How we measure impact, additionality and ESRG
Impact, additionality, and Environmental, Social, Resilience and Governance (ESRG) are important to us because they are central to our investment decision-making, and are therefore vital in helping us achieve our strategic objectives. We have developed the following set of frameworks and guidance to help us measure and monitor these in our investments:
Impact Framework
All our investments should be impactful, and the kind of well-designed infrastructure we were created to finance should contribute to local economic opportunity and help tackle climate change (our triple bottom line).
Our Impact Framework is designed with this in mind – underpinned by the principles of learning and feedback, proportionality, credibility and transparency, and a focus on being consistent and evidence based.
It sets out:
- our approach to impact, including identifying the principles and pathways to achieving impact. The pathways help inform our assessment of deal impact and set out the core deal metrics - for example employment , greenhouse gas emissions, private co-investment mobilised, and other deal metrics we use to assess our impact
- how we plan to monitor progress towards our impact goals and evaluate our impact and additionality to help the organisation learn
Additionality approach
In simple terms, additionality is the extent to which, what happens because of our support, would not have happened otherwise. Our additionality guidance sets out:
- how we test and assess the extent to which impact would not have materialised without us, at the deal level
- how we will maximise our achievement against its strategic objectives, for example through crowding-in investment, offering flexible financial products and accelerating project delivery
You can read about our additionality approach. This blog also explains the principle behind additionality and how it plays a crucial part in our investment decision-making.
ESRG Framework
To help ensure we can be transparent and credible in meeting our objectives, we have developed our Environmental, Social, Resilience and Governance (ESRG) Framework.
It helps us communicate to the market and our peers, how we manage any materially important ESRG risks and opportunities in our portfolio. It reflects how we are different to other financial institutions in that we have £22bn of capital to invest to support specific objectives and we are building new infrastructure assets without needing to manage a legacy portfolio.
Our impact to date
We have a portfolio of more than 50 investments. Together, these have mobilised over £6 billion in private capital, will support or create over 21,000 jobs and save over 75 million tonnes of CO2 emissions through the projects and companies we have invested in.
For more information on our impact to date, please see our latest Annual Reports and Accounts.
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Quickline Communications CFO Craig Fairey on working with the NWF
In August 2024 we announced a £125 million term loan and £100 million debt guarantee, alongside a £25 million term loan provided by Natwest to support Quickline Communication’s large-scale broadband expansion in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
Hear from Quickline Communications CFO Craig Fairey.
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Cornish Metals CEO and Director Don Turvey and Chief Development Officer Fawzi Hanano talk about our investment
In January 2025 we announced a £28.6m direct equity investment into Cornish Metals Inc, to help finance the re-opening of Cornwall’s South Crofty tin mine, creating more than 300 direct local jobs.
Hear from CEO and Director Don Turvey and Chief Development Officer Fawzi Hanano.