”.

Movers and Shakers

• Hana Hussain has joined Big Issue Invest as an investment director for the Growth Impact Fund. She brings 15 years of experience in banking and management consulting, including advising underrepresented founders.
• Impact investor and chair of Impact Finance Belgium Steven Serneels has been appointed as a board member of GSG Impact.
• Susannah Hardyman is the new CEO of Impactus, a foundation that funds and supports organisations which help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to engage with education and find stable employment. 
• Plunkett UK, a charity that supports rural businesses in the UK, has appointed Harriet English as its new CEO. English has worked with Plunkett for the past 16 years, latterly as head of engagement.
• Stephanie Cohn Rupp has been appointed chair of the board of US SIF: The Sustainable Investment Forum, a network of sustainable investors. Cohn Rupp is the CEO of Veris Wealth Partners, an impact investing consultancy firm.
• Former CEO of Social Value International and Pioneers Post columnist Jeremy Nicholls has stepped down from his role at UNDP SDG Impact, where he developed the assurance framework for the SDG Impact Standards over the past three years.
  • Read more: Jeremy Nicholls’ Pioneers Post columns

In case you missed it

Who’s on the list? Social entrepreneurs and impact investors were recognised for their public service in the King’s New Year Honours List. We spotted:

• John Brown, trustee at the School for Social Entrepreneurs, for services to charity, receives an OBE.
• Patricia Hamzahee co-founder and director, Black Funding Network, co-founder, GiveBlack and co-founder, Extend Ventures. For services to philanthropy, to the arts and to impact investment (OBE).
  • Read what Patricia Hamzahee said about access to funding for women social entrepreneurs at our WISE100 ceremony last year
• Tessa Howard, founder of social enterprise Inclusive Sportswear CIC, for services to inclusive sportswear for women and girls (MBE).
• Lorraine Jones-Burrel, founder and CEO of the community interest company Dwayne Simpson Foundation, for services to young people and to tackling knife crime (MBE)
• Isobel Obeng-Dokyi, founder and CEO of Foundervine, a business accelerator dedicated to removing barriers for diverse founders. For services to UK digital growth and entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds (MBE).
  • Find out more about Isobel Obeng and Foundervine in our Good Ideas feature and podcast
• Anna Brailsford, CEO of social enterprise Code First Girls, for services to women's equality and diversity in coding (MBE).